Cognitive Approach Flashcards
the cognitive approach
5
focuses on how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information
studies mental processes such as perception, memory, thinking and problem solving (i.e. ways that we extract, store and retrieve information that helps guide our behaviour)
believes it’s necessary to look at internal mental processes in order to understand behaviour
such mental processes cannot be studied directly so must be studied indirectly by inferring (reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning) what goes on as a result of measuring behaviour
enables psychologists to develop theories about mental processes that led to the observed behaviour
key features of the cognitive approach
3
role of schemas
role of theoretical models and computer models
cognitive neuroscience
what is a schema?
1
schema = a cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information in the brain and make sense of new information
schemas
5
schemas for particular events are based on expectations of how to behave in different situations (e.g. in a restaurant) or in different roles (e.g. parent)
useful as they allow us to interpret the huge amount of data that we deal with on a daily basis in a much quicker way
also cause us to exclude or ignore things that don’t conform to our established ideas about the world, only focusing on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas
fill in gaps in the absence of full information — e.g. if we classify food as ‘foreign’ or someone as ‘old’ our schemes will tell us what to expect and how to act accordingly, even though we do not have every bit of information about them
this often leads to the development of stereotypes that may be difficult to disconfirm, even if faced with new and conflicting information
theoretical models
4
in cognitive psychology, models like the MSM are simplified representations based on current research evidence
often pictorial in nature — represented by boxes and arrows that indicate cause and effect or the stages of a particular mental process
tend to be incomplete, informal and frequently changed/updated in reaction to new research findings
e.g. the working memory model was first proposed by Baddeley and Hitch in 1974, their initial model consisted of 3 main sections — the fourth section (the episodic buffer) was added by Baddeley in 2000
computer models
4
computer models use computer analogies as a representation of human cognition
development of computers and computer programming led to the focusing on the way in which sensory information is ‘coded’ as it passes through the system
using a computer analogy — information is inputted through the senses, encoded into memory and combined with previously stored information to complete a task
computer model of memory — information is stored on the ‘hard disk’ which equates to the LTM, RAM (random access memory) is the working memory as both are temporary ‘workspaces’, RAM and working memory are both cleared and reset when the task being carried out is finished
what is cognitive neuroscience?
2
rapid advances in methods of studying the brain has allowed neuroscientists to study the living brain, which gives detailed information about the brain structures involved in different kinds of mental processing
this is known as cognitive neuroscience
cognitive neuroscience: examples of noninvasive neuroimaging techniques
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non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) helps psychologists understand how the brain supports different cognitive processes by showing what parts of the brain become active in different circumstances
for example, Burnett et al (2009) found that when people feel guilt, several brain regions are active including the medial prefrontal cortex (an area associated with social emotions)
cognitive neuroscience: what do cognitive neuroscientists study?
2
cognitive neuroscientists study neural processes underlying memory, attention, perception and so on
they are also interested in social cognition (which concerns brain regions involved when we interact with others and how impairments in these regions may characterise different psychological conditions)
x4 evaluation points
useful applications
scientific
computer models
simplistic
evaluation
USEFUL APPLICATIONS
4
the cognitive approach can be applied to many other areas of psychology
in social psychology, research into social cognition has helped psychologists better understand how we form impressions of other people as well as the errors and biases that influence our interpretation of the causes of their behaviour
the cognitive approach to psychopathology has been used to explain how much of the dysfunctional behaviour shown by people can be traced back to faulty thinking processes
this has led to the successful treatment of people suffering from depression and OCD using cognitive based therapy such as CBT
evaluation
SCIENTIFIC
4
the cognitive approach and cognitive psychologists emphasise scientific methods
the use of experimental methods provides researchers with a rigorous method for collecting and evaluating evidence in order to reach accurate conclusions about how the mind works
this means that conclusions about mental processes are based on far more than just common sense and introspection, they have a scientific basis
prevents a misleading representation of mental processes being developed, instead increasing the validity of any cognitive theories of behaviour
evaluation
COMPUTER MODELS
4
the cognitive approach uses computer models to explain human coding
for instance, terms such as encoding, storage and retrieval are borrowed directly from the field of computing
however, computer models may not be entirely appropriate to use when explaining human mental processes because there is an important difference between the sort of information processing that takes place within a computer program and the information processing that humans engage in
for example, computers do not make mistakes, ignore relevant information or forget anything that’s been stored on their hard drives like humans do
evaluation
SIMPLISTIC
4
the cognitive approach ignores the role of emotion and motivation
it can tell us how different cognitive processes take place but fails to tell us why they take place because it largely ignores the role of emotion and motivation in cognitive processing and behaviour
perhaps it is therefore providing a simplistic or incomplete explanation of behaviour and depends too heavily on information processing analogies as motivation is clearly irrelevant to a computer but not to a human being
by not considering emotion or motivation the approach may lack validity and should be viewed with caution when being used to explain human behaviour
