Cognitive Flashcards
what is the cognitive approach
internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically
study indirectly by making inferences
what are schemas
packages of ideas and information developed through experience
what schemas are babies born with
simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as suckingwhat
happens schema ass you grow older
schema more detailed and sophisticated. Adult developed representations for everything
what do schema enable us to do
to process lots of information quickly and this is useful as a mental shortcut prevent us from being overwhelmed by Environmental stimuli
why do psychologist use theoretical and computer models
to help them understand internal metal processes
what are the ovelaps between the between these two models
theoretical is abstract and computer models are concrete
What is an important theoretical model
information processing approach suggest information flow through cognitive system in a sequence of stages
what are sequences of stages in the information processing approach
input storage and retrieval which is based on a way a computer functions
what if computer model produces similar output to humans
suggest that similar processes are going on in the human mind. Such computational models have been proved useful in the development of thinking machines or AI
what is the emergence of cognitive neuroscience
is the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes
what is the use of cognitive neuroscience
mapping brain areas to specific cognitive functions e.g Paul Bronca how damage to frontal lobe could permanently impair speech production
Advances in brain techniques like FMRI and PET scans can systematically observe and describe neurological basis of mental processes
explain why using schema might not be useful
schema can distort our interpretation of sensory information
* schema lead to perceptual errors or inaccurate EWT / memories
* schema can cause biased recall / see what we expect
* negative / faulty schema may have a negative impact on mental health
outline one problem studying internal mental processes
Direct observation of memory is not possible and must be inferred from
the results / behaviour of the participants – this inference could be
mistaken.
* The task given is rarely how normal memory functioning occurs because
it is specifically designed to make measurement possible – the
researcher therefore collects data that is only related to memory processing under experimental conditions
