L5 - Cognitive Approach - The Study Of Internal Mental Processes

Question 1

How do cognitive psychologists investigate internal mental processes?

Answer 1

• use lab & field experiments & make inferences about cognitive internal processes
• means that the cognitive model might make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed, and this goes beyond immediate research evidence (it is difficult to gather data and evidence about inferences)
• Direct observation of internal cognitive processes is not possible; results must be inferred from behaviour/data which might be mistaken or incorrect (invalid)
• Behaviour is influenced by thoughts that are both conscious and unconscious

Question 2

Key features of the cognitive approach (1960)

Answer 2

• in order to understand behaviour cognitive psychologists focus on attention, memory & how people perceive, store, manipulate & interpret behaviour

Question 3

Information processing model

Answer 3

• information is received through senses & is processed by the brain
• is used to describe how computers process information, the mind is like a computer

Question 4

Assumptions of the cognitive approach

Answer 4

• mental processes include:
• attention
• thinking
• store information in memory
• retrieve information
• psychologists can’t study cognitive processes directly, do so by using inferences

Question 5

Schemas

Answer 5

• packets of information/ideas/cognitive frameworks that are developed through experience and expectations about how we should behave.
• They can help us organise and interpret vast amounts of information in the mind and can act as a “shortcut” whereby our mind can fill in the gaps about information that might be missed e.g. we have a schema about what to expect when going to a restaurant.
• Schemas can cause us to exclude anything that does not conform/is inconsistent to our ideas about the world

Question 6

Role schema

Answer 6

A schema about behaviour that is expected from someone in a particular role, e.g. a librarian

Question 7

Event schema

Answer 7

A schema about what to expect from an event, e.g. a party

Question 8

Evaluation of the cognitive approach

Answer 8

strengths
- applications
- scientific methods
- cognitive neuroscience

weaknesses
- focuses on internal mental processes
- not full picture
- soft determinism

Question 9

Applications

Answer 9

• strength of the cognitive approach is that it has many applications in different areas of Psychology
  E.g. social cognitions can help psychologists understand how to form impressions of other people and how we might form cognitive errors and biases.
• Cognitive Psychology might also explain the development of faulty negative thinking which can aid our understanding of abnormal psychology e.g. phobias

Question 10

Scientific methods

Answer 10

• A strength of the cognitive approach is that it emphasises scientific methods such as laboratory experiments when collecting data.
• This means that high levels of control can be exercised in these settings and cause and effect relationships can be identified between the independent and dependent variables.
• This also makes the research more objective and scientific

Question 11

Focuses on internal mental processes

Answer 11

• criticism of the cognitive approach is that it focuses heavily on internal mental processes which are often ignored by other models in Psychology
• For instance the biological approach would focus on genetics, biochemistry and neuroanatomy as factors that could cause behaviour to occur
• The cognitive model would focus solely on thoughts and internal mental processes, and the biological model would ignore these factors

Question 12

Not a full picture

Answer 12

• The cognitive approach can be criticised it does not give a full picture about what is really going on inside the working mind/brain
• Psychologists and scientists still need to make inferences about cognitive processing which might be based on limited information available from research/experiments
• It is questionable whether psychologists can really understand and explain thinking by using inference alone

Question 13

Cognitive neuroscience

Answer 13

• The cognitive approach has had a big influence on the development of cognitive neuroscience in psychology as well as therapies.
• Cognitive neuroscience aims to scientifically study the influence of the brain structure on mental processes, and this has only been possible due to the work that has been developed through the cognitive approach/model
  E.g. cognitive therapy aims to change negative thoughts into more positive thoughts to help cure depression.
• The cognitive approach has also helped to devise cognitive behavioural therapy, so the approach is very useful and beneficial for therapies and treatments

Question 14

Soft determinism

Answer 14

• A criticism of the cognitive approach is the idea of Soft determinism
• This is the idea behaviour is constrained by the environment or biology
• The cognitive approach views behaviour as being determined by internal cognitive factors but would ignore biology or the environment
• However, biology might have a big impact upon cognitive thinking, for example there is a great deal of evidence that depression and negative thinking might be genetic (therefore Biology does affect cognition to an extent)

Question 15

Who studied the role of schemas

Answer 15

Bartlett (1932) - war of ghosts

Question 16

Bartlett (1932) - war of ghosts

Answer 16

• laboratory setting - English participants were asked to read a Native American folk tale called ‘the war of ghosts’ - an unfamiliar and strange story because it came from a very different culture to that of England, It had an unfamiliar and unusual story structure compared to an English story
• Participants had to read the story, and then after different lengths of time they had to recall the story as accurately as possible (to test their schemas and recall)

Question 17

Bartlett (1932) - war of ghosts results

Answer 17

The results of the study showed that all English participants changed the story to fit their own schema. They reconstructed the story in order to recall it better.
- The details of the story became more “English” and contained elements of the English culture, Details of “ghosts” were left out in the recall, The order of the story was changed to be more “logical
- Changes were made when recalling the story, for example, “canoes” were changed to “cars” and “bows” and arrows changed to “guns”.
- As more time passed between reading the story and recalling the details, it was found that participants seemed to remember less information.
- The conclusion to this study is that people use their own schemas to help them interpret and remember information, and this is dependent upon culture to an extent, Schemas are important when studying internal mental processes.

Question 18

Bartlett (1932) - war of ghosts evaluation

Answer 18

strengths
- lab study
- importance of schema theory
weaknesses
- demand characteristics
- biased sample

Question 19

Lab study

Answer 19

• The study was conducted in a laboratory setting which is an advantage
• This is because the setting and the IV can be highly controlled in order to accurately measure schemas and internal cognitive processes.
• The results are likely to be highly reliable if the study was to be repeated again

Question 20

Importance of schema theory

Answer 20

• The study has the strength of confirming how important schema theory is when investigating internal mental cognitive processes
• It seems that people will recall information in a way that fits in with their schema
• This could have implications when asking people to recall information for eye witness testimony and court proceedings
• People might distort their memories according to their schemas, but now psychologists are aware of this issue, they can ensure this does not happen

Question 21

Demand characteristics

Answer 21

• The study can be criticised because the participants might have affected by demand characteristics
• They might have guessed the aim of the study and might have altered their responses accordingly which might mean that the study and the results are not very valid
• This might lead psychologist to question the results in relation to schemas and internal cognitive processes

Question 22

Biased sample

Answer 22

• The study can be criticised because of the biased sample that was used
• The study only used English participants which cannot be generalised to other samples from around the world
• Therefore the results are quite narrow and blased and do not give a holistic view of different cultures and how their schemas and internal cognitive processes might operate