Cognitive Approach

• there are two assumptions of the cognitive approach

  • that psychology must study mental processes
  • that the mind works like a computer, processing stimuli like inputs and then the behaviour is like an output (the information processing model)
• An inference is when psychologists make conclusions about mental processes, based on observations of behaviour
• Cognitive psychologists measure behaviour and then make inferences about how mental processes work. These inferences allow us to support or reject theoretical cognitive models. Inference is also used to adjust and refine cognitive models/theories.
• weakness - machine reductionism

  although there are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a computer, they are not the same
• assimilation in the context of a schema is when a new experience matches our schema and is incorporated into the schema
• accommodation in the context of a schema is when we change our schema to match new information that does not fit with the current schema
• three main mental processes PAM

  • perception (processing stimuli in the environment)
  • attention (selecting stimuli to focus on)
  • memory (storing information)
• Theoretical models are used to make inferences about how mental processes work

  and are tested by measuring behaviour (such as schema theory)
• schema theory

  cognitive processing can be affected by a person's beliefs or expectations (also known as their schema)

  • they act as a mental framework for new information, helping you to respond to a stimulus in a way you find appropriate
  • babies are born with simple motor schema but as we grow up, our schema becomes more detailed and complex
  • schema helps us to process lots of information quickly, preventing us from getting overwhelmed BUT can also distort our interpretations of sensory information
• Bartlett : support for the existence of schemas

  • got participants to read a Navajo folk tale called 'The War of the Ghosts'
  • then got them to recall the events of the tale and measured how many details they got wrong
  • he found that participants changed many details of the story in order to match their own schemas
• Strength: scientific

  • the cognitive approach is scientific
  • this is because cognitive psychologists make inferences based on observable behaviour, which can provide empirical evidence
  • most studies are laboratory studies which allow for high control over extraneous variables
  • theories made are also falsifiable
• Strength: can be applied to the treatment of mental disorders

  • cognitive theories are embedded within cognitive behavioural therapy techniques
• Limitation: ignores individual differences

  • the cognitive approach ignores the possibility of there being individual differences in people's mental processes