cognitive approach ao3

supports psychology as a scientific discipline

• strength is that it supports psychology as a scientific discipline

• cognitive has contributed towards credible scientific basis of psychology, seen through controlled and rigorous empirical methods such as the use of lab experiments to produce reliable, objective data

• emergence of cognitive neuroscience has allowed biology and cognitive psychology to come together

• this is a strength because unseen mental processes can be studied in a scientific and objective manner

successful and diverse applications

• strength is that has a number of successful applications

• for example, it’s expanded our knowledge on Psychology, offering explanations for dysfunctional behaviour like depression and underpinning its causes, leading to successful cognitive based therapies

• in addition, cognitive psych has been used within EWT research, this technique is used to improve accuracy of eyewitness testimony

• this highlights how the principles of cognitive psychology have had useful applications on a number of settings

methodology and issues with validity

• limitation, methodology used leads to issues with validity, seen through the use of lab settings within research, which reduce internal and ecological validity

• for example, participants in fMRI studies are placed in loud and claustrophobic environments, whilst attempting to complete tasks, however in other studies participants are told to ‘verbalise’ their thoughts

• this is a limitation as the techniques used can reduce both internal and ecological validity of the findings

mechanistic approach

• limitation is that it’s been accused of having an over-simplistic, mechanistic view of human behaviour

• unlike humans, computers do NOT forget, make mistakes or ignore available info

• furthermore, researchers haven’t been able to create algorithms or programs for ‘mood’ and ‘feeling’, eg, computers don’t get stressed or tired

• therefore, this questions the usefulness of the approach as an explanation of human behaviour