Cognitive Approach Flashcards
Key assumptions
Computer in terms of having inputs, processes and outputs
Focus on internal processes such as perception
Processes can be studied indirectly by making inferences
The study of mental processes
Focuses on studying what happens in the mind such as our experience and interpretation of sensory information (perception)
How we select important information from the environment (attention)
How we use information to solve problems (thinking)
How we retrieve information when needed (memory
Inferencing
Observing behaviour and using logic to draw conclusions about what mental processes caused that behaviour
The role of schemas
Mental processes which influence our behaviour
Involve collecting and storing information in memory
Cognitive framework that helps up to interpret unfamiliar environments/object/person
Mental shortcut
Use to make predictions about what to expect
Fill the gaps of memory
Schemas can lead to
Perceptual errors and false memories
Inaccurate stereotypes
Allport and postman
If people could accurately recall events in photograph
White man assaulting black man and asked what they saw
Recalled black assaulting white
False errors and perceptual memorised because of racial stereotypes of the time
The role of theoretical and computer models
Inferences to develop models to explain mental processes
Theoretical model representation of how information processing works
Picture/diagram form boxes represent structures, arrows represent sequence
Computer analogy, theoretical models computer models describing inputs, processes and outputs
The emergence of cognitive neuroscience
Cognitive+biological
Development of brain scanning techniques in late 20th
The study of the neural basis of mental processes and mental processes such as memory
Uses neuroimaging techniques such has
Positron emission tomography PET and functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI
Provide an active image of living brain and reveal which parts of the brain are being used while taking part in a particular mental process
Tulving
Used pet scans on individuals while recalling different types of LTM and shows that parietal, frontal, occipital, temporal and cerebellum areas are being used
McGuire neuroimaging with cabbies
Hippocampus significantly larger
Practical applications
Plasticity
Lead to the development of techniques to restore memory in stroke patients
Valuable to real life victims
Scientific
Lab experiments
Reliable standardised procedures
Memory experiments- input manipulated variables held constant
Empirical methods objective evidence of brain abnormalities
Valid approach of studying abnormality
Lacks eco gal
Meaningless stimuli
EWT recall on video, told in advance, demand characteristics, little emotional impact
Can’t generalise to real life mediational processes
Limitations of computer analogy
Cannot directly observed, extremely complex
Differences between human and mind
Freewill- spontaneous decisions and mistakes
Responding to emotions
Reductionist and not applicable to human life
