Cognitive Approach

• Cognitive Approach: Key Assumptions


  -To explain behaviour we must refer to thought processes

  -Internal Mental Processes such as memory, perception and thinking can be studied scientifically by making inferences about the mind based on people's behaviour
• Internal Mental Processes


  'Private' operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response.
• Inferences


  A conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning
• Schema

  a concept or framework that organises and interprets information quickly
• Schemas are unchanging mental frameworks


  Expectations and beliefs that have developed through experience and will influence cognitive processing.
• Schemas are useful because


  -People are able to respond to appropriately due to the predictions our schemas make based on past real-life experiences.

  -Also enable rapid predictions and are seen as mental short-cuts.
• Schemas are not useful because


  -can lead to negative interpretations of themselves or others

  -can also lead to perceptual errors
• Theoretical Models


  In cognitive psychology, models are simplified, usually pictorial, representations of a particular mental process based on current research evidence.
• Information Processing Model


  model of memory that assumes the processing of information for memory storage is similar to the way a computer processes memory in a series of three stages

  
• Computational Models


  models of cognition that are programmed on computers; output of the programs is compared to human performance
• Cognitive Neuroscience


  A field that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity.
• CA: Supporting evidence uses scientific and objective methods (Strength)


  This approach uses highly controlled lab exp. to allow psychologists to be confident about their findings. This means that the study of the mind has become a credible scientific discipline.
• CA: Can be applied to everyday life (Strength)


  The approach has been applied to a wide range of contexts. This means that the approach has many real-world applications.
• CA: Less deterministic (Strength)


  The cognitive approach assumes that an individual has conscious control over the way they think. This means individuals can be accountable for their behaviour and have the power to change their thoughts, which seems more reasonable than other strongly deterministic approaches eg. biological
• CA: Research Lacks Validity (Weakness)


  The use of lab research can be said to be artificial due to the context and the type of task performed. This means that it lacks external validity as the thought processes measured may not be a true representation of everyday experiences.
• CA: Oversimplifies complex processes (machine reductionism) (Weakness)


  The comparison of the mind to a computer means that complex processes are oversimplified and aspects such as emotions are often overlooked. This means that it is not a complete approach to understanding behaviour