Cognitive approach

• cognitive psychologists proposed that in order to understand human behaviour, we must study the internal mental processes that occur before it
• cognitive psychologists suggested that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically
• a limitation of the study of internal mental processes is that it relies on making inferences to draw conclusions since internal mental processes cannot be directly tested so assumptions about what is happening in the mind have to be made

  this is a limitation because of the lack of objectivity
• a strength of the study of internal mental processes has led to the development of CBT since cognitive psychologists identified that psychological disorders can be caused by irrational thinking

  this then led to development of CBT as a way of restructuring irrational thinking into more positive thinking

  this is a strength because CBT has been found to be an effective treatment for many psychological disorders
• schemas are mental representations of experience and understanding that affect our behaviour and recall
• Strength of the study of internal mental processes

  • Led to the emergence of cognitive neuroscience
  • Involves using brain scanning techniques to study whether performance during a task results in increased activity in any brain area
• Any areas consistently active during a task are assumed to be responsible for the behaviour
• object schemas - understanding what different objects are and how they work
• Cognitive neuroscience


  Has led to practical applications such as the ability to locate different types of memory to better understand memory problems and treatments
• Cognitive neuroscience improves our understanding of how the brain responds to trauma
• event schemas - understanding and expecting what may happen during an event
• role schemas - expectations of how a person in a specific role will behave
• self schemas - our understanding and expectations of ourselves, a negative self schema would mean that an individual thinks negatively of themselves
• information that is consistent with our schema is assimilated, thus strengthening the schema

  information that is inconsistent with our schema results in the schema being accommodated to suit the new information
• schemas help us predict what will happen in our world based on our prior experiences
• schemas enable us to process vast amounts of information
• schemas prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
• schemas can distort our interpretation of sensory information
• schemas can lead to inaccurate memories and biased recall
• theoretical models refer to the use of flowcharts and diagrams that aim to represent and simplify the process of human thinking
• a strength of theoretical models is that they are easy to read interpret and understand since they simplify the mental processes to diagrams

  this is a strength because it enables an understanding of complex mental processes that can be shared among the public meaning that it can lead to positive applications among students since they can better understand the importance of rehearsal before and exam
• a limitation of theoretical models is that they are often adapted and changed because of new evidence since they have been developed through making inferences which can be subjective

  this is a limitation because it suggests that theoretical models are often oversimplifed and so may lead to a midunderstanding
• computer models demonstrate how the brain is similar to a computer since both the brain and a computer involve an input output and process
• input - computers receive this through what you type on a keyboard or click with your mouse, humans have their senses
• processing - a computer processes the input so an action can be completed, in humans our brains process sensory information in order to understand it
• output - a limitation of computer models is that they are too machine reductionist since they ignore the influence the influence of emotion and motivation on human behaviour

  this is a limitation since it means that computer models cannot explain the irrationality often seen in human behaviours driven by emotion
• a strength of computer models is that they have had positive applications in the field of AI since ai utilises computer models to develop machines that mimic human intelligence

  this is a strength because it allows more to be learned about the way the human brain works such

  ai is also overcoming the criticism of the neglect of emotion in computer models by coding the machine to recognise emotions in the same way humans do which can be used to develop 24/7 virtual nursing assistants
• a limitation of the cognitive approach is that is proposes soft determinism since it proposes that factors such as schema can influence human behaviour but we can choose to engage in cognitive process such as decision making to choose how we behave

  this is a limitation because science relies on hard determinism to establish cause and effect, thus reducing the scientific status of the cognitive approach
• a limitation of the cognitive approach is that it is machine reductionist since is proposes that the human mind is similar to a computer

  this is a limitation because machine reductionism ignores the influence of emotions on human behaviour and so fails to explain irrational , emotionally driven behaviours
• a strength of the cognitive approach is that it has received supporting evidence from brain scanning studies that found increased activity in borcas area during speech production tasks

  this is a strength because it supports the feild of cognitive neuroscience which proposes that biological structures in the brain are responsible for cognitive processes
• a strength of the cognitive approach is that it relies on scientific methodologies since cognitive psychologists propose that interal mental processes should be studied in a scientific manner so most of their research is conducted in controlled labs

  this is a strength beacuse the high level of control in a laboratory means that the research can be replicated to assess its reliability
• a strength of the cognitive approach is that it has led to the development of CBT since by studing internal mental processes, cognitive psychologists identified that disorders like depression can be caused by irrational thinking

  CBT is used to restructure this way of thinking into a more rational way and it has been found to be effective for many psychological disorders