cognitive approach book qurstipmns Flashcards
Scientific and objective
Rigorous, highly controlled experiments ensure that the study of the mind has a credible basis
Machine reductionism
Ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, and how this may affect our processing abilities.
Relies on the inference of mental processes
Therefore it occasionally suffers from being too abstract and theoretical in nature
Real-world application
Important contributions to the fields of artificial intelligence, treatments for depression and eyewitness testimony
Soft determinism
Behaviour is determined by internal and external factors but we can exercise our free will at times
internal mental processes short defo
Private operations of the mind that mediate between stimulus and response.
Inference
Drawing conclusions about the way cognitive processes operate.
Cognitive neuroscience
The scientific study of biological structures that underpin mental processes.
Information processing approach
Comparing the mind to a computer in the way that both encode, store and retrieve information.
Internal mental processes examples
Memory, perception, attention.
schema examples
Not noticing spelling mistakes as you proofread your own work as you don’t expect them to be there
inference example
Assuming that STM has a limited capacity on the basis of a lab test.
Cognitive neuroscience example
Determining the brain areas responsible for memory problems in patients with Alzheimer’s.
Information processing approach example
The multi-store model of memory.
outline 2 limitations of the cognitive approach in psychology (6)
One limitation of the cognitive approach in psychology is that it uses computer models to explain human coding. However, there is an important difference between the sort of information processing that takes place within a computer program and the information processing that takes place within the human mind. Computers do not make mistakes, nor do they forget anything that has been stored, whereas humans do.
Another limitation is that although the cognitive approach can tell us how different cognitive processes take place, it fails to tell us why they do. The role of emotion and motivation has been largely ignored by this approach. The lack of focus on motivational states may be explained by the overdependence on information-processing analogies, as motivation is clearly irrelevant to a computer, but not to a human being.
outline 2 strengths of the cognitive approach in psychology (6)
One strength of the cognitive approach in psychology is that it has been applied to many other areas of psychology. Research in 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.
Another strength of the cognitive approach is that it takes a scientific approach. The use of the experimental method provides researchers with a rigorous method for collecting and evaluating evidence. This means that conclusions about how the mind works are based on far more than common sense and introspection
using examples from research, explain the emergence of cognitive neuroscience (4)
Neuroscientists study the living brain, which gives them detailed information about the brain structures involved in different kinds of mental processing. The use of PET scans and fMRI helps psychologists to understand how the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions by showing what parts of the brain become active in specific circumstances. For example, in one study Burnett et al. (2009) found that when people feel guilty, several brain regions are active, including the medial prefrontal cortex, an area associated with social emotions.
outline the use of theoretical and computer models as an explanation of mental processes (3 marks)
Theoretical models are simplified representations of a mental process, such as memory, based on current research evidence. These models are often pictorial in nature, represented by boxes and arrows that indicate cause and effect or the stages of a particular mental process. They are often incomplete and are updated and refined over time.
Computer models have led to a focus on the way sensory information is coded as it passes through the system. Using a computer analogy, information is inputted through the senses, encoded into memory and then combined with previously stored information to complete a task. The information stored on the hard disk is like LTM and the RAM (random access memory) corresponds to working memory.
Discuss one key difference between the behaviourists approach and cognitive approach in investigating behaviour
Behaviourism - focuses on observable and measurable behaviour
Uses lab studies and rigorous scientific methods
Cognitive - focuses on internal and private mental processes
Uses theoretical and computer models to make inferences about mental processes based on behaviour
