The cognitive approach: lesson 21 Flashcards
What does the cognitive approach focus on?
- how people perceive, store, infer, manipulate & interpret
- internal mental processes
- mental processes studied through inference
What does cognitive development refer to?
How mental abilities change with age
What are the mental processes?
- thought processes
- understanding environment
- problem solving
- language & communication
What was Bugelski and Alampay’s experiment?
perceptual set
- showed participants either animal or neutral photos
- then showed ambiguous picture
- if exposer had been to animals photo was seen as a rat
What was Paiget’s theory of cognitive development?
- cognitive development is result of maturation & enviroment
- results from interplay from nature & nurture
- studied his 3 children to create stages children pass through
What stages did Piaget discover?
- sensorimotor (0-2)
- preoperational (2-7)
- concrete operational (7-11)
- formal operations ( 11+)
What happens during the sensorimotor stage?
- coordination of senses with motor response
- curious of world
- language used for demands
What happens during the preoperational stage?
- symbolic thinking
- proper grammar
- imagination & intuition
- complex thoughts difficult
What happens during the concrete operational stage?
- time, space & quantity understood and applied
What happens during the formal operational stage?
- theoretical & hypothetical thinking
- abstract logic & reasoning
- concepts learnt are applicable
- strategising possible
Evaluate Paiget’s theory?
Strengths
- ethical
- applicable
Weakness
- generalisability
- reliability
- validity
What is inference?
Conclusions based on evidence and reasoning
What is the role of theoretical models?
- simplified representation
- picture, box or arrow form
What is the role of computer models?
- focused on way sensory information is passed through system
- info passed through senses
How does the information processing model work?
1) input: from environment via senses
2) processing: information encoded & processed using schema
3) output: observable behaviour
What is cognitive neuroscience?
- influence of brain structure on mental processes studied
- advance of brain scanning means scientists can describe neurological basis of mental processes
