cognitive approach

Assumption 1 of the cognitive approach

The computer analogy

Computer analogy

Human mind is comparable to a computer

How we take information - input

Store it or change it - process

Recall it - output

Hardware - the mind

Software - the mental process

Why are humans not completely like a computer

Humans have emotions and other factors that interfere with processing and output

Multi store memory model

Information enters the brain through senses

Then it moves to the short-term memory

Then to the long-term memory store.

When the information is retrieved it becomes output

Assumption 2

Internal mental processes

Internal mental processes

Humans do not just passively respond to their environment but that our minds actively organise and manipulate the information we receive in important ways

They are interested in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output

Our behaviour is determined by the way we process information

Investigating internal mental process

Wilhelm Wundt opened the institute for experimental psychology at the university of Leipzig in germany in 1879

This was the first laboratory dedicated to psychology

What is introspection

Its a way of studying and trying to measure thoughts and feelings as some argue it is not valid as it is very subjective

Summarise griffiths cognitive explanation for gambling

Asked people to ‘think aloud’ whilst on a fruit machine to assess their thoughts and feelings whilst gambling

The study found that gamblers used more irrational verbalisations

Perception

A process that allows people to take in information through their senses and then utilise this information to respond and interact with the world

Attention

A process that allows people to focus on a specific stimulus in the environment

Memory

A process that allows people to encode, store and retrieve information it is a critical component in the learning process and allows people to retain knowledge

Language

Processes that involve the ability to understand and express thoughts spoken and written words it allows us to commicate with others and plays an important role in thought

Thinking

A process that allows people to engage in decision making problem solving and higher reasoning

Assumption 3

Schemata

Schemata

Mental structures that represent an aspect of the world such as an object or event

They help us to make sense of the world by providing short cuts to identifying things that we come across

Without schemata we would struggle to navigate the world

Schemata are generated both through both past experiences and through interactions with people and the world around us

Schemata can be the basis for stereotypes and cause of sexism and racism

Schemata supporting evidence

Allport and postman (1947)

They investigated the effect of stereotypes on recall

In their study they showed white participants the following picture of a black person being held at knifepoint by a white man

When asked to recall the event however they misremembered the black man as the mugger

Schemas matching hypothesis

The matching hypothesis argues that romantic relationships are formed between two people who are equal or very similar terms of social desirably

This theory suggest that people assess their own value and male ‘realistic choices’ by selecting partners who are on the same level of attraction

Internal mental processes - self perception

Internal mental processes are essential in relationship formation particularly self perception and the perception we have of others

The way we believe other to be will determine whether we desire to enter into a relationship with them

Schemas halo effect

The knowledge we have about other people may govern how we feel and act towards them

Dion (1972) demonstrated that people believe that physically attractive people halo have attractive personal qualities

Internal mental process - memory

If we have positive memories of past relationships we may be driven to form new relationships

Whereas if memory are negative and we remember being hurt we may be very reluctant to form new relationships even with people who we like

Negative cognitive triad

Proposed by beck

This involved a negative view of the self

A negative view of the world

And a negative view of the future

Main components of cbt

Combines both cognitive and behaviourist techniques in order to help clients

The cognitive element

The therapist works with the client to help identify negative thoughts that are contributing to their problems

The behavioural element

The therapist encourages the client to engage in reality testing either during the session or as homework

Both client and therapist play an active role in the therapy in particular the client will have to work on various things outside of the therapeutic setting to aid their recovery

How CBT links to the assumptions

CBT is concerned with internal mental process

It aims to alter how we process information

Cognitive reconstruction can alter behaviour

Assumes that mental illness can be explained mostly through schemas

Dysfunctional thought diary

Clients are given ‘homework’ to keep records of events leading up to emotional distress

Record the immediate negative thoughts then rate how much they believe them 0-100%

Clients then write a ‘rational’ response to the negative thoughts

Then the clients go back and re-rate the original thought

Cognitive restructuring

Once clients reveal more of their thought process the therapist and client work to change negative thoughts patterns ‘therapy during therapy’ they work and challenge automatic thoughts with rational reasoning then replace them with constructive thoughts with

Pleasant activity scheduling

Client asked to schedule one positive activity for each day of the week this should promote more positive emotions and hence disassociate from negative thoughts - behavioural activation

They then keep a record of the experience and if it was good they try to apply positive thinking

Evaluation of CBT - effectiveness - research support

There is a large body of evidence to suggest that CB

Evaluation of CBT - effectiveness - individual differences

CBT may be suitable to some people than others

This needs to be taken into consideration when examining effectiveness

CBT is less suitable for people who have high levels of irrational beliefs that are both ridged and resistant to change

Also less suitable where high levels of stress in the individual reflect realistic stressors in the persons life that therapy cannot resolve

Evaluation of CBT - effectiveness - empowerment

CBT empowers clients to develop their own coping strategies and recognises that people have free will to do this

CBT is becoming increasingly popular alternative to drug therapy and psychoanalysis

CBT has become the most widely used therapy in the NHS

Classic evidence

Loftus and palmer

Experiment 1 L+P

To see if the speed estimates given by participant upon watching a video of a car crash would be influenced by the wording of a question

experiment 2 L+P

They also wanted to see if the leading questions changed the responses given to the question

And wether their memories had actually altered as a result of leading questions

Methodology L+P

Two experiments - laboratory

Independent groups design

Experiment 1 - 45 participants

Experiment 2 - 150 student participants

Procedure experiment 1 L+P

45 student participants - shown short video clips

Split into 5 groups with 9 participants in each group

All were asked ‘about how fast were the cars going when they ____ each-other’

Each group was given a different verb to fill the blank

Smashed, collided, bumped, hit, contacted

IV - verb used

DV - estimate of speed given

Procedure experiment 2 L+P

Investigating whether leading questions bias a person response or actually alter memory that is stored

Part 1:

150 participants were shown a short film that showed a multi-car vehicle car accident then they were asked questions about it

Split evenly into 3 groups

1 - how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?

2 - how fast were the cars going when they smashed into each other?

3 - not asked about the speed

Part 2:

One week later all participants returned and were asked

‘Did you see any broken glass’ - there was no broken glass

Finding experiment 1 L+P

Shamed - 40.8

Collided - 39.3

Bumped - 38.1

Hit - 34

Contacted - 31.8

Findings experiment 2 - L+P

Smashed - yes - 16 - no - 34

Hit - yes - 7 - no - 43

Control - yes - 6 - no - 44

Conclusions L+P - response bias factors

The different speed estimates occur because the critical work influences or biases a persons response

Conclusions L+P - memory representation is altered

The critical word changes a persons memory so that their perspective of the accident is affected

Different critical words could lead someone to have a different perception

Findings from experiment 2 suggest that the effect of leading questions is not the result of response bias but because leading questions actually alter the memory a person had for the event

Experiment 1 L+P conclusion

How the question was phrased influenced the participants speed estimates

Smashed faster than contacted

Experiment 2 L+P conclusion

The verb used in the original question influenced whether the particpants thought they had seen broken glass

Evaluation L+P methodology and procedures - controlled experiment

A laboratory experiment was used in both studies which allowed the experimenters to manipulate the independent variable and objectively measure the dependent variable

This high level of control increases internal validity as the experimenters were measuring what they set out to measure

Evaluation L+P methodology and procedures - ecological validity

This was low as it was a laboratory study and the participants knew they were taking part in an experiment

In real life situations there would have been an element of surprise

There would be and increase in emotion - such as fear, shock etc

And they would regularly not be questioned until quite some time later

Evaluation L+P methodology and procedures - the sample

The participants were US college students

Other groups of people may be more or less prone to being affected by misleading information than others

E.g. age difference

A number of studies have found that when comparing younger individuals, elderly people have difficultly remembering the source of their information

Evaluation L+P ethical and social implications - deception

Loftus and palmer used deception because if participants had been aware of the aims of the study it would of effected their behaviour

Their behaviour hence does not represent EWT in everyday life

The researchers justify deception in terms of the importance of this research as it had a profound effect on our understanding of EWT

No psychological harm and its unlikely knowing the true aim would of affected their participance

Evaluation L+P ethical issues and social implications - protection from harm

One of the criticism is that the participants did not witness a real accident but instead watched a clip

They means they may of responded different than an EW would in a real situation

Exposing participants to a real accident could have been very distressing leading to psychological harm

Evaluation L+P social implications

Unreliable EWT is costly both economically and to society, re-trails and compensation both mean the government have to spend a lot of both

If individuals are wrongfully convicted it also means that the real criminal is still in society and may go on to commit other crimes

Loftus and palmer lead to new developments in questioning techniques

EWT are no reliable

Bartlett (1932) suggested that although we think we remember accurately we are continuously trying to make sense of what is around us and memories tend to be assimilated into existing schemas

Repression is the unconscious forgetting of traumatic events, feelings and thoughts because they are too anxiety provoking to remember, memories are repressed as part of an ego - defence mechanism

A persons emotional response to a threat can mean they are unable to take in the whole scene

Kramaret (1990) found participants were less able to report information about facial features

EWT are reliable

Use of cognitive interview uses four strategies to maximise recall;

• reporting everything regardless of its persevered importance

• Mentally reinstalling the environmental and personal context that existed at the time of the crime

• Re-counting events in a variety of different orders

• Anxiety/stress is always associated with real-life crimes or violence

The stress performance relationship between recall and reliability - for tasks of moderate complexity performance increases with stress up to an optional point where it starts to decline this might explain why in staged crimes witnesses show low reliability but in real life recall can remain accurate

Yuille and cutshall (1989) showed how witnesses of a real armed robbery were influenced in their account of the crime when asked two leading questions were used, this suggests that stress does not always negatively influence EWT it is not representative of real life crime and as such it lacks external validity