Cognitive approach

• What does the cognitive approach argue?

  Internal mental processes can and should be studied scientifically
• What areas of behaviour does the cognitive approach investigate that were neglected by behaviourists?

  Memory, perception and thinking
• How do cognitive psychologists study internal mental processes?

  Indirectly by making inferences
• How do cognitive psychologists make inferences?

  On the basis of observable behaviour
• What are inferences?

  Drawing logical conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
• What is cognitive neuroscience?

  The scientific study of biological structures that underpin cognitive processes
• What is a schema?

  A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing developed from experience
• What are internal mental processes?

  'Private' operations of the mind that mediate between stimulus and response
• What are examples of internal mental processes?

  Perception and attention
• Schema are 'packages' of ideas and information developed through experience
• Schema act as mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information
• Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours
• What happens to our schema as we get older?

  Becomes more detailed and sophisticated
• What do schema enable us to do?

  Process lots of information quickly
• Why are schema useful?

  They're a mental shortcut that prevents us being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli
• What is a problem with schema?

  May distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading to perceptual errors
• What do cognitive psychologists use to understand internal mental processes?

  Theoretical and computer models
• What are theoretical models?

  Abstract
• What are computer models?

  Concrete things
• What is an example of a theoretical model?

  Information processing approach (multi-store model)
• What is an example of a computer model?

  Artificial intelligence
• Computer models involve programming a computer to see if instructions produce a similar output to humans
• What is the cognitive approach?

  A way of explaining behaviour based on mental processes