AO1

• When was the cognitive approach developed?

  In the 1950s
• What was the cognitive approach a response to?

  Behaviourism, which only studies observable behaviour
• What do cognitive psychologists believe is too important to ignore?

  Internal mental processes such as memory, perception, attention, and thinking
• How do cognitive psychologists study internal mental processes?

  By making inferences about what is going on inside people's minds based on their behaviour
• What are the theoretical methods used in cognitive psychology?

  • Computer models
  • Diagrammatic representations of internal mental processes
  • Information processing approach
• What does the information processing approach suggest?

  That information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages including input, storage, and retrieval
• What analogy is used in cognitive approaches to compare the mind?


  The computer analogy
• What are the components of the computer analogy in cognitive psychology?

  Central processing unit (the brain), coding, and stores to hold information
• How have computational models of the mind been useful?

  In the development of thinking machines or artificial intelligence
• What are schemas in cognitive psychology?

  • Packages of information that develop through experiences
  • Mental frameworks for interpreting incoming information
• How can cognitive processing be affected according to cognitive psychology?

  By a person's beliefs or expectations, known as schema
• What innate behaviours do babies have simple motor schemes for?


  Sucking and grasping
• How do schemas evolve as we get older?


  They become more sophisticated and detailed
• What is cognitive neuroscience?

  • The scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes
  • Mapping brain areas to specific cognitive functions
• Who identified how damage to an area of the frontal lobe could impair speech production?


  Paul Broca
• What advances have allowed scientists to observe the neurological basis of mental processes?

  Brain imaging techniques such as MRI and PET scans
• How have scanning techniques been useful in psychology?

  In establishing the neurological basis of some mental disorders
• What brain structure is associated with processing unpleasant emotions in OCD?

  The parahippocampal gyrus
• What recent focus has cognitive neuroscience expanded to include?

  • Computer-generated models designed to read the brain
  • Development of mind mapping techniques known as 'brain fingerprinting'
• What does 'nature' refer to in psychology?

  The influence of genetic factors on behavior
• What does 'nurture' refer to in psychology?

  The influence of environmental factors on behavior
• What is determinism in psychology?


  An individual’s behavior is controlled by internal or external forces, not free will
• What does soft determinism suggest?

  All behavior has causes, but can also be determined by conscious choices
• What is holism in psychology?

  The individual must be studied as a whole rather than parts