Cognitive approach

• Cognitive psychologists use theoretical and computer models to help understand internal mental processes
• What are assumptions of the cognitive approach?

  • People actively respond to environmental stimuli depending on schemas and thoughts
  • The human mind operates in the same way as a computer
  • Cognitive processes can be modelled in order to make them observable and should be tested scientifically
  • Concerned with how information is received from our senses and processed by the brain
• What is inference?

  Reaching a logical conclusion on the basis of evidence and reasoning

  • The cognitive approach recognises mental processes can’t be studied directly but instead studied indirectly by inferring what goes on by measuring behaviour
• Main concerns of cognitive psychology is how information received by our senses is processed by the brain

  • These private processes can‘t be observed
  • So cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences about what is going on in people’s minds on the basis of their behaviour
• What is a schema?

  A package of information and ideas developed through experience that 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

  • Like sucking or grasping
• Schema enable us to process lists of information quickly and is useful as a sort of mental short cut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
• Schema may distort our interpretations of sensory information and lead to perceptual errors
• What is the computer model?

  Involves actually programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar output to humans

  • If they do then we can suggest that similar processes are going on in the human mind
• The theoretical model suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages

  • Includes: input, storage and retrieval

  This information processing approach is based on the way that computers function
• What is an example of a model produced by the cognitive appraoch?

  The multi-store model
• Carl Wernicke

  • Discovered an area of the brain that is involved in the understanding of language
  • Patients with lesions to Wernicke’s area were able to speak but couldn’t comprehend language
  • Wernicke’s area is found in the left temporal lobe and is though to be involved in language processing and comprehension
• The emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • The scientific study of biological structure that underpin cognitive processes
• Mapping brain areas ti specific cognitive functions allows us to study:

  • neural processes underlying memory, attention, perception and awareness
  • Social cognition- the brain regions involved when we interact with others
  • How impairments in regions may characterise different psychological conditions
• In the last 25 years advances in brain imaging techniques such as fMRI and PET scans have allowed scientists to systematically observe and describe the neurological basis of mental processes

  • Like how Buckner and Peterson (1996) were able to show how different types of LTM may be located on opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex
• Scanning techniques have also proved useful in establishing the neurological basis of some mental disorders

  • E.g. there’s a link between the parahippocampal gyrus and OCD
• The focus of cogntive neuroscience has expanded t include the use of computer generated models designed to read the brain

  • Led to the development of mind mapping technologies known as brain fingerprinting
• Braver et al (1997)

  • The central executive is thought to reside in a similar area to the prefrontal cortex
• Paul Broca (1860)

  • Discovered a region of the brain when treating a patient referred to as Tan
  • Tan could understand spoken language but wasn’t able to produce any coherent words and could only say ”tan”
  • After Tan’s death, Broca conducted a post-mortem exam on his brain and found he had a lesion in the left prefrontal cortex
  • This led Broca to conclude that this area was responsible for speech production
  • People with damage to this area experience Broca’s aphasia and results in slow and inarticulate speech
• Cogntive psychologists use highly controlled and rigorous methods of study
• The emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enables the 2 fields of biology and cognitive psychology to come together and enhance the scientific basis of study
• The cognitive approach has practical application

  • Contributed to the development of AI
  • Cognitive principles have been applied to the treatment of depression in CBT
  • It has helped improve the reliability of EWT
• The cognitive approach is founded on soft determinism

  • The view that human behaviour may be determined by internal and external factor but we can also exert our free will at times
  • Considers human emotion and free will
  • Says all behaviour has a cause but there’s a bit of flexibility within it to make a decision
• Cognitive psychology relied on inference rather than direct observation of behaviour

  • It can sometimes suffer from being too theoretical in nature
  • The cognitive approach incolves evidence based assumption
  • So it isn’t as scientific of an approach as behaviourism
• Research of mental processes are often carried out using artificial stimuli which may not represent everyday experiences
• Machine reductionism

  • The cognitive approach oversimplifies behaviours and concepts
  • There are similarities between the human mind and computers but this analogy is often criticised
  • It ignored the influence of human emotion and motivation on how we processes information
• What does schema allow us to do?

  • Make sense of vast amounts of information
  • Allow us to deal with novel situations
  • Tries to make sense of information by filling in gaps
• In direct contrast to the behaviourist approach, the cognitive approach argues that mental processes should be studied

  • e.g studying perception and memory
• Role of inference in the study of mental processes

  • mental processes are private and can’t be observed, so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences/assumptions about what’s going on inside people’s heads on the basis of their behaviour
• The idea of schema is central to the cognitive approach

  • schema are 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 like 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
  • like in the multi store model
• Computer models to explain mental processes

  • computer models refer to programmes that can be run on a computer to imitate the human mind
  • by running such a programme psychologists can test their ideas about information processing
• The emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  • cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the influence of brain structure on mental processes
  • with advances in brain scanning technology in the last 20 years, scientists have been able to describe the neurological basis of mental processing
  • this included research in memory that has linked episodic and semantic memories to opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex
  • scanning techniques have also proved useful in establishing the neurological basis of some disorders- e.g. the parahippocampal gyrus and OCD
• Scientific and objective methodology- A03

  Cognitive psychologists have always employed controlled and rigorous methods of study like in lab studies, to infer cognitive processes at work.

  Also in cognitive neuroscience the fields of biology and cognitive psychology have come together to enhance the scientific basis of study.

  This means that the study of the mind has established a credible, scientific basis
• Abstract- A03

  The use of inference means cognitive psychology can occasionally be too abstract and theoretical.

  Also, research often uses artificial stimuli like word lists.

  So research on cognitive processes may lack external validity and not represent everyday experiences
• Real-world application- A03

  The cognitive approach is dominant in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts.

  • For instance, AI and the development of robots, the treatment of depression and improving eyewitness testimony

  this supports the value of the cognitive approach
• Machine reductionism- A03

  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 e.g. in EWT and these factors aren’t considered in the computer analogy

  This suggests that machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach
• Soft determinism- A03

  The cognitive approach recognises our cognitive system operates within certain limits, but we are free to make decisions befor responding to a stimulus.

  This is in contrast to the behaviourist approach which suggests we’re passive to the environment and lack free choice in our behaviour.

  This suggests that the cognitive approach takes a more flexible middle ground position and is more in line with our subjective sense of free will