cognitive approach

• what are internal processes


  private operations that mediate between stimulus and response
• cognotive approach believes that mental processes should be studied scientifically
• suggests all behaviour is preceded by a thought
• as mental processes can't be directly observed, they're studied indirectly by making inferences based on observable behaviour
• the cognitive approach has been criticised as it assumes people have the same thoughts about things which isn't true
• early research on the cognitive approach centred on human experimentation, it later moved on to computer model analogies and now make use of it through cognitive neuroscience (e.g. brain scans)
• theoretical models are representations of how internal processes work and affect behaviour
• theoretical models of the cognitive approach suggests that information flows through the cognitive system in a sequence of stages (input, storage, output)
• the computer model analogy suggests that the brain works in a way similar to computers. information is taken in via the 5 senses, processed via the brain (central processing unit) and output through behaviour or speech.
• cognitive neuroscience is the study of how brain structures affect mental processes.
• what's a schema 


  internal mental representations of our world, used as references telling us how to behave/think
• how are schemas developed

  through experiences, knowledge becomes more sophisticated as we have more experiences
• benefits of schema

  • can take shortcuts when interpreting large amounts if information
• drawbacks of schema

  • may cause us to ignore any information that does fit out established ideas of the world
• what are models used for by cognitive psychologists

  to explain unobservable processes in a testable way
• what have computer analogies proved useful for

  development of AI
• weaknesses of the cognitive approach

  • ignores emotional and social factors that may influence behaviour
  • emphasises on lab experiments - therefore lack ecological validity
  • explains how but not why
  • psychologists are only able to infer mental processes from the behaviour they observe in their research
• contribution of the cognitive approach to society

  helped therapy
• the cognitive approach argues that if thinking changes, behaviour will also change
• it contrasts with the learning approaches
• the cognitive approach is linked with an effective approach to therapy for disorders - cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• in CBT, people are taught to identify negative or irrational thoughts and replace them with more positive ones
• cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is based on the idea that our thoughts affect our emotions which then affects our behaviour.
• Cognitive behavioural therapy has been shown to be very effective at treating depression and anxiety disorders
• cognitive psychologists have developed computer models which simulate human thought processes
• CBT tries to solve problems such as anxiety by changing peoples beliefs and habits and tackling harmful patterns of thinking
• a stereotype is a type of schema, it is an oversimplified set of ideas about a group of people that can later affect thinking and behaviour