Cognitive approach

Cognitive approach

What is cognition?

The mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired (eg: memory, attention, motivation, etc)

What are the basic assumptions of the Cognitive approach?

• focuses on how people perceive, store + interpret info

• Cognition can/should be studied scientifically in controlled lab studies

• Our mental systems = limited capacity (eg: amount of info that can be processed = influenced by how demanding the task is + how much other info’s being processed)

• Humans use knowledge/experiences to understand the world (schemas)

• Humans actively organise + manipulate info from the environment + sensory experience (bottom up processing)

• Mental representations guide behaviour - beliefs, desires, past experiences = important in explaining human behaviour (schemas)

• Humans are cognitive misers

Cognitive approach

Describe the cognitive computer analogy:

• The minds = info processing machine: brain = hardware, mental representations= software

• Info enters through sense → like computers use a keyboard

• Signals are passed through brain (neurons) → like wires in computers

• Bain acts like the central processor in computers → encodes + stores info

• Info is passed back out of the brain for action (retrieval) → like output to a computer monitor

Cognitive approach

(also evaluation (machine reductionism))

What are the limitations of the computer analogy used in the cognitive approach?

• ignores role of emotion

• Human memory is unreliable, computer memory is not

• Humans are thought to have at least some free will, computers do not

Cognitive approach

what is cognitive neuroscience?

Aims to use brain imaging to map behaviour to brain function in an effort to identify where + how particular mental processes take place

Cognitive approach

What is ‘bottom up processing’?

taking in information, rather than it coming from ourselves

Cognitive approach

What does the assumption of humans being ‘information processers’ add on from the behaviourist approach?

what does ‘information processers’ mean?

• adds complexity - behaviourists ignore cognition

• we take information in from the environment and process it

Cognitive approach

What is meant by ‘cognitive misers’?

• humans are lazy and prone to bias

• don’t think rationally a lot of the time

How does cognitive approach suggest we scientifically study internal cognitive processes?

make inferences (draw conclusions about how mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour) by manipulating input + output bcs we can't empirically observe cognition

Cognitive approach

What is Cognitive neuroscience?

• Study of the neural basis of higher cognitive functions (memory, thinking, decision making)

• Objective, precise, empirical

• Often uses brain scanning

Cognitive approach

Cognitive neuroscience - Describe Maguire et al (2000)

• MRIs of 16 right-handed male London taxi drivers who had been driving for more than 1.5 years vs 50 healthy right-handed non-taxi drivers males (same mean age)

• Increased grey matter found in brains of taxi drivers vs controls in the posterior hippocampus (associated w/ spatial memory/navigation)

• Correlation found b/w amount of time spent as taxi driver + volume

• Brains = plastic

Cognitive approach

What is a schema and what purpose does it have?

• a model that contains all needed information about an object/action/concept, learned through experiences

• Allow us to make mental shortcuts to process infor quicker and to prevent being overwhelmed by incoming stimuli

Cognitive approach

How do schemas change as we learn?

• Assimilation: if consistent w/ existing knowledge, new info’s incorporated into existing schema

• Accommodation: in inconsistent w/ existing knowledge, new info put into a new schema/an existing schema is altered

Cognitive approach

what are the problems caused by schemas?

• Prejudice + stereotypes can develop which then affect interpretation of new info

• Can prevent learning of new info if we ignore info that we cannot fit into an existing schema

Cognitive approach

What are the 3 types of schema?

1. Role - ideas about behaviour that’s expected in certain roles/settings/situations → eg: schema for a doctor may be an intelligent, sensible person

2. Event/script - info about what happens in situations → eg: in a doctors you know you’ll probably have to sit in a waiting room, then be called in to the doctor

3. Self - info about ourselves based on physical characteristics/personality/beliefs/values → can affect how you act - eg: if self-schema says you’re health-conscious you’re likely to eat well + exercise regularly

Cognitive approach

Evaluation: practical applications?

is the leading theory when it comes to therapy. for number of different psychological disorders → cognitive processes being studied → CBT developed which is very effective at treating eg: depression + schizophrenia (March et al (2007) - 81% saw decrease in depression symptoms, NICE report = effective in reducing rehospitalisation rates for 1.5yrs after treatment) → cognitive approach’s practical applications improve quality of lfie

Cognitive approach

Evaluation: highly controlled and rigorous methods

enables researchers to make inferences about cognitive processes on the basis of  behaviour → w/ use of lab studies + the emergence of cognitive neuroscience (eg: Maguire et al (2000) psychologists = now able to map the brain + identify which functions are localised/lateralised BUT controlled lab studies lack mundane realism + eco val → limits application to IRL

Cognitive approach

Evaluation: alternative explanation?

evidence that human behaviour + psychological processes can be explained by biological processes → eg: the cognitive approach suggests depression is due to dysfunctional thought processes (ABC Model, Negative triad), BUT evidence of role of low serotonin (NT associated w/ feelings of happiness) → ALT = weakness of cognitive approach bcs suggests it’s incomplete

Cognitive approach

Evaluation: support for schemas

Bransford + Johnson (1972) → Ps who knew the title before hearing a passage about laundry had better comprehension/recall than the title after/no title after groups → supports schemas bcs suggests that the title = schema for passage → helped processing/storing new info bcs could relate to prior knowledge BUT potential for participant variables → separate groups design used → different Ps may know more/less about laundry →could affect their recall/comprehension

Cognitive approach

Evaluation: practical application for schemas

For teachers/education → when students are reminded of what they already know about a subject (schema) they can apply that to new information → will help them understand + remember better (Bransford + Johnson (1972)) → will help students to grasp new info