cognitive approach

key principles/assumptions

• Mechanistic approach - invention of computer allowed cognitive psychologists to have terminology and metaphor needed to investigate human mind

• Use of computer as a tool for thinking how the human mind handles information is the computer analogy - computer codes information, stores information, uses information and produces an output

• Paradigm shift - dissatisfaction with behaviourist approach as it does not discuss internal processes, development of better experimental methods

• Use of computer models helps infer about internal processing, refers to this in stages and significant in development of AI

• Scientific study of the mind as an information processor - concerns how we take in information from outside world and make sense of that information

• Focus on studying mental processes - how people perceive, think, remember, learn, solve problems, make decisions

• Cognitive psychologists build up cognitive models of information processing that goes on in people's minds including perception, attention, language, memory, thinking and consciousness - helps make inferences about behaviour

• Abnormal behaviours are result of distorted thinking and faulty information processing

KEY ASSUMPTIONS

internal mental processes can be studied scientifically

mental processes can involve the schema

theoretical and computer models can be used

possible to make inferences about mental processes

neural mechanisms combine with cognitive processes in cognitive neuroscience

how is the mind studied?

• Scientific measures - lab experiments are objective and test behaviours in controlled environments

• Use of brain scanning techniques to map the brain

nomothetic vs idiographic?

• Nomothetic - attempts to generalise people, use objective knowledge, based on numerical/categorical data

• Idiographic - focuses on recognition of uniqueness, subjective experiences , study of uniqueness of individual

• Cognitive approach applies nomothetic approach to discover cognitive processes but also idiographic techniques for case studies

patient HM

studied by Scoville and Milner 1957

• Underwent a lobotomy in 1953 due to his epilepsy

• Removed large part of hippocampus

• Unable to form new memories after surgery

• Many who were lobotomised were women as the passivity that lobotomies introduced made women ideal wives

what is a schema

• A packet of information/cognitive framework that helps us organize and interpret information based on previous experience

  • Babies are born with simple motor schema for innate behaviours (sucking, grasping)

• Helps us filter and process information quickly

• Helps us respond to situations quickly

• Becomes more detailed and sophisticated as we grow older and influences our beliefs and expectations

• Positive as it helps us predict what will happen based on previous experience and so we can process vast amounts of information quickly

  • Prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli

• Negative as negative/faulty schema may lead to mental disorders like depression, biases can affect EWT and memories, cause biased recall

STM forgetting curve

• Lloyd and Margaret Peterson (1959) discovered that short-term memory lasts around 15-30 seconds

• Tested participants to remember and recall three letters

• After 3 seconds 80% could recall them, after 18 secs only 10% could

• Forgetting - all semantic memories are subject to negatively exponential forgetting curve, once learnt memories are permanent our ability to recall them diminishes over time

McGurk effect

• All of our senses work together to produce our experience

• Sometimes certain senses override others

• If someone says ba ba ba, if we lip read tha tha tha - that is what we will hear

• Auditory and visual components are mismatched

cognitive neuroscience

• Scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processing

• Essentially aiming to understand what parts of the brain are responsible for what cognitive processes

  • Damage to area of frontal lobe (Broca's area) can result in issues with speech production

• Only around for past 25 years as we developed more sophisticated ways of measuring brain activity

• Helpful in understanding neurological basis of mental health

• Could be used in court - can we tell when someone is lying by looking at the brain

strengths

• Scientific methods

  • Lab studies - produce reliable and objective data

  • Research well controlled - high internal validity - procedures standardised enables easy replication

  • Emergence of cognitive neuroscience has credible scientific basis

  • Empirical scientific experimental studies support theories as single variables are isolated and tested 

• Highly applicable and useful applications especially in development of therapies like CBT and improving Eyewitness testimony

  • Applied to both practical and theoretical contexts - AI, robots and more

• Combines easily with approaches - behaviourism + cognitive = SLT, biological + cognitive = evolutionary psychology

  • Takes into consideration internal mental processes unlike behaviourist approach

• Soft determinism - behaviour determined by computer processor - some choice over what we pay attention to and input into brain

  • Some free will is combined with determinism of what our cognitive system can do

weaknesses

• Reductionist - machine reductionism as human mind compared to computer - simplistic

  • Ignores influence of human emotion and motivation - this may affect our cognitive ability

  • Memory can be influenced by these factors

• Relies on inferences of mental processes not observable behaviour - suffer from being too abstract

  • Lab experiments - low ecological validity and mundane realism as tasks used to test mental abilities are contrived

real-world applications

• Improved Eyewitness testimony as more knowledge on accuracy of memory so implemented strategies to help with this

• Artificial intelligence - science and engineering of making intelligent machines and intelligent computer programmes - Turing created Enigma in this way

  • Copy human mental processes

• Creation of robots - creating intelligent machines to be like people

• Cognitive interview - police gain more effective accounts of crimes from witnesses

  • Use of different techniques to test to see if alibi or story remains the same during interrogation 

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - NHS - combination of perspectives where individuals are taught to think differently about problems they face and put this into practice

• Emergence of neuroscience and brain mapping - helps understanding of brain

• Education - helping students with cognitive deficiencies/differences in memory and attention

• Military training

• Speech therapy - helps with cognitive deficits