the cognitive approach

Question 1

what is the definition of the cognitive approach?

Answer 1

an approach that focuses on how our mental processes (eg. thoughts, perceptions, attention) affect behaviour

Question 2

what is the definition of internal mental processes?

Answer 2

‘private’ operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response

Question 3

what is the definition of schema?

Answer 3

a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. they are developed from experience

Question 4

what is the definition of inference?

Answer 4

the process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour

Question 5

what is the definition of cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 5

the scientific study of the biological structures that underpin cognitive processes

Question 6

assumptions of the cognitive approach

Answer 6

• argues that internal mental processes can, and should, be studied scientifically, in direct contrast to the behaviourist approach
• as a result, the cognitive approach has investigated areas of human behaviour that were neglected by behaviourists, such as memory, perception and thinking
• those processes are ‘private’ and cannot be observed, so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences about what is going on inside people’s minds on the basis of their behaviour

Question 7

what are the three underlying principles of the cognitive approach?

Answer 7

1. our mental systems have a limited capacity: the amount of information we can process at any single time is limited, which gives us a limited mental capacity in the same way to how computers have a limited memory
2. a control mechanism oversees all mental processes: for humans, this is the brain and the conscious mind, for computers this is a processor
3. there is a two way flow of information: we take in information about the world, process it and then generate behaviour as an outcome

Question 8

the role of the schema

Answer 8

• they act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system
  > eg. you have a schema for a chair - something with legs that you can sit on
• schema enables us to process lots of information quickly and so prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

Question 9

what are the 3 types of schema?

Answer 9

1. role schema - contains information about people in certain roles eg. police, doctors
2. event schema - contain information about events eg. placing an order in a cafe
3. self schema - contains information about ourselves eg. skills and personality

Question 10

how does the schema develop with age?

Answer 10

• as we get older, our schema becomes more detailed and sophisticated
• babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping
• adults have developed mental representation for everything eg. what happens in a restaurant or what a typical zombie looks like

Question 11

negative things about schema

Answer 11

• schema may also distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading to perceptual errors
• contributes to prejudice, bias and stereotypes that are difficult to unlearn

Question 12

what are theoretical and computer models used for?

Answer 12

they are used to help cognitive psychologists understand internal mental processes

Question 13

what is the difference between theoretical models and computer models?

Answer 13

there are overlaps, but theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete things

Question 14

important theoretical approach: information processing approach

Answer 14

• suggests information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages including: input, storage and retrieval
• based on the way that computers function but a computer model would involve actual programming to see if such instruction produce a similar output to humans

Question 15

useful computational models

Answer 15

• useful computational models allow us to suggest that similar processes are going on in the human mind to that of a computer programme
• such computational models of the mind have proved useful in the development of artificial intelligence

Question 16

what is cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 16

the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes

Question 17

the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 17

within the last 25 years, thanks to advances in brain imaging techniques, such as fMRI and PET scans, scientists have been able to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes

Question 18

what is the focus of cognitive neuroscience expanded to recently?

Answer 18

• use of computer generated models that are designed to ‘read’ the brain
• this has led to the development of mind-mapping techniques known as ‘brain fingerprinting’

Question 19

possible future applications of cognitive neuroscience

Answer 19

• analysing the brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses to determine whether they are lying in court
• use of scanning/imaging techniques eg. to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain leading to treatment for memory problems
• use of imaging techniques and angiography to study the effects of normal ageing on the brain or to observe the effects of stroke on the brain

Question 20

evaluation: reliability due to scientific methods

Answer 20

• cognitive psychologists employ highly controlled and rigorous methods of study so researchers are able to infer cognitive processes at work
• this involves the use of lab studies to produce reliable, objective data
• this means that the study of the mind has a credible scientific basis

Question 21

evaluation: practical real world application

Answer 21

• cognitive approach is probably the dominant approach in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts
• eg. important contributions to the field of AI
• this supports the value of the cognitive approach

Question 22

evaluation: cognitive approach is founded on soft determinism

Answer 22

• this is the view that human behaviour may be determined by internal and external factors but we can also exert our free will at times
• some may argue that we do not have complete free will due to the schema, in which case the hard determinism view, which says our behaviour is determined by factors other than our will, such as conditioning and genes, may be more applicable

Question 23

evaluation: can be too abstract and theoretical in nature

Answer 23

• this is due to the fact that cognitive psychology relies on the inference of mental processes, rather than direct observation of behaviour
• similarly, research studies of mental processes are often carried out using artificial stimuli (eg. memorising a list of words) that may not represent everyday experience
• therefore, research on cognitive processes may lack external validity

Question 24

evaluation: based on machine reductionism

Answer 24

• machine reductionism likens human behaviour to that of a machine
• whilst there are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a computer, the computer analogy has been criticised
• such machine reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, and how this may affect our ability to process information
  > eg. research has found that human memory may be affected by emotional factors, such as the influence of anxiety on eyewitnesses
• therefore, machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach