Cognitive approach

• Assumption 1 of the cognitive approach

  The mind processes information from our senses as stimuli.
• Assumption 2 of the cognitive approach

  Complex mental processes occurs between stimulus and response which can be studied scientifically.
• Assumption 3 of the cognitive approach

  Humans can be seen as data processing systems similar to a computer - they both encode and store information and have outputs.
• Inference is the process of drawing conclusions about the internal mental states of others based on their observable behaviour.
• The role of schemas in the cognitive approach

  A schema is a cognitive framework which aids in organising and interpreting info in the brain. Schemas are useful as they fill in gaps of information, allowing shortcuts to be taken so that it can be interpreted quickly. (Eg going to a new restaurant and knowing how to behave based on prior experience and info being in a restaurant.)
• Theoretical models are simplified models used to represent complex systems. they are often depicted in a pictorial sense with boxes being the components and arrows being the processes.
• Computer models are models depicting how information is processed using a computational analogy. Info is inputted through senses, encoded into memory and used with previously stored info to complete a task.
• cognitive neuroscience is the study of the brain and its functions in relation to cognition.
• A strength of the cognitive approach: it is a very scientific approach as it uses scientific methods to investigate behaviour. the use of experimental method provides researchers with rigorous method for data collection to make accurate conclusions. therefore the evidence for the approach is reliable and replicable in scientific settings, making the results generalisable to the wider population.
• a weakness of the cognitive approach: computational models do not always accurately describe human behaviour and processing. there are important differences between the information processing that occurs in computers and the information processing that occurs in the human brain. also computers do not make human mistakes, ignore or forget information that is stored. therefore human behaviour cannot accurately be linked to the computational model.
• a strength of the cognitive approach: it is very applicable in other areas of psychology. This includes social psychology and psychopathology which helps to explain the role of faulty cognition in mental disorders. This has led to successful treatment of cognitive-based disorders such as OCD, thus the approach is practical for modern day understanding of cognition.
• a weakness of the cognitive approach: it may have little to do with the real world, as research in memory has been done using random information rather than useful memory. therefore the study is not ecologically valid as it lacks mundane realism, making it hard to generalise the results to the wider population as it fails to show behaviours that occur in real-life situations.
• machine reductionism: reducing human personality and processing to the level of a computer, neglecting the role of the environment and emotions on behaviour.