Cognitive Approach (Approaches)

Question 1

Main assumptions of the cognitive approach

Answer 1

• Internal mental processes/thinking processes shape our behaviour e.g. memory, perception
• Inference has to be drawn due to lack of observable evidence of thinking processes
• Heavily reliant on laboratory experiments
• Uses models to explain our behaviour e.g. theoretical model
• Cognitive processes are affected by schema
• Sees the mind and brain as separate
• Has been combined with other approaches e.g. biological

Question 2

What does the theoretical model look like?

Answer 2

• SENSORY REGISTER gives attention to the SHORT TERM MEMORY
• The information in the SHORT TERM MEMORY is transferred to the LONG TERM MEMORY
• The LONG TERM MEMORY retrieves the data and puts it in the SHORT TERM MEMORY
• The SHORT TERM MEMORY rehearses continuously

Question 3

What does the computer model look like?

Answer 3

• INPUT from the environment via the senses
• PROCESSING –> information is encoded and processed using schemas
• OUTPUT –> observable behaviour

Question 4

What is the role of a schema?

Answer 4

• A packet of information in your brain/mind that holds your experiences and beliefs, they affect your cognitive processes.

Question 5

Give 3 advantages of the Cognitive Approach

Answer 5

• Scientific methods to research cognitive processes (laboratory, controlled experiments, cognitive neuroscience)
• Applications to treatments for mental illnesses –> depression and anxiety through cognitive behavioural therapy as a result of negative scheme.
• Strong focus on internal mental processes, behaviorist did not.

Question 6

Give 3 disadvantages of the Cognitive Approach

Answer 6

• Methodological issues with studying internal mental processes –> the cognitive approach alone still relies heavily on inference.
• Machine Reductionist (ignores biology, dehumanising as it compares to computers, only focuses on the idea of humans as computers)
• Experiments have low ecological validity
• Comparing the human mind to a machine is arguably an unsophisticated analogy

Question 7

What is cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 7

• Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes

Question 8

What caused the emergence of cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 8

• Advances in brain imaging techniques such as fMRI scans and PET scans, which allow scientists to study the neurobiological basis of mental processes like memory

Question 9

What did Paul Broca discover?

Answer 9

• As early in the 1860s, Paul Broca had identified how damage to an area of the frontal lobe could permanently impair speech production.
• Scientists have been able to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes.

Question 10

What has the focus of cognitive neuroscience expanded recently to include?

Answer 10

The focus of cognitive neuroscience has recently expanded to include the use of computer generated models that are designed to read the brain. This has lead to the development of mind-mapping techniques known as ‘brain fingerprinting’

Question 11

What is one future application of ‘brain fingerprinting’?

Answer 11

• A future application of this would be to analyse the brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses to determine whether they are lying in court.