cognitive theory

Question 1

what is the cognitive approach concerned with?

Answer 1

internal mental explanations of behaviour

Question 2

how is this approach different to the behaviourist?

Answer 2

behaviorist has emphasis on passive responses to external events
cognitive views humans as actively thinking about events and considering their meaning.

Question 3

what are the main assumptions

Answer 3

1. Mental processes can be studied in an objective & scientific way.
2. Cognitive or mental process mediate between stimulus & response.
3. People are seen as information processors. (computer analogy).
4. Theoretical models can be used to explain cognitive processes. These structured theories are usually represented as flow charts.

Question 4

what do cognitive psychologists use

Answer 4

theoretical and computer models to help them understand internal mental processes.

Question 5

difference between theoretical and computer model

Answer 5

theoretical is abstract
computer is concrete

Question 6

whats an example of the theoretical model

Answer 6

information processing approach

Question 7

what does the information processing approach suggest

Answer 7

that information flows through the cognitive system in a series of sequences

Question 8

what are these stages

Answer 8

input
storage
retrieval

Question 9

what model is this similar to

Answer 9

multi-store model

Question 10

describe the computer processing model analogy

Answer 10

computer and brain receive information, store it in a particular way, and retrieve it. human thinking is assumed to involve processing info in the same way a computer processes data put into it

Question 11

what has the computer model been useful in helping developing

Answer 11

thinking machines or artificial intelligence.

Question 12

examples of cognition

Answer 12

Language
Attention
Memory
Perception
Schema

Question 13

what is schema

Answer 13

a package of beliefs and expectations of a topic that come from prior experience.

Question 14

what does schema act as

Answer 14

a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system

Question 15

what does schema do

Answer 15

affect behaviour

Question 16

how is SLT similar

Answer 16

it argues that what people are exposed to could influence their behaviour

Question 17

strengths of schema

Answer 17

• can make you avoid something negative and help you learn what you enjoy (similar to negative reinforcement)
• schema enables us to process lots of information quickly- mental shortcut so we get less overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

Question 18

limitations of schema

Answer 18

• can build up stereotypes and limit how people behave.
• leads to faulty conclusions and unhelpful behaviour
• schema may distort our interpretations of sensory information leading to perceptual errors.

Question 19

example of schema

Answer 19

babies are born with a simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as grasping and sucking.

Question 20

what happens to our schema as we grow up

Answer 20

it becomes more sophisticated

Question 21

define inferences

Answer 21

the process of drawing conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed evidence.

Question 22

strengths of the approach

Answer 22

has lots of real life application- AI, robots
uses scientific cognitive neuroscience

Question 23

limitations of approach

Answer 23

machine reductionist- ignores emotions,motivation
determinist
inferences

Question 24

how is it similar to behaviourist approach

Answer 24

both nomothetic

Question 25

what is cognitive neuroscience

Answer 25

it investigates how cognition is produced by the interaction of neural mechanisms, chemistry, and brain structure.

Question 26

where is this origins of CN

Answer 26

mid-19th century with the discovery of what Broca's area and Wernicke's area does

Question 27

where is Broca's area and what is it responsible for

Answer 27

part of left frontal lobe responsible for speech production

Question 28

where is Wernicke's area and what is it responsible for

Answer 28

left temporal lobe speech comprehension

Question 29

what has new technology helped scientists do

Answer 29

explain the neurological basis of mental processes.

Question 30

examples of new technology

Answer 30

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) positron emission tomography (PET) scan

Question 31

what is fMRI

Answer 31

a brain scanning technique that measures blood flow in the brain when a person performs a task

Question 32

how does fMRI work

Answer 32

on the premise that neurons in the brain that are the most active during a task use the most energy.

Question 33

what is a PET scan

Answer 33

an imaging test of the brain.

Question 34

what does a PET scan use

Answer 34

a radioactive substance called a tracer to look for a disease or injury in the brain

Question 35

what does a PET scan show

Answer 35

how the brain and its tissues are working

Question 36

what has led to mind mapping techniques

Answer 36

recently CN has expanded to include the use of computer-generated models (designed to read the brain)

Question 37

who in 1994 looked at different types of long term memory

Answer 37

Tulving et al.

Question 38

what did tulving show

Answer 38

different types of long-term memory may be located on opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex

Question 39

where is the hippocampus located

Answer 39

brains temporal lobe

Question 40

what is formed in the brains hippocampus

Answer 40

episodic memories are formed and indexed there for later access.

Question 41

what are episodic memories

Answer 41

autobiographical memories from specific events in our lives

Question 42

what do many researchers and clinicians believe

Answer 42

that semantic memory is stored by the same brain systems involved in episodic memory (medial temporal lobes), including the hippocampal formation

Question 43

what did Braver et al state in 1997

Answer 43

the central executive was also located near the prefrontal cortex.

Question 44

what else does CN use scanning techniques for

Answer 44

when trying to understand mental disorders

Question 45

give an example

Answer 45

the link between how abnormal functioning of the left parahippocampal gyrus leads to more unpleasant emotions, a feature of OCD

Question 46

strengths of CN

Answer 46

- has real world application in medicine, health and education - uses objective, scientific methods such as MRI scans which increases reliability

Question 47

limitations of CN

Answer 47

- technology arent 100% reliable due to user-error in calibration, temperature and noise interference - machine reductionism - humans are complex cant be similar to an inanimate object.