Cognitive approach

• What are the assumptions of the cognitive approach?

  Mental processes can and should be studied in controlled laboratory studies Investigated areas such as memory, perception and thinking
• What does the cognitive approach look at?

  The mental processesInformation processes
• What are inferences?

  The process of how cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate based on observable behaviour
• What is a schema?

  A package of beliefs and expectations that come from prior experience, they act as a mental framework for interpretation for new information
• What are perceptual errors?

  Schemas are useful mental short cuts to prevent us from being overwhelmed however they may distort our interpretations of sensory information
• What did Bugelski and Alampay do?


  Showed participants a set of pictures of either animals or faces with an ambiguous figure at the endParticipants who saw faces were more likely to the figure as a face and those who saw animals saw it as an animal
• What is the theoretical computer approach?

  Helps understand internal mental processes, theoretical models are abstract, computer models are concrete things
• What is the information processing approach?

  Based on the way computer's function, information flows through the cognitive system in a series of stages, Input, storage, retrieval
• What is cognitive neuroscience?

  study of the influence of brain structures on mental processesMapping cognitive processes to areas of the brain
• What do scanning techniques do in the cognitive approach?

  Neurological basis for some disorders
• What are the strengths of the cognitive approach?

  Uses objective, scientific methodsPractical application
• Why is "uses objective, scientific methods" a strength of the cognitive approach?

  Highly control methods of study. Reliable objective data.Emergence of cognitive neuroscience allowed cognitive and biological approaches to come togetherStudy of the mind has a credible scientific basis due to the methods used
• Why is "practical application" a strength of the cognitive approach?

  Cognitive is the dominant perspective Helped with the development of AIUsed in real life
• What are the weaknesses of the cognitive approach?

  Machine reductionismRelies on inferences
• Why is "machine reductionism" a weakness of the cognitive approach?

  Ignores the influence of human emotion and how it may affect our ability to process things Research has found that human memory can be effected by emotionsNot a comprehensive information
• Why is "relies on inferences" a weakness of cognitive approach?

  Too abstract and theoretical Also the use of artificial stimuli in researchLacks external validity