cognitive approach

• what is the cognitive approach?

  the term ‘cognitive‘ means ‘mental processes’, so this approach is focused on how our mental processes (e.g. thoughts, perceptions, attention) affect behaviour. cognitive psychologists study them indirectly, by making inferences about what is going on inside people’s minds by their behaviour
• what is internal mental processes?

  ‘private‘ operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response
• what is scheme?

  packages of ideas and information developed through experience.
• what is inference?

  the process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
• what is cognitive neuroscience?

  the scientific study of the influence of brain structures(biological) on mental processes.
• theoretical and computer models

  • cognitive psychologists use
  • both theoretical and computer models to help them understand internal mental processes.
  • one important theoretical model is the information processing approach which suggests information flows through the cognitive system in stages.
• theoretical and computer model

  • information processing approach: input -> storage -> retrieval (as in multi store model)

  • this approach is based on the way that computers function which can be proved that computers produce a similar output to humans
  • if they do we can suggests similar processes are going on in the human mind
  • computation models of the mind have proved useful in the development of AI.
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • cognitive neuroscience is the study of biological structures that influence mental processes.
  • as early has 1860s, Paul Broca had identified how damage to an area of the frontal lobe could permanently impair speech production
  • advances in brain imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET scans, scientists have been able to systematically observe and describe neurological basis of mental processes
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • in research involving tasks that required the use of episodic and semantic (long term) memory, Buckner and Peterson (1996) were able to show how difference types of long-term memory may be located in opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex.
  • the system in charge of working memory - the central executive - is thought to reside in a similar area (Braver et all. 1997)
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • scanning techniques have also been proven useful in establishing by the neurological basis of some mental disorders, such as parahippocampal gyrus and OCD
• EVALUATION: scientific methods

  • one strength of the cognitive approach is it uses objective scientific methods (unbiased)
  • it employs highly controlled methods of study so researchers, eg lab studies to produce reliable objective data.
  • the emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled biology and cognitive psychology to come together and enhance scientific basis of study
  • COUNTERPOINT: research may lack external validity as approach relies on mental processes rather than direct observation of behaviour, it can suffer from being too abstract and theoretical in nature
• EVALUATION: real-world application

  • a strength is the cognitive approach has practical application
  • it has made an important contribution of artificial intelligence
  • has been applied to treatment of depression
• EVALUATION: machine reductionism

  • a limitation of cognitive approach is it’s based on machine reductionism
  • machine reductionism ignores influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system. eg, research found human memory can be affected by emotional factors
• • cognitive approach is founded on soft determinism. eg, view human behaviour may be determined by internal and external factors but we can also exert our free will at times