Lesson 6: The Cognitive Approach

Question 1

Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 1

Cognitive and biological processes can be integrated, leading to a discipline known as cognitive neuroscience. This is the scientific study of the neurological structures, mechanisms, processes and chemistry which are responsible for our thinking processes.

Question 2

The practical applications of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 2

• Brain imaging techniques such as Position Emission Tomography (PET) and fMRIs have been used to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain. This has led to more effective treatments for memory disorders.

Question 3

Positives of the cognitive approach

Answer 3

• The cognitive approach 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 effects relationships can be identified. However, laboratory experiments can be criticised for lacking ecological validity. The focus on detail of exactly what can be recalled by participants in controlled environments means an understanding of the everyday use of memory is missing from explanations.
• Cognitive psychology has also been used to explain the development of negative schema which can aid our understanding of mental illnesses like depression.

Question 4

Negatives of the cognitive approach

Answer 4

• The cognitive approach uses computer models. Phrases like storage and retrieval are taken directly from computing. However, there is an important difference between the sort of information processing that takes place within a computer programme and the processing that takes place in the human mind. Computers do not make mistakes, or ignore available information, or forget what has been stored on their hard drives. Humans, on the other hand, do all of these things.
• The approach can be seen as mechanical in regarding human thinking as processing like the computer leaving little room for the irrationality often seen in emotional behaviours.
• Cognitive approach can be criticised as it does not give a full picture about what is really going on, psychologist and scientist still need to make inferences about cognitive processing.

Question 5

Study by Maguire

Answer 5

Maguire investigated the brain anatomy, whether the brain is susceptible to plastic changes in response to environmental stimulation.
Maguire studied 32 healthy males
Males were split into groups, one group were 16 licensed male London, taxi drivers, and 16 had never driven taxis.
MRI scans of their brains were taken, results showed that the right posterior hippocampus in the brain of the taxi drivers was larger than the control group
A positive correlation was found between the amount of time spent as a taxi driver and volume in the right posterior hippocampus