Cognitive Area

Question 1

Cognitive Key Principles

Answer 1

• investigates the way the internal mental processes can influence behaviour
• suggests the mind works like a computer processor

Question 2

Cognitive Key Concepts

Answer 2

• auditory attention
• attentional barrier
• cocktail party effect
• inattention blindness
• reconstructive memory

Question 3

Strengths of the Cognitive Area

Answer 3

• it often uses highly controlled lab experiments - findings are reliable
• extraneous variables are controlled so a cause and effect can be established
• less ethnocentric as unlikely to be affected by social factors in cognitive processes
• useful applications = if we can understand how mental processes work, it can lead to suggestions on how to improve them

Question 4

Weaknesses of the Cognitive Area

Answer 4

it is impossible to measure cognitive processes directly so have to rely on inference from observing/self reports. Self reported can lead to demand characteristics and highly controlled experiments also may lack ecological validity.

Question 5

Attention

Answer 5

Moray and Simons + Chabris both support the cognitive area as they both investigate the cognitive processes of attention. Moray investigated selective attention by trying to find out whether ‘unattended’ material could break the attentional barrier. S+C investigated selective attention and inattention blindness

Question 6

Memory

Answer 6

Loftus+Palmer and Grant both support the cognitive area because they both look at the cognitive processes of memory. L+P investigated the reconstructive nature of memory. Grant investigated the context-dependant memory and its effect on both recall and recognition