The Cognitive Approach

• The cognitive approach argues that internal mental processes should be studied scientifically by making inferences about what is going on in people's minds on the basis of their behaviour.
• Schema = a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. They are developed from experience.
• Cognitive psychologists use both theoretical and computer models to help them understand internal mental processes. Theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete things.
• One important theoretical model is the information processing approach, which suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages (input, storage and retrieval).
• The information processing approach is based on the way computers function but a computer model would involve actually programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar output to humans. If they do then we can suggest that similar processes are going on in the human mind.
• Computer models have proved useful in the development of AI.
• A strength of the cognitive approach is that it uses objective scientific methods (highly controlled methods of study). The use of lab studies produces reliable and objective data. The emergence of cognitive neuroscience has enabled biology and cognitive psychology to come together. This means the study of the mind has credible scientific basis.
• As cognitive psychology relies on the inference of mental processes, rather than the direct observation of behaviour it can often suffer from being too abstract. They also often use artificial stimuli. Therefore research on cognitive processes may lack external validity.
• Cognitive processing can often be affected by a person's beliefs or expectations, which are often referred to as schema.
• Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping. As we get older, our schema become more detailed and sophisticated.
• Schema enable us to process lots of information quickly and this is useful as a sort of mental shortcut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli. However, schema may also distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading to perceptual errors.
• Cognitive psychologists use both theoretical and computer models to help them understand internal mental processes. In reality there are overlaps between these two models but basically theoretical models are abstract whereas computer models are concrete things.
• One important theoretical model is the information processing approach, which suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages. These include input, storage and retrieval.
• This information processing approach is based on the way computers function but a computer model would involve actually programming a computer to see if such instructions produce a similar output to humans. If they do then we can suggest that similar processes are going on in the human mind. Such computational models of the mind have proved useful in the development of artificial intelligence.
• Another strength of the cognitive approach is that it has practical application. The cognitive approach is probably the dominant approach in psychology today and has been applied to a wide range of practical and theoretical contexts, e.g. artificial intelligence. Cognitive principles have also been applied to the treatment of depression and improved the reliability of eyewitness testimony. This supports the value of the cognitive approach.
• One limitation of the cognitive approach is that it is based on machine reductionism. There are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a computer. However, the computer analogy has been criticised by many. Such machine reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, and how this may affect our ability to process information. For instance, research has found that human memory can be affected by emotional factors. This suggests that machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach.