cognitive approach

What’s the 4 basic assumptions of the cognitive approach

1 believes internal mental processes mediate between stimulus and response, can’t be directly observed so they make inferences.

2 people are information processors , the human mind actively organises and manipulates information which is taken from the environment

3.Mind operates In the same way as a computer (computer analogy) both code, store and output info

4.We make sense of the world through schemas which help us to organise information into groups

What’s a schema

Packages of ideas and information developed through experience ex. We have a schema of a chair that has 4 legs and is an object you sit on

What happends to our schema as we get older

Becomes more sophisticated and detailed

Why are schemas important

Mental shortcut that prevents us from being overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

Why can schemas be a disadvantage

They can distort our interpretation of information leading to perceptual errors

How is the mind like a computer

Computer receives input has a central processor and produces outputs

Human mind receives info manipulates this info in some way and then outputs it

What’s an inference

Mental processes can’t be directly observed so cognitive psychologists study them indirectly by making inferences (best guesses) about what’s going on inside someone’s mind based on their behaviour.