cognitive approach

• behaviour is the result of info processing
• thoughts pass through stages called internal mental processes
• models - used to provide testable theories about mental processing
• schema - mental representations of experiences and expectations about the world and objects
• interference - internal mental processes cannot be directly observed - making an assumption
• cognitive neuroscience - understanding human behaviour with brain structure
• computer model - how we think of the stucture of the brain like a computer
• theoretical model - flow chart models used to represent how info flows and is processed through mental systems
• models produce testable theories that can be studies with scientific methods and inferences made from experiments
• assimilatioon - adding info to schema
• accomodation - schema changing to get new info
• piaget - used the term schema when talking about childrens cognitive development
• schemas cna help us make assumptions about the world
• functional neuroimaging - fmri scans are used to investigate brain activity while engaged in various cognitive tasks to see the interaction between brain regions
• case studies - brain damaged patients with cognitive defects are compared to healthy brains
• pros - scientific
• cons - soft determinims
• cons - machine reductionism
• cons - lab studies arent generalisable
• con - inferences are unscientific
• assumptions - human mind processes info like a computer - focus on internal mental processes - schemas are used in development - cognitive factors influence behaviour