The cognitive approach Flashcards
what are the assumptions of the cognitive approach??
Cognitive primacy - behaviour is driven by internal mental processes.
Cognitive processing - The mind deals with information and our abilities to use that information.
We process information in a linear systematic way and uses a computer analogy to explain behaviour.
Uses scientific research methods - e.g., experiments to measure observable behaviour we can make inferences about.
what are the 4 topics in the cognitive approach?
- internal mental processes
- theoretical and computer models to explain mental processes
- role of scheme
- emergence of neural science
what is the internal mental process approach?
Main assumption = cognitive primacy.
All behaviour and emotions are driven by internal mental processes known as the cogntive primacy.
To study this…
- Only use humans in research;
- Scientific research methods = controlled experimentation;
- Study certain concepts = attention, perception, memory and other thought processes neglected by behaviourists;
- Make inferences about what is going on inside someone’s mind.
what is an inference?
cogntive psychologitss make conclusions about the way mental processes operate on basis of observed behaviour
- going beyond the immediate evidence to make assumptiond about mental processes that cannot be directly observed
- for example loftus and palmer inferenced that nature of words may have caused pts to think high or low speed stimates were expected of them and the scheme of words could also influence retiraval of memory
what is the theoretical and computer models to explain mental processes?
- this approach belives we process in a linear systematic way =
input - process - output
- similar to computers our hardware is essentially the same as otheres but can slightly differ and have a central processing unit and use the concept of coding and have different stores to hold info
what is the role of the schema approach?
- Schema’ - a term adopted by psychologists Jean Piaget to describe how we arrange and develop our knowledge about the world around us.
Definition - A mental / cognitive structure which contains knowledge about an object, person, activity or even roles based on experience.
These beliefs and expectations help us make sense of the world.
- The extent to which our schema are similar to others depends largely on the extent of our shared experience.
People of a similar age and cultural background might have similar schemas.
an example for the role of the schema?
Bartlett (1932)
Claimed schemas have a big role in how memories are encoded, stored and retrieved.
Schemas are used to help interpret and guide incoming information from our senses, helping us simplify the world for cognitive efficiency.
Means we’re more likely to exclude information that does not conform to our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.
Leads to reconstructive memory.
how are schemas useful or not useful?
useful =
- help us understand behaviour/ situations
- help us expect certain things to prepare
- help us not make things confusing
not useful =
- we create stereotypes
- hard for us to accept new info that clashes with expectations
what is the emergence of cognitive neuroscience?
- aim to explore neuroanatomical, chemical and/or mechanisms responsible for cognitive processes.
- thanks to new tech we can see structures and chemicals in brain responsible in processing tasks
- they will compare neurotypical and atypical individuals to identify differences in brain regions whilst specific tasks.
methods of measurng the brain and what cogntive processes they identified?
- post mortem =
When a person’s brain is examined after they have died.
They can be used to see where damage has occurred and how that might explain behaviour exhibited by the person prior to death.
Broca’s area…
Post mortems have been used to identify Broca’s area which is involved in the cognitive process of language production.
It was damaged in a few patients (e.g., Patient Tan) and they could not speak - therefore we can infer…
fmri=
Uses strong magnetic and radio waves to monitor blood flow in the brain.
It takes repeated scans (usually one a second) to create an image of the concentration of oxygen in the blood in the brain at any given time. Brain areas that are more active require more energy so there will be increased blood flow in the most active areas.
P’s (and animals!) are asked to perform cognitive tasks whilst in the scanner which enables the researcher to identify which brain areas are the most active during the tasks.
Examples of cognitive processes that can be studied this way include memory and problem solving
EEG=
Small sensors are attached to the scalp to pick up the electrical activity produced when brain cells send messages to each other.
The EEG test measures the amplitude (size) and frequency of the electrical activity of the neurons in the brain and identifies patterns in activity that may be associated with certain states (e.g. sleep).
By detecting unusual amplitude and/or frequency of electrical activity in the brain in EEG readings, medical experts can readily identify a range of cognitive related issues like sleep disorders (e.g night terrors, sleepwalking), epilepsy, mild cognitive impairments linked to dementia as well as monitoring brain activity during psychosurgery.
positve evalusations?
- There is evidence to support the role of cognitive factors in behaviour.
Cognitions are critical in many disorders - the Temple Wisconsin longitudinal study of depression found that 17% of uni student p’s who went on to experience a period of severe depression scored highly on tests assessing negative thinking patterns, compared to only 1% who scored low on such tests.
This means that the approach has evidence to validate its claims and assumptions, unlike other approaches (e.g. the psychodynamic approach). - The cognitive approach has led to significant PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS that have helped society.
Findings from research into factors that distort the accuracy of EWT have helped society in many ways e.g. the development of more effective ways to interview eyewitnesses like the cognitive interview which has resulted in more accurate EWT’s.
This means that the cognitive approach has proved to be valuable to society and helps society function.
negative evaluations?
However, internal COGNITIVE processes cannot be directly observed, only INFERRED from behaviour.
For example, when investigating the working memory model as an explanation of short term memory, Bunge et al (2000) found that there was significantly more activity in the brain when two tasks were being performed than when only one task was done.
Whilst the existence of a central executive requiring more brain activity may be inferred from this, it has not actually been directly measured and so these conclusions may not be valid.
- The cognitive approach suffers from cognitive MECHANICAL REDUCTIONISM.
EG. multi store model simplifies memory to a 3-store model which ignores the role of emotion in memory encoding (flashbulb memories).
As the approach focuses exclusively on thought processes, it neglects to consider proven factors that influence behaviour such as unconscious processing and emotional factors. For instance, although cognitions may often dictate feelings and behaviours, sometimes feelings can dictate our thinking patterns as well.
This means that although the approach provides valuable insights, it offers an incomplete explanation of behaviour.
