evaluation of approach

• scientific - strength

  a strength is that it uses scientific and objective methods.
• scientific - explain

  cognitive psychologists have always employed highly controlled and rigorous methods of study in order to enable researchers to infer cognitive processes at work. This means that conclusions are made about the mind based on more than introspection, which may be misleading.
• scientific - example

  the emergence of cognitive neuroscience is a field devoted to pinpointing the exact biological mechanisms involved in our cognitive processes. This means that the study of the mind has established a credible scientific basis.
• scientific - link

  people are more likely to believe the principles of the approach if scientific research has been carried out to investigate its ideas.
• mechanistic - point

  a criticism that it is "mechanistic" - it portrays human behaviour as being like that of a machine.
• mechanistic - explain

  the assumption of the computer analogy shows that there are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a computer (input, outputs and storage system), it has been criticised for ignoring key factors, such as emotion, motivation and forgetting.
• mechanistic - example

  a depressed person may have faulty thinking patterns that can change, but there may be important environmental and situational factors, e.g. the person is going through a divorce, that the person is not in a position to change.
• mechanistic - link

  this oversimplifies human cognitive processes, ignoring important aspects that influence our decision-making and behaviour - this called machine reductionism.
• applications - point

  there are applications of key concepts to real life
• applications - explain


  as well as being usefully applied in therapy, such as CBT, cognitive psychology has advanced memory research, and one such application in the field of EWT.
• applications - example

  the work of Elizabeth Loftus has shown that eyewitnesses' accounts can be easily distorted by post-event information, and this has had an impact on police interviewing techniques, such as the abolishment of leading questions during interviewing.
• applications - link

  if the cognitive approach has led to real life applications, this not only benefits those who have received the therapy, but also proves further evidence that the underlying principles of the approach are correct.
• deterministic - example

  we can acquire schemas through our social interactions. We acquire stereotypes about people and situations, e.g. blonde women are stupid. These are cultural stereotypes, and such schemas may determine the way we interpret situations.
• deterministic - link

  this underestimates the uniqueness of human beings, and their freedom to choose their own destiny - it could also remove responsibility from individuals for their actions.
• deterministic - counterargument


  however, this approach is less determinist than other approaches as it is founded on soft determinism. CBT, for example, suggests that you can change your thought processes, whilst still recognising that our thinking and decision-making is influenced by our schemas.