The Cognitive Approach Flashcards
What does the cognitive approach look at?
The internal workings of the mind, explaining behaviour through cognitive processes.
How do cognitive psychologists try to explain behaviour?
By looking at our perception, language, attention, and memory.
What three research methods do cognitive psychologists typically use?
- Laboratory experiments,
- Field experiments,
- Natural experiments.
What are the core principles of the cognitive approach?
- Our mental systems have a limited capacity; the amount of information processed will be influenced by the demand of the task and how much other information is being processed,
- A control mechanism oversees all mental processes - this will require more processing power for new tasks, leaving less available for everything else,
- There is a two-way flow of information - we take in information from the world, process it, and react to it. We also use our knowledge and experiences to understand the world.
What is used as an analogy for the brain in the cognitive approach? What do this analogy maintain?
Computers.
- The brain is described as the processor, it has data input into it, and output from it,
- Some parts of the brain form networks,
- Some parts can work sequentially. Meaning one process must be complete before another starts,
- They work in parallel too - info travels to and fro along lots of paths at the same time.
What differences are there between computer models and humans?
- Humans are often influenced by emotional and motivational factors,
- Humans have an unlimited but unreliable memory, whereas computers have the opposite,
- Humans also have free will.
What is a schema?
- Contains all the information you know about an object, action, or concept,
- Schemas help to organise and interpret information and experiences.
What are the different types of schemas?
- Role schemas, ideas about behaviour which is expected from someone in a certain role, setting, or situation,
- Event schemas, also called scripts. Contain information about what happens in a situation,
- Self schemas, contain information about ourselves based on physical characteristics and personality, as well as beliefs and values. Self schemas can affect how you act.
Bartlett (1932), method
- English participants asked to read a native american folk tale, called ‘The War of the Ghosts’,
- It was an unfamiliar story, full of strange and unusual names, ideas and objects,
- It also had a different structure to your average English story,
- Participants were asked to recall the story after different lengths of time.
Bartlett (1932), results
- All the participants changed the story to fit their own schemas,
- The details in the story became more English, the story started to contain elements of English culture, and details and emotions were added,
- As the length of time between hearing and recalling increased, the amount of information remembered became a lot less.
Bartlett (1932), conclusion
- People use their own schemas to help interpret and remember the world around them.
Bartlett (1932), evaluation
- Study was conducted in a laboratory; lacks ecological validity,
- Highly influential at the time; paved the way for further cognitive research.
What are three methods used by cognitive neuroscientists?
- Lesion studies; looking at people with brain damage to see how behaviour is affected,
- Electrophysiology; using electric and magnetic fields to measure brain activity and brain waves,
- Neuroimaging; pinpointing areas of the brain which are active when a task is performed.
Strengths of the cognitive approach?
- It considers mental processes which are often overlooked in the other approaches,
- It has had a big influence on the development of therapies.
Weaknesses of the cognitive approach?
- Research is often carried out in artificial situations; the roles of emotion and influence of other people is often ignored,
- Cognitive psychology fails to take individual differences into account by assuming that we all process stuff in the exact same way.
