Cognitive Approach (Approaches)

Question 1

Development of the cognitive approach

Answer 1

• developed as a reaction against the behaviourist stimulus-response approach
• as a result the cognitive approach has investigated those areas of human behaviour that were neglected by behaviourists such as memory, perception, thinking

Question 2

The importance of inferences

Answer 2

• mental internal processes are private and cannot be observed
• so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inference
• they are assumptions about what is going on inside people’s mind on the basis of their behaviour

Question 3

Computer analogy

Answer 3

• psychologists believe that the mind works like a computer
• in that it has an input from our senses which it then processes and produces an output such as language
• this is known as the information processing model

Question 4

What is the role of theoretical models

Answer 4

Cognitivists study internal processes through the use of theoretical models such as the information processing model which dominated research in the 1960s
E.g. Multistore model of memory, the working memory model

Question 5

What is a schema

Answer 5

• A cognitive framework of ideas and information developed through experience.
• they act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system

Question 6

What is the cognitive neuroscience and examples

Answer 6

• scientific study of the influence of the brain structure of mental processes
• PET’s and fMRI scans show how different parts of the brain become active in different cognitive activities and emotions

Question 7

PEEL - STRENGTH

Answer 7

P- a strength of the cognitive approach is that it has real life application
E- CBT was developed in line with it suggesting negative thoughts are responsible for depression
E- it is cost effective, benefitting the NHS which is already burdened
L- increases usefulness of the approach

Question 8

PEEL - STRENGTH

Answer 8

P- it is a strength as it is highly controlled shown through lab experiments
E- Peterson & Peterson - high lab control, testing the duration of STM
E- inferred STM was 18-30 seconds based on trigram recall
L- increases reliability
However - as it lacks ecological validity in results, researchers need to be careful when generalising

Question 9

PEEL - LIMITATION

Answer 9

P- weakness because it is machine reductionist
E- comparing humans to a computer ignores human emotion and motivation
E- reconstruction memory
L- maybe we need a more holistic view