cognitive psychology

• key assumtions of cognitive approach

  -human mind is like a computer

  -schema theory ( all information stored in schemas which are constantly updated, we use them to interpret new experiences)

  -how we think determines behaviour
• Strengths of the cognitive approach

  -scientific (can establish cause and effect, measures quantitative data which is an accurate measure on the dependant variable)

  -has practicle applications
• weaknesses of the cognitive approach

  -research has low ecological validity (lab setting)

  -reductionist (ignores other factors, such as dispositional factors and emotions)

  -lacks insight due to quantitative data

  -human mind acts like a computer (reductionist again)