cognitive approach

• define cognitive neuroscience

  scientific study of influence of brain structures on mental processes
• what did Broca identify about cognitive neuroscience?

  damage to frontal lobe can impair speech production

  • fMRI and PET scans
  • describe neurological basis of mental processes
• what did Tulving discover about cognitive neuroscience?

  different types of LTM located on opposite sides of prefrontal cortex

  • scanning techniqeus
  • link between parahippocampal gyrus and OCD
• outline the importance of the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • development of mind mapping techniques (brain fingerprinting)
  • analysing brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses to show honesty
• define the cognitive approach

  how we perceive, interpret, store and retrieve information affects behaviour
• what are the assumptions made by the cognitive approach?

  internal mental processes should be studied scientifically

  • investigated memory, perception and thinking
  • study processes indirectly by making inferences from behaviour
• outline the assumption of theoretical and computer models

  information processing approach

  • information flows through cognitive system in sequence of stages
  • multi-store model e.g. input, storage and retrieval

  computer models

  • concept of a central processing unit
  • coding and use of "stores" to hold information
  • proved useful in development of AI
• define schema

  mental framework for interpretation of incoming information
• outline the role of schemas

  allows us to process lots of information quickly

  • babies are born for simple motor schemas
  • mental short-cut preventing us from being overwhelmed by environment
  • distort interpretations of sensory information, leads to perceptual errors
• one strength of the cognitive approach

  scientific and objective methods

  • lab experiments and highly controlled methods
  • emergence of cognitive neuroscience
  • credible scientific basis
• one weakness of the cognitive approach

  machine reductionism

  • compared human mind to operations of a computer
  • ignores influence of emotion and motivation
  • parsimonious explanation
• one weakness of the cognitive approach

  limited application

  • abstract and theoretical psychological approach
  • artificial stimuli doesn't represent everyday memory
  • lacks external validity