The Cognitive Approach Flashcards
An example of a study which showed how internal mental processes can be measured.
BADDELEY - word length effect study showed evidence of an ‘inner voice’ which is an internal mental process.
However a problem with measuring this is that you can’t directly observe it and self report measures are subject to demand characteristics.
What is schema?
Internal building blocks of knowledge formed through experience to help us understand the world.
An example of a theoretical or computer model used to explain schemas and internal mental processes
Dan hears screeching tyres while driving➡️Dan’s SCHEMA suggests it is a car breaking➡️Dan breaks
Why has observation of internal mental processes become easier?
Brain scanning technology has improved, such as PET or FMRI scanners.
An example of a study which used brain scanners is Paulesu.
Evaluation of the cognitive approach.
Strengths: Emphasises use of objective measures e.g. Lab studies to infer cognitive processes at work. This has allowed the two fields of cognitive psychology and biology to come together to cognitive neuroscience. This means it has a credible and scientific basis.
It also applies to everyday life. The approach is dominant in psychology and has applied to practical and theoretical contexts. The approach has made an important contribution to Artificial intelligence and the development of robots. This is likely to revolutionise how we live in the future.
Weaknesses: The analogy of a computer to mental processes (inputs and outputs, central processes and storage systems) has been criticised. For example motivation and emotion play a part in eyewitness accounts, which is ignored by the cognitive approach. Therefore it oversimplifies mental processes and ignores important aspects which influence performance.
The approach lacks external validity. The approach suffers from being too abstract or theoretical because psychologists only infer mental processes from behaviour the observe. Also research often involves the use of artificial stimuli e.g. Memorising a word list which won’t represent real life experience.
What are the key assumptions of the cognitive approach?
Thought processes should be studied in a labatory.
The mind works like a computer, with inputs from our senses which it then processes and produces an output in terms of language or behaviour.
