Evaluating the Cognitive approach Flashcards
One strength of the Cognitive approach is…
P- It uses objective, scientific methods that allow researchers to infer cognitive processes at work.
E- For example, memory research into areas such as the duration and capacity of our short term memory is often conducted under strict laboratory conditions. The field of cognitive neuroscience uses scientific brain scanning techniques such as MRI and PET scans to pinpoint the exact biological mechanisms involved in our cognitive processes.
E- This is a strength because using scientific methods in research adds validity and reliability too the cognitive approach.
However, this can lead to a weakness of the approach in that…
P- The scientific studies are very controlled and artificial.
E- For example, research studies into areas such as the duration and capacity of our short term memory are often carried out in quite artificial ways such as getting to remember lists of words or nonsense syllables or number, which doesn’t reflect how we use our memory in everyday life. The space limits of brain scanning equipment also means that you are limited in what tasks you can get people to complete when they are having the scan, so again any cognitive task you get them to complete to allow you to pinpoint specific area of the brain that are involved in specific cognitive processes are not fully representative of us using those processes in real life.
E- Therefore research on cognitive processes may lack external validity.
Another strength of the cognitive approach is…
P- It has practical applications - it has been applied to many practical and theoretical contexts.
E- For example, mental health treatments such as CBT, which works on the assumption that mental health issues are caused by ‘faulty’ thoughts and it aims to change irrational thoughts into rational ones, will help the client, and is an effective treatment for a range of mental illnesses such as depression.
E- This is a strength because it supports the value of the cognitive approach as it shows that cognitive research can be used in the real world to help improve people’s lives.
Another criticism of the cognitive approach is…
P- It is based on machine reductionism- it portrays human behaviour as being like that of a machine which suggests that social and emotional factors should be ignored as these aren’t relevant to machines.
E- This is a weakness because it shows that the cognitive approach does ignore our important human qualities when trying to explain human behaviour, which may mean the approach lacks some validity.
E- For example, lots of research has found that human memory may be affected by emotional factors. Cahill and McGaugh (1995) found evidence that hormones associated with emotion, such as adrenaline, may enhance the storage of memories and lead us to create a flashbulb memory, which is a particularly accurate and long-lasting memory of a very emotional event.
