Cognitive approach

• assumptions

  -internal mental processes (private operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response) should be studied.

  • study memory, perception and thinking
  • private and can’t be observed so study them indirectly by making inferences about what’s going on inside peoples mind
• Schema

  = mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. Developed from experience
• Role of schema

  Packages of ideas and information developed through experience, act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information received by the cognitive system

  • learned through experience so helps you respond to something appropriately
  • babies born with simple motor schema for innate behaviour such as sucking and grasping
  • as we get older our schema becomes more detailed and sophisticated, adults have developed mental representations for everything
  • enable us to process information quickly and acts as a mental shortcut
• Theoretical and computer models

  Cognitive psychologists use both theoretical and computer models

  • information processing approach= suggests information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages- input, storage and retrieval
  • based on the way computers function
• Emerge of cognitive neuroscience

  = study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes. Mapping areas of the brain to specific cognitive functions.

  • advances in technology fMRI and PET scans= can systematically observe and describe neurological basis of mental processes. Eg: Tulving- show different types of LTM may be located on opposite sides of the prefrontal cortex
• Evaluation- scientific methods

  = objective scientific methods

  • highly controlled and rigorous methods of study so researchers can infer cognitive processes at work.
  • use of lab studies to produce reliable and objective data.
  • cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience can merge together
• Evaluation-counterpoint

  Relies on inference of mental processes rather than direct observation of behaviour (too abstract)

  • artificial stimuli may not represent everyday experience
  • lack external validity
• Evaluation- real world application

  Contributions in field of artificial intelligence and development of thinking machines

  • applied to treatment of depression and improved reliability of eyewitness testimony
• Evaluation- machine reductionism

  Machine reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system and may affect our ability to process information

  • research has found that human memory may be affected by emotional factors like influence of anxiety on EWT.