A01

• The cognitive approach assumes that internal mental processes (i.e. memory, perception and thinking) can be studied scientifically. These can be studied indirectly by making inferences about what goes on inside people’s minds based on their behaviour.

  Cognitive psychologists use theoretical models such as the information processing approach. This suggests that the mind works like a computer: information is inputted, stored and retrieved (e.g. the multistore model of memory).
• This approach emphasises the role of schemas, which are packages of information that we developed through experience and use to interpret incoming information. A schema for a cat would include: furry, four legs, meows etc, allowing you to respond appropriately to any animal that fits those characteristics. However, they can also distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading to perceptual errors.
• Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of linking brain structures to mental processes, using brain imaging techniques (e.g. fMRI and PET scan). For example, scans revealed that episodic and semantic memory are processed in the prefrontal cortex.