Cognitive area Flashcards
What are the 3 defining principles of the cognitive area?
- Behaviour is caused by internal mental processes such as memory, attention, perception, thinking, and language.
- We can understand the mind as an information processor similar to a computer: behaviour is a result of input, processing and output.
- Cognitive psychology supports the psychology as a science debate.
What is the cognitive area based on?
The cognitive area focuses on how thinking shapes our behaviour.
Cognitive psychologists look at the internal mental processes of the mind.
Explain the defining principle 1: internal mental processes?
(perception, attention, memory, language, thinking)
Perception: ability to become aware of something through the senses.
Attention: the awareness of surroundings.
Memory: the faculty where the mind stores and remembers information.
Language: How humans communicate.
Thinking: Process of considering or reasoning about something.
What are schema’s?
A mental framework that helps individuals organize, process, and store information about their environment.
Explain defining principle 2: the computer analogy?
Hardware would be the brain and the software would be the cognitive processes.
Input= how were intake info
process= how we store/change it
output= recall when necerssary
What would things would be inputs?
What are outputs?
- information we see through our 5 senses.
- our behaviour / actions
Why are humans not like a computer?
- we can understand and have emotions unlike computers.
Explain the defining principle 2: psychology as a science, behaviour should be studied scientifically.
cognitive psychologists have a very scientific approach towards studying behaviour.
They are concerned with the inner workings of the mind, so scientific and controlled experiments allow psychologists to infer what is happening.
3 Strengths of the cognitive area?
- Good scientific status (most research is experimental, carried out in labs with tights controls over extraneous variables).
- Opening up the ‘black box’ has extended our understanding of people (Without the cognitive area, how we think, attend, remember, and make sense of the world would be very difficult).
- Cognitive psychology has opened up a range of practical applications such as therapies to change how people think (CBT).
Weaknesses of the cognitive area?
- The computer analogy breaks down (Unlike a computer, we are emotional, intuitive, and influenced by instinct).
- Cognitive reductionism (Ignores other influences such as unconscious factors, and social context (where learning takes place)).
- Lacks validity.
- Cognitive functioning cannot be directly observed.
- Tends to use highly controlled laboratory experiments which may lack ecological validity
3 applications of the cognitive area?
- Eye witness testimony.
- Cognitive behavioural therapy (uses the fact that thought patterns can affect behaviour and tries to help people with mental health problems).
- Cognitive interview (way of asking questions that help an eyewitness remember better).
2 Core studies linked to the cognitive area?
- Loftus & Palmer - how accurate/inaccurate memory was.
- Grant - context dependent memory.
