negatives

• Criticisms include the fact it ignores other factors like social context and culture
• The cognitive approach assumes that people are rational but this isn't always true.
• The cognitive approach is deterministic as it suggests we have little control over our thoughts, which can be limiting to free will.
• The cognitive approach is criticised as being too individualistic, ignoring the role of society.
• The cognitive approach may not apply to everyone as some individuals with brain damage or mental health conditions may struggle with memory recall.
• The cognitive approach has been criticised because it doesn't take into account how emotions affect cognition.
• Another criticism is that it focuses on conscious thought processes rather than unconscious ones.
• Lots of the research has low ecological validity because it is conducted in labs
• it does not take individual differences into account
• it focuses on lots of positive behaviours such as memory but dont talk about negative behaviours like aggression
• The cognitive approach has been criticised for being too abstract, with some researchers arguing that it does not take into account real-life situations and experiences.
• with PET, MRI and neuroimaging- cannot definitively prove that brain activity is related to behaviour. Although it is likely this is not something that can be definitely proved
• does not take free will into account