Lesson 5 The Cognitive Approach - The Study Of Internal Mental Processes Flashcards
Introduction about Inferences (AO1)
• Cognitive psychologists often investigate internal mental processes by using the methods of laboratory and field experiments.
• They also use inferences about cognitive internal processes. This 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
Key features of the cognitive approach (1960): A01
In order to understand behaviour, cognitive psychologists focus on attention, memory, how people perceive, store, manipulate and interpret information
The information processing model (AO1)
Information is perceived through the senses and is processed by the brain - Information processing is used to describe how computers process information
Assumptions of the Cognitive Approach - Mental processes include the following (AO1)
Mental processes include:
Attention
Thinking
Store information in memory
Retrieving information
Psychologists can’t study cognitive processes directly, they investigate it indirectly by using inferences
Schemas (AO1)
• Schemas are 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.
Two types of Schema
Role schema - A schema about behaviour that is expected from someone in a particular role, e.g. a librarian
Event schema - A schema about what to expect from an event, e.g. a party
Advantages of the Cognitive Approach
1) A strength of the cognitive approach is that it has many applications in different areas of Psychology. For example 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 (+)
2) 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. (+)
5) 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 For instance 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 (+)
Disadvantages of Cognitive Approach
3) A 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 (-)
4) 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. (-)
6) 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) (-)
A study of the role of schemas (internal cognitive processes) by Bartlett (1932) AO1
• The study was conducted in a laboratory setting
• English participants were asked to read a Native American folk tale called, “The war of the Ghosts” which was 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)
• 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.
Advantages of the study, “The war of the ghosts”
1) 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 (+)
2) 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 (+)
Disadvantages of the study, “The War of the ghosts”
3) 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 (-)
4) 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 biased and do not give a holistic view of different cultures and how their schemas and internal cognitive processes might operate. (-)
