COGNITIVE

• Cognitive psychologists are interested in the mental processes that underlie behaviour, such as perception, memory, attention, problem solving and decision making.
• Cognitive approach looks at how internal mental processes affect behaviour
• schema= a mental framework that organizes and stores information about the world and helps us make sense of it
• Cognitive psychology studies how we acquire knowledge through learning and experience.
• uses computer and theoretical models
• computer model

  input info from senses-brain-output of behaviour
• Cognitive psychology uses lab experiments, natural experiments and field experiments
• Principles of cognitive approach

  • mental systems have a limited capacity
  • a control mechanism oversees all mental processes
  • there is a 2 way flow of information
• Input stage - sensory memory
• Encoding stage - short term memory
• Storage stage - long term memory
• Output stage - motor response
• Retrieval stage - recall or recognition
• cognitive psychology developed as the computer age developed
• the brain is described as a processor- it has data input and outputs from it
• some parts of the brain form networks
• some parts work sequentially, so one process must finish before another starts especially if the tasks are demanding
• some parts can work in parallel too if the tasks are familiar
• 3 types of schema

  • role schema are ideas of behaviour that is expected from someone in a certain role
  • event schemas are scripts containing info about what happens in a situation
  • self schema contain info about ourselves
• Bartlett investigated schema

  • English speakers asked to read a native american folk tale and recall it after different lengths of time
  • all the ps changed the story to fit their own schemas when recalling
• Cognitive neuroscience maps human behaviour to brain function using evidence from brain imaging techniques like MRI and PET scans
• cognitive neuroscience uses lesion studies, neuroimaging and electrophysiology
• electrophysiology measures electrical activity in the brain
• lesions are damage caused by injury or disease which disrupts normal functioning
• neuroimaging shows how areas of the brain become active during specific cognitive processes
• the prefrontal cortex is involved with higher level thinking such as decision making and planning
• schema can lead to negative things such as stereotypes and prejudice
• schema may lead to an echo chamber because we pay selective attention to information that supports our existing schema- this is confirmation bias
• assimilation is when information reinforces our schema
• accommodation is when something challenges our schema and changes them
• Suggested cards (3)cognitive dissonance theory states that people have internal conflicts between their beliefs, attitudes or behaviours which causes psychological distress people try to reduce this by changing one of these factors so they are consistent again
• fundamental attribution error= tendency to overemphasize the role of personality in explaining behaviour, ignores situational factors
• hostile attribution bias= when we attribute a person's behaviour to their intentions rather than their ability
• confirmation bias = tendency to seek out evidence that confirms your preconceptions
• self serving bias = tendency to take credit for successes but blame failures on external factors
• availability heuristic = tendency to make judgements based on immediate examples that come to mind
• hindsight bias = tendency to think an event was predictable once it has happened
• anchoring effect = tendency to rely too heavily on initial information offered (first impression)