Cognitive Approach

• Cognitive psychology assumes that mediational processes occur between stimulus and response as humans are information processors
• Cognitive psychology believes that psychology should be regarded as a science
• Psychic determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by internal, unconscious conflicts that we cannot control
• Biological determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by biological influences e.g genetics, hormones
• Environmental determinism is the belief that behaviour is caused by features of the environemnt that we cannot control
• Soft determinism is the view that determinism and free will are compatible
• Hard determinism is the view that determinism is true and incompatible with free will, therefore free will does not exist
• Cognitive psychology branches into: Human experimental psychology, computer analogies, cognitive neuroscience
• Human experimental psychology involves memory, attention, problem-solving, language etc.
• Computer analogies involve AI and computer simulation
• Cognitive neuroscience involve brain damage and the effect on cognition
• Schemas are templates that organise knowledge and experiences
• Schemas are cognitive shortcuts so allow us to process information quickly
• Schemas can lead to mistakes and stereotypes
• Uses of cognitive neuroscience: Treating conditions e.g alzheimers, Investigating the structure/storage of memory, Examining effects of brain damage & aging
• Cognitive psychology is reductionist as it has a narrow focus on mediational processes and does not consider other processes
• Cognitive psychology has an interactionist view as it argues that behaviour is influenced by learning & experiences, but also the brains innate capacities as an information processor
• Cognitive psychology is not clear about free will as the way we process information is determined by past experiences, but we can change the way we think through CBT
• Cognitive psychology has real-life applicatin e.g Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Wundt's method of introspection was a technique for scientific study of the mind by training participants to analyse one's own thoughts and feelings in a controlled environment and report them back in detail
• Wundt's method of introspection caused a paradigm shift as it helped to establish psychology as a scientific discipline