cognitive approach

• Key features

  • the cognitive approach is the scientific study of mental processes (eg studying perception and memory)
  • Direct contrast to the behaviourist approach
• Role of interference in the study of mental processes

  • Mental processes are private and cannot be observed
  • Cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences (assumptions) about what is going on inside people’s heads on the basis of their behaviour
• idea of schema (central to the cognitive approach)

  • Schema = packages of information developed through experience
  • they act as a ‘mental framework’ for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system
  • Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours (such as sucking and grasping)
  • As we get older our schema become more detailed and sophisticated
• Theoretical models to explain mental processes

  • The information processing approach suggests that information flows through a sequence of stages that include input, storage and retrieval
  • explains how information flows through various components for processing
  • Eg = the multi-store model of memory
• computer models to explain mental processes

  • Cognitive approach often thinks of mental processes as comparable to computer processes
  • Data goes in, gets processed, then an output comes out (input from your senses is processed by the mind to produce an output)
  • Computer models refer to programmes that can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind (eg conversational machines to deal with consumer enquiries)
  • By running such a programme psychologists can test their ideas about information processing
  • Also = the processing steps can be broken down into theoretical models, which can be tested against observation to see if they are accurate
• emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • Cognitive neuroscience = the scientific study of the influence of brain structures (neuro) on mental processes (cognition)
  • With advances in brain scanning technology (eg fMRI) in recent years, scientists have been able to describe the neurological basis of mental processing
  • eg = research in memory that has linked episodic and semantic memories to opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex in the brain (Tulving et al)
  • Scanning techniques have also proved useful in establishing the neurological basis of some disorders
  • Eg the parahippocampal gyrus for OCD
• Strength = cognitive approach uses scientific and objective methods

  • Cognitive psychologists have always employed controlled and rigorous methods of study
  • Eg lab studies in order to infer cognitive processes at work
  • Also the 2 fields of biology and cognitive psychology have come together (cognitive neuroscience) to enhance the scientific basis of study
  • Means that the study of the mind has established a credible, scientific basis
• counterpoint to scientific and objective methods

  • The use of interference means cognitive psychology can occasionally be too abstract and theoretical
  • Also research often uses artificial stimuli ( eg word lists)
  • => research on cognitive processes may lack external validity and no represent everyday experience
• strength = application to everyday life

  • The cognitive approach is dominant in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts
  • Eg = artificial intelligence (AI), development of robots, the treatment of depression, improving EWT
  • This supports the value of the cognitive approach
• limitation = approach based on machine reductionism

  • Although there are similarities between the operations of the human mind and computers (inputs-outputs, central processor, storage systems) the computer analogy has been criticised
  • for instance = emotion and motivation have been shown to influence accuracy of recall (eg in eyewitness accounts)
  • These factors are no considered within the computer analogy
  • Suggests that machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach
• extra evaluation = soft determinism

  • The cognitive approach recognises that our cognitive system operates within certain limits, but we are free to make decisions before responding to stimulus (soft determinism)
  • This is in contrast to the behaviourists approach which suggests we are passive to the environment and lack free choice in our behaviour
  • Suggests that the cognitive approach takes a more flexible middle-ground position and is more in line with our subjective sense of free will