describe 1 individual diff + evaluate strengths + weaknesses

• Point: strength of cognitive approach

  One individual differences explanation of schizophrenia is the cognitive approach, which suggests that faulty cognitive processing underlies the disorder.
• Explanation/evidence: strength of cognitive

  Frith (1979) proposed that individuals with schizophrenia experience a breakdown in attentional filters, meaning they are overwhelmed by irrelevant information from their environment. This faulty filtering explains positive symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions.
• Evidence: strength of cog approach

  Supporting evidence for this idea comes from Barch et al. (1999), who found that individuals with schizophrenia performed worse on the Stroop test than healthy controls, indicating difficulties in filtering and selecting relevant stimuli.Supporting evidence for this idea comes from Barch et al. (1999), who found that individuals with schizophrenia performed worse on the Stroop test than healthy controls, indicating difficulties in filtering and selecting relevant stimuli.
• Link: strength of cog approach

  This supports the view that cognitive dysfunctions are linked to the development of schizophrenic symptoms and highlights the role of individual differences in cognitive processes in explaining the disorder.
• point: weakness of cog approach

  However, a major weakness of the cognitive explanation is that it may be overly reductionist and does not fully account for the complexity of schizophrenia.
• Evidence/explanation: weakness of cog approach

  While Frith linked cognitive deficits to brain dysfunction (such as disconnections between the frontal cortex and posterior regions), critics argue that this reduces a complex mental illness to simple brain or information-processing issues.
• evidence: weakness of cog approach

  Additionally, cognitive theories primarily explain proximal causes, like current symptoms, but not distal causes such as genetic vulnerabilities or early life experiences. This suggests that cognitive explanations, although valuable in highlighting symptom mechanisms, cannot offer a complete account of schizophrenia. Instead, integrated models, like Howes and Murray’s (2014) interactionist model, argue that biological factors (e.g., dopamine dysregulation) trigger cognitive dysfunction, providing a more holistic understanding.
• Link: weakness of cog approach

  This suggests that cognitive explanations, although valuable in highlighting symptom mechanisms, cannot offer a complete account of schizophrenia.
• Conclusion

  In conclusion, while the cognitive approach offers important insights into individual cognitive differences linked to schizophrenia, it is limited as a stand-alone explanation and is better viewed as one part of a broader, multi-factorial model