the cognitive approach A01

• cognitive psychologists believe it Is necessary to look at internal mental processes to understand behaviour in contrast to behaviourist psychologists who do not believe this is necessary.
• much of cognitive psychology uses an information processing model , whereby information received through the senses is processed via various systems in the brain
• What is the cognitive approach.

  It is an approach which focuses on how people perceive store and manipulate and interpret information by studying processes such as perception, memory, thinking and problem solving.
• The study of internal mental processes

  -          The cognitive approach views are behaviour as being a result of internal mental processes, these internal mental processes cannot be physical seen, but we are still aware of them as they are our thoughts, but we are not always aware of what thoughts led us to behave in a certain way.
• The study of internal mental processes

  -          The cognitive approach values scientific methods and studies information processing/ measures internal mental processes in a scientific n=manner through experiments, so investigates the ways in which we extract, store and retrieve information that helps guide and influences are behaviour to try and figure out why we behave in certain ways
• The study of internal mental processes

  -          Experiments focusing on measuring internal processing involve recording observable responses like the number of words recalled and allow researchers to make inferences/ interpretations of the internal mental processes that have led to this response.
• The study of internal mental processes

  • mental processes that contribute to information processing which include :
  • attention - selecting important information
  • this information can then be sued to solve problems through second mental process = thinking
  • then there is the mental process of storing memory and retrieving it when it is needed.
• The study of internal mental processes

  the cognitive approach recognises that these mental processes cannot be studied directly but must be studied indirectly by inferring what goes on as a result of measuring behaviour and this enables cognitive psychologists to develop theories about the mental processes that led to the observed behaviours
• The role of schemas

  -          a schema is a cognitive frameworks that are representations of our ideas about a person object or situation that helps organise and interpret information in the brainfor example we have schemas for specific events which are based on expectations of how to behave in different situations such as in a restaurant or a classroom or how you are supposed to act in different roles like a guard in a mick prison like in Zimbardo’s prison experiment.
• The role of schemas

  -          Schemas are formed through experience, and they allow us to make predictions about the world and this tends to mean that we focus on information that fits in our pre-existing schemas which can be sued to explain how stereotypes are formed.
• The role of schemas

  -          We have schemas for everything ending gender schemas and we also have schemas for how to behave in a restaurant.  
• The role of schemas

  -          schemas are useful to us because they allow us to make shortcuts when interpreting huge amounts of information, we have to deal with on a daily basis. And allow us to make mental shortcuts so that we don’t have to deal with all the information we experience which can then explain why we sometimes have visual illusions and errors in our perceptions since our schemes encourage us to see what we expect to see.
• The role of schemas

  -          however, schemas do also cause us to exclude anything that does not conform to our established ideas about the world, instead focusing on things that conform to our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.
• The role of schemas

  -          schemas can also help us fill in the gaps in the absence of full information about a person, event or thing – for example if we sit next to someone on a bus who is ‘old’ our schemas will tell us what to expect and we then act accordingly regardless of how stimulating our companion might be – old schemas will tell you is boringa consequence of this is then that we may develop stereotypes that are different to disconfirm , even when faced with new and conflicting information
• the role of theoretical and computer models

  -          the cognitive approach uses models to try and demonstrate some of the internal processes that are occurring to influence behaviour.
• the role of theoretical and computer models

  -          models are often pictural in nature – meaning information is represented by boxes and arrows indicating cause and effect of the stages of a particular mental process and this is to provide simplified representations.

  -          some models are frequently changing sand updated and refined like the working memory model.
• computer models

  -          the development of computers and computer programming led to a focus on programming and the way in which sensory information is ‘coded’ as it passes through the system –
• computer models

  -           we can use a computer analogy to explain the cognitive approach and how are internal mental processes occur as are mind works similar to computers – information is inputted through the senses , which is then encoded into memory and is then combined with previously stored information to complete a task.
• computer models

  -          computer models can also explain can also explain how information is stored on the hard disk which is representative of are long term memory and random access memories which both correspond to our working memory , and the idea of our working memory being different to our long term memory as it is just a temporary workspace also fits the computer model nicely because  like are working memory which clears are random access memories we reset when a task is being carried out is finished
• computer models

  the computer model has also led to the development of artificial intelligence and trying to develop computes that think in similar ways to humans.
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  -          neuroscientists are now able to study the brain and can give detailed information about the brains structure involved in different kinds of mental processing.
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  -          the use of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as positron emission tomography / PET scans and FMRI scans has helped psychologists understand the brain supports different cognitive activities and emotions by showing what parts of the brain become active in specific circumstances.

  -          for example, Burnett et al 2009 found that when people feel guilty several brain regions are active.
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  -          cognitive neuroscience incorporated both cognition and biology to help understand internal mental processes and it involves looking at different areas of the brain and how they interact with cognitive processes.
• the emergence of cognitive neuroscience

  -          the focus of cognitive neuroscience has expanded to now include the sue of computer generated models that re designed to read the Brian and this has led to brain mapping techniques known as Brian fingerprinting which used event related potentials to look at responses to stimuli relevant to a crime scene – and a possible practical application for this is that it could be used to analyse the brain wave patterns of eyewitnesses told determine whether they’re lying in court