The Cognitive approach Flashcards
Approaches
What is the cognitive approach?
It became popular in the 1950’s as a response to behaviourists failing to take mental processes into account
What are internal mental processes?
Reasoning, perception, memory and language. They cannot be observed so have to be studied indirectly by making inferences
What is a schema?
They are ‘little packages’ of information or ideas that are filled through experience and help us make sense of the world. they provide a framework for understanding and we refer to these when new incoming information is received
Why are schema’s useful?
They help us to minimise our cognitive load as they aid with memory as mental shortcuts and stop us from becoming overloaded by environmental stimuli
Why are schema’s not useful?
They can cause us to develop unhelpful stereotypes or recall a memory of an event which is what we would expect to happen in that situation rather than what actually did
What did Bransford and Johnson do in 1972?
They gave the participants sentences to remember, e.g. a newspaper is better than a magazine. One set op people were given the schema ‘making a kite’, the other group had no schema. The group with the schema remembered significantly more, demonstrating how we use schema’s to organise information and to make sense of material
What are theoretical and computer models?
They’re used to explain and make inferences about mental processes
Why are theoretical and computer models used?
As we cannot see the types of internal mental processes that cognitive psychologists are interested in studying, the use of theoretical models and computer models are sometimes used to provide a stage by stage description of these processes.
What is the multi store model of memory?
The information passing from store to store would be the ‘input’, the processes (attention, rehearsal) would be the ‘processing’ and the recall of information at a later date would be the ‘output’
What is cognitive neuroscience?
It refers to the scientific study of the impact of brain structure on mental processes. By using technology to identify brain structures/ neurochemicals responsible for certain behaviours.
What is a PET scan?
Radioactive substance being injected and tracing where it travels to show which areas of the brain are active when different tasks are completed.
What are the methods and practical applications?
PET scans
EEG scans
MRI scans
What did Smith et al do in 1996?
Provided evidence that spatial working memory is handled by a different part of the brain to verbal working memory through the use of PET scans.
What is an EEG scan?
Involves sensors recording and measuring electrical activity in the brain and categorising them into different frequencies (alpha, beta, gamma, etc.)
What did Klimesch do in 1999?
Had patients complete a task that used their semantic memory and then another task that used their episodic memory whilst being given an EEG scan. It was found that each task was processed differently, suggesting that episodic and semantic memory are two separate and discrete types of long term memory.
