our behaviour is driven by internal mental processes (such as attention, memory, perception and language) so we need to study these processes to understand behaviour
the mind processes information like a computer with inputs from the senses, storage and processing of information and then retrieval
key concepts
context-dependent memory
reconstructive memory
schema theory
inattentional blindness
the cocktail party effect
strengths
research has practical applications
research is often scientific as it is highly controlled and replicable
findings are unlikely to be ethnocentric (the mind can be expected to work in the same ways in all cultures
weaknesses
research often lacks ecological validity
cognitive processes cannot be studied directly, and the reliance on self-report can raise problems with demand characteristics or socially desirable answers
