Cognitive Approach P2 Flashcards
The cognitive approach has revolutionised psychology by showing that the mind could be studied scientifically.
E – Using the empirical method, cognitive psychologists collect objective evidence of human behaviour via carefully controlled replicable experiments. Inferences from these experiments have allowed cognitive psychologists to develop and refine theoretical models that explain how internal mental processes work.
E – In this way, cognitive psychologists have successfully applied the key features of the scientific method (empirical research, the collection of objective evidence and replicable research) to the study of the mind. This type of research undermined the central assumption of the behaviourist approach that the mind could not be studied scientifically. The cognitive revolution of the 1960s saw the behaviourist approach, which had dominated psychology for decades, being replaced by the cognitive approach. To this day the cognitive approach remains the dominant psychological approach. It continues to be recognised as highly scientific.
strength of the cognitive approach is that it has produced many real-life applications.
E – For example, using insights from the cognitive approach, Beck and Ellis helped to develop CBT, a style of therapy that treats mental illness by challenging irrational thought processes. CBT is now the first-line treatment for the majority of psychological disorders.
E – The development of CBT was only possible because of the cognitive approach’s key insight: the computer model. This compares the mind to a computer and explains how internal mental processes process environmental information and guide our emotions and behaviours. This insight was necessary for Beck and Ellis to identify irrational thought processes as the root cause of depression, and therefore the basis for a highly successful therapeutic intervention.
criticism of the cognitive approach is it its use of the computer model
E - One key difference between the mind and a computer is that the mind is able to perceive and interact with the world in a way that a computer cannot. The mind is also able to adapt to new situations and learn from experience, whereas a computer can only perform tasks for which it has been specifically programmed
E - Overall, the analogy between the mind and a computer can be a useful way to understand certain aspects of cognition, but it is important to recognize that the mind is much more than just a machine for processing information.
