Assumptions & Key Concepts of the Cognitive Approach

What is the cognitive approach?

A key aspect of the approach links to the term ‘cognitive’ has come to mean ‘mental processes’, so this approach is focused on how our mental (e.g. though, perceptions, attention) affects behaviour.

What does the cognitive approach involve the study of?

Internal mental processes (IMP)

• Memory

• Thinking

• Attention

• Perception

What are the key assumptions of the cognitive approach?

• Internal mental processes (e.g. memory, perception, thinking, attention) can, and should, be studied scientifically

• These processes are ‘private’ and cannot be observed so they’re studied indirectly by making inferences about what’s going on inside people’s minds based off of their behaviour

• Humans can be seen as data processing systems

• The working of a computer and the human mind are alike - they encode and store information, and have outputs

Why are mental processes (e.g. memory, thinking, attention, perception) internal ?

Since psychologists know they’re happening, but they can’t be directly observed in the same way that biological processes (e.g. brain structures) can.

How do you investigate Internal Mental Processes (IMP)?

Researchers must conduct research and make inference from their findings, e.g.

• Peterson & Peterson (1959) inferred that STM has a duration of around 18 seconds, but they could not prove this

• Beck's cognitive triad infers that depression is based on dysfunctional thought processes, but there is no absolute proof of this

What is a schema?

Mental cognitive frameworks that help us to organise, store and interpret information which are about ourselves and the world.

What schemas are babies born with?

Simple motor schema for innate behaviours such as sucking and grasping.

What happens to our schemas as we get older?

They become more detailed and sophisticated. Adults have developed mental representations for everything from the concept of psychology to a schema for what happens in a restaurant or what a typical zombie looks like. Our schemas are unique to each individual as their experience of the world is unique to them.

Why are schemas useful?

They allow us to predict what may happen and are based on previous experience

• e.g. 'I've been on a beach holiday before so I know to pack lots of SPF'

They act as a mental framework for the interpretation of incoming information

• e.g. 'I can see lots of car brake lights, which means I'm in for a long wait in a traffic jam...'

They facilitate the speedy processing of information

• They’re like shortcuts that prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

Why might schemas not be useful?

Schema may distort our interpretations of sensory information, leading to perceptual errors (systematic, often unconscious, inaccuracies) or inaccurate EWT/memories.

What is a computer model?

Refers to the process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition.

What do schemas cause us to exclude?

Anything that doesn’t conform to our established ideas about the world, (e.g. a female car mechanic) focusing instead on things that confirm our pre-existing beliefs and ideas.

What are the two types of models used in the cognitive approach and what are the use of models?

Theoretical and computer models

• To explain human behaviour

• To make inferences about mental processes

What is a computer model?

The process of using computer analogies as a representation of human cognition.

• E.g. the computer model was used as a way to represent the processes taking place in the human mind

• Just as a computer receives inputs, has a central processor and produces outputs, the human mind receives information, manipulates this information in some way and then outputs the data

Why are models of mental process that appear as a series of boxes and arrows to show the flow of information through cognitive systems useful?

Because they mean that abstract processes can be represented as concrete images to make invisible processes visible.

What is a theoretical model?

Simplified, using pictorial or verbal representations of a particular mental process based on current evidence.

• E.g. Multi-store model of Memory

• The models can be used to test different components individually and thus make necessary amendments to refine them

What is an inference?

The process whereby cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour.

• E.g. The models of memory are the ‘best guesses’ of what memory looks like and have been inferred by carrying out many research studies

What are the strengths of the cognitive approach?

It uses objective scientific methods

• Highly controlled laboratory studies, producing reliable and objective data that allows researchers to infer cognitive processes

Cognitive neuroscience support

• The development of cognitive neuroscience has strengthened the scientific basis of the cognitive approach, increasing its credibility, especially on the study of the mind

It has a practical application

• Provides a framework for understanding and offering effective treatment for depression. Beck’s cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is based on the negative triad (negative views of the self, world, and future), which explains how depression develops. CBT challenges these negative cognitions using evidence, leading to changes in behaviour. NICE recommends CBT as a first-line treatment for depression in the UK, supporting the value of the cognitive approach

What are the limitations of the cognitive approach?

It’s based on machine reductionism

• There are similarities between the human mind and the operations of a ‘thinking machine’ such a a computer (inputs and outputs, storage systems and use of a central processor)

• But the computer analogy has been criticised, such machine reductionism ignores the influence of human emotion and motivation on the cognitive system, and how this may negatively affect our ability to process information

• For instance, research has found that human memory may be affected by emotional factors such as the influence of anxiety on eyewitnesses

• This suggests that machine reductionism may weaken the validity of the cognitive approach