The Cognitive Approach Flashcards
The cognitive approach
Explains human behaviour in terms of thought processes such as beliefs and memories. It argues that if thinking changes, behaviour will also change.
What does the cognitive approach contrast with?
Learning approaches, which only focus on behaviour that can be observed from the outside NOT internal mental processes.
Examples of cognitive processes
- Memory
- Perception
- Language
- Attention
- Thoughts and beliefs
Noam Chomsky (1959)
- Language cannot be learned through classical and operant conditioning
- Instead, we build up mental models of the rules of grammar e.g adding -ed to a verb when forming the past tense in English
Assumptions of the cognitive approach
- The computer analogy. The human mind is compared to a computer and human beings are seen as information processors
- Models - Cognitive psychologists may build theoretical or computer models of cognitive processes
- Stimulus and response is appropriate only if the thought processes that occur between them are acknowledged
- Inference
- Internal mental processes should be studied scientifically
Schema
A cognitive structure where thoughts and memories are linked together. It influences future thinking.
What are schemas influenced by?
The culture in which you grow up
Assimilation (Jean Piaget)
The process by which new information is added to schemas.
Accommodation
When a new schema forms due to inconsistent information.
An example of accommodation
A young child may have a schema for a bug that included both spiders and insects, but as they get older they learn that a spider is not a type of insect.
The spider and insect schema become separate in the child’s mind.
Frederick Bartlett (schemas and memory)
- Showed how memories can be distorted by schemas
- When he told his students about a Native American battle, they tended to miss out parts and change things when they later recalled the stories.
- This was because parts of the stories did not fit with the participants’ cultural schemas
An example of a schema
A stereotype
3 types of schema
Role schema
Event schema
Self-schema
Role schema
Knowledge about how to act in a certain role e.g. expectation about how a waiter should act.
Event schema
Also known as scripts. Our knowledge and expectation about what should happen in certain scenarios e.g. going to the movies.