How information received from our senses is processed directs ho we behave
Cognitive psychologists look at how various cognitive functions work together to help us make sense of the world.
Some of the internal processes psychologists are interested in are:
Attention (We focus on information we are presented with)
Perception (We take in information through the senses)
Memory (We attempt to recall/store the information)
Language (We communicate the information to others)
Thinking (The ways in which we manipulate and make sense of information to make decisions)
Investigating internal mental processes
A problem with the cognitive approach is that thoughts can not directly be observed or measured.
Modern psychologists use experiments to make inferences about internal processes
Griffiths (1994)
Aimed to investigate the internal mental thought processes of gamblers vs non-gamblers by getting them to ‘think aloud’ while playing on a fruit machine
The study found that gamblers were more likely to irrational verbalisations e.g. ‘I lost because I wasn’t concentrating’ or ‘this machine likes me’
ASSUMPTION 2: THE COMPUTER ANALOGY
Cognitive psychologists suggest that mind works in a similar way to a computer
It compares how we take information (input) store it or change it (process) and then recall it when necessary (output).
The Multistore Memory Model (Atkinson and Shriffrin 1968)
ASSUMPTION 3: SCHEMATA
SCHEMATA are packets of information that he hold in relation to an object or event
Help us to make sense of the world, providing short cuts to identifying things that we come across.
Our schemata develop as we grow and have more experiences with our environment
Schemata are not always correct
Can be the basis for stereotypes, causing racism, sexism etc.
Can cause us to misremember events that do not fit our schema
Allport and Postman (1947).
They investigated the effect of stereotypes on recall. They showed white participants a picture of a black person being held at knifepoint by a white man.
Participants invariably remembered the open razor as being in the hand of the black man, whereas in fact it was held by the white man.
relationships Internal Mental Processes
Perception and memory are two of the main processes used when taking in and analysing information
We may perceive someone’s looks or actions in a positive/negative way which may affect whether we choose to spend time with them or not
Memory e.g. having a positive/negative memory of someone can also affect whether we choose to form a relationship with them or not, we may also be influenced by memories of past relationships
relationships Schemas
We may associate certain traits with people because of the way that they look
‘The Halo Effect’ is when we associate positive personality traits with people who are physically attractive
Self-schemas can affect who we interact with e.g. interacting with people who we percieve to be a similar level of attractiveness to ourself (the matching hypothesis)
CBT therapy
The cognitive approach suggests that a possible cause of mental illness is maladaptive internal mental processes
For example, people with depression may pay more attention to negative information in their environment
Or have a tendency to perceive information in negative ways
This may lead to symptoms such as low mood and social isolation
LINK TO SCHEMATA
Aaron Beck proposed that depressed people have developed negative schemas of three things – the self, the world around them and their