cognitive approach

Question 1

cognitive approach

Answer 1

focused on how our mental processes eg thoughts and perceptions affect behaviour
-argues that internal mental processes can be studied scientifically

Question 2

internal mental processes

Answer 2

private operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response

Question 3

theoretical and computer models

Answer 3

• theoretical models- information processing approach- suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval as in the multi store model
• computer models- mind is compared to a computer by suggesting there are similarities in the way information is processed

Question 4

role of schema

Answer 4

• a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing, they are developed from experience
• babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping
• schema enables us to process lots of information quickly and this is useful as a sort of mental short cut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
• can distort our interpretations of sensory information leading to perceptual errors

Question 5

emergence of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 5

• the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes
• aims to find out how the brain structures influence the way we process information and map mental cognitive functions to specific areas of the brain

Question 6

scientific and objective methods

Answer 6

• highly controlled and rigorous methods of study in order to enable researcher to infer cognitive processes at work
• lab experiments produce reliable, objective data
• cognitive neuroscience has enabled biology and cognitive psychology to come together

Question 7

machine reductionism

Answer 7

computer analogy has been criticised- ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and how this may affect our ability to process information

Question 8

application to everyday life

Answer 8

cognitive psychologists are only able to infer mental processes from the behaviour they observe in their research- suffers from being too abstract and theoretical
-lacks external validity

Question 9

real life application

Answer 9

made an important contribution in the field of artificial intelligence and the development of robots

Question 10

less deterministic than other approaches

Answer 10

soft determinism- recognised that our cognitive system can only operate within the limits of what we know, but that we are free to think before responding to a stimulus

Question 11

example- eye witness testimony

Answer 11

• johnson and scott (1976)- wanted to find out whether levels of anxiety had any effect on accuracy of recall of the witness
• 49% man with pencil
• 33% man with knife
• high levels of anxiety- less likely to recall details and information