Evaluations - A03

• Strength of cognitive approach - uses scientific and objective methods, employs highly controlled and rigorous methods to enable researchers to infer cognitive processes through lab experiments which have high control and standardised procedures. Allows us to infer a cause and effect relationship which allows other researchers to replicate experiment to test for reliability. Thus increases credibility and status.
• Strength of cognitive approach - has real life applications, led to development of AI and has led to therapy such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) which is successfully used to treat mental health issues such as depression. CBT works by targeting faulty cognitions and negative schemas and replacing with with healthier ones, means that patients are encouraged to process environmental stimuli in a healthier way. Therefore, cognitive approach successful as fundamental principles have had practical implications to improve people's lives in real world which increases validity.
• Limitation of CA - reductionist, focuses on internal mental processes & faulty information processing; ignores other important factors eg social and biological explanations to human behaviour. Human processing influenced by other factors eg feelings / levels of motivation which approach not take into account as it compares mind to computer. Mental health issues (depression) strong genetic basis as evidence for depression running in families and being inherited. CA incomplete explanation of human behaviour (complex phenomenon), thus need to create holistic explanation, reducing validity.
• Strength of cognitive approach - less deterministic, although it argues internal mental processes can influence our behaviour and that environmental inputs lead to outputs (behaviour), also acknowledges we are free to process information and think before responding. Different from other approaches such as behaviourist approach which proposes humans respond to stimulus in environment and ignores role of thinking processes before behaviour is shown. Therefore, makes CA less deterministic and more a interactionist approach.