Cognitive Approach

• cognitive approach key assumptions

  • internal mental processes can and should be scientifically studied
  • the mind works like a computer
  • mental processes occurring between a stimulus and a response must be acknowledged
• inference 


  going beyond immediate evidence to make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed
• schema 


  a cognitive framework; a collection of ideas about a person or situation this is formed by experience
• how are schema useful

  • helps understand and predict environments
  • guides expectations of behaviour in different situations
  • organises and interprets information in the brain
  • helps make sense of new information
  • allows us to take shortcuts when interpreting large amounts of information
• how can schema cause distortions

  • focuses only on what confirms our pre-existing ideas (confirmation bias)
  • excludes important information not conforming to established ideas
  • develops stereotypes difficult to disconfirm
  • fills in gaps in the absence of full information - creates false memories
• Brewer and Treyens 1981 procedure

  • laboratory experiment
  • Participants went into a room they believed was the experimenters office
  • 30 - 50 seconds later ...
  • they were asked to write down everything they could remember about the room
• Brewer and Treyens 1981 findings

  • most participants remembered the schematic items
  • many remembered non-schematic items
  • some recalled things which weren't in the room but could fit into the schema
• Brewer and Treyens 1981 evaluation


  scientific experiment; low ecological validity
• theoretical model 


  simplified representations of a particular mental process
• computer model


  input -> processing and storage -> output
• cognitive neuroscience


  it aims to find a biological basis for mental processes / cognitive functions
• PET scans 


  radioactive tracers absorbed in bloodstream, the active areas utilise the glucose more / at a higher rate
• fMRI scans 


  magnetic field and radio signals monitor brain blood flow ; active areas have a greater blood oxygenation
• Maguire et al 2000 procedure

  MRI scans taken of 16 male taxi drivers and of 50 male non-taxi drivers
• Maguire et al 2000 findings

  • the hippocampus was significantly larger which shows association with navigational skills
  • the hippocampus volume positively correlated with time as a taxi driver
• hippocampus 


  plays a role in the short term memory and spatial navigation
• cognitive neuroscience evaluation


  uses scientific and objective measures - added credibility
• cognitive approach strength 


  scientific methods used; development of a successful development;
• cognitive approach weakness 


  oversimplifies complex processes; lacks ecological validity; relies on inference
• Cognitive approach issues and debates:

  soft determinism

  interactionist approach - nature and nurture

  reductionist

  nomothetic

  scientific