L5 - the study of internal mental processes

Question 1

what is inference

Answer 1

reaching a logical conclusion based on evidence and reasoning

Question 2

what are the key features of the cognitive approach

Answer 2

psychologists focus on attention, memory, how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information

Question 3

what is the information processing model

Answer 3

information is received through senses and is processed by the brain

Question 4

what are schemas

Answer 4

information/ideas/cognitive frameworks developed through experience and expectations on how we should behave

Question 5

how are schemas helpful

Answer 5

help organise and interpret vast amounts of info in the mind and act as a shortcut
can cause us to exclude anything that does not conform to our ideas about the world

Question 6

strength of the cognitive approach

Answer 6

emphasises scientific methods when collecting data, high levels of control, cause and effect can be identified, more objective and scientific

Question 7

2 weaknesses of the cognitive approach

Answer 7

• soft determinism - behaviour is constrained by environment/biology, behaviour is determined by internal cognitive factors but ignores environment/biology. bio has a impact on cognitive thinking e.g. depression being genetic
• does not give full picture, inferences needed, based on limited info from research, questions if psychologists can understand thinking based on inference alone

Question 8

bartlett study into role of schemas procedure

Answer 8

lab setting, english pp asked to read native american folk tale which was unfamiliar and strange in structure and content
pp read story and then recall the story after different length of time

Question 9

bartlett study into role of schemas findings

Answer 9

english pp changed story to fit own schema, reconstructed story to recall it better
details of ghosts left out, order made more logical, as more time passed, pps remembered less info
so people use their own schemas to help them interpret and remember info - dependant on culture to an extent

Question 10

strength of bartlett study into role of schema (war of the ghosts)

Answer 10

lab setting
IV controlled to accurately measure schemas and internal cognitive processes, results likely to be reliable if study was repeated

Question 11

2 weaknesses of bartlett role of the schema study (war of the ghosts)

Answer 11

• demand characteristics, may have guessed aim and altered responses accordingly, study and results less valid, so psychologists questions results
• biased sample, only used english pp cannot be generalised to other cultures, narrow and biased results, not a holistic view of how schemas and internal cognitive processes operate