Cognitive Approach - Summary Notes

Cognitive Approach

  • Developed by Ulric Neisser, affiliated with George Miller.
  • Neisser's 1967 book, 'Cognitive Psychology,' made him the "Father of Cognitive Psychology."
  • Key Theorists include: Edward Tolman, Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, Donald Meichenbaum, Jerome Bruner, and Atkinson & Shiffrin.

Key Assumptions

  • Internal Mental Processes: Humans use cognitive processes to understand the world.
    • Processes include memory, language, attention, decision-making, and perception, occurring rapidly and often automatically.
    • Introspection is used to study these processes (e.g., Griffiths (1994) study on gamblers).
  • Computer Analogy: Compares the human mind to a computer.
    • Input (senses), storage, and retrieval of information.
    • Atkinson and Shiffrin's (1968) multi-store model of memory: sensory, short-term, and long-term memory.
  • Schemas: Knowledge packets that change with experience.
    • Scripts: Expectations for how certain situations unfold.
    • Dion et al. (1972) found physically attractive individuals are often judged as having other positive attributes.

Schemas - Reconstructive Memory

  • War of the Ghosts Study (Bartlett, 1932):
    • Participants recalled less over time (Shortening).
    • Rationalization: Making the story sensible to them.
    • Confabulation: Changing unfamiliar parts to familiar ideas.
    • Memory is reconstructive, not reproductive.

Cognitive Priming

  • Berkowitz (1984): Exposure to violent media primes aggressive thoughts.
  • Influences decisions and behavior.
  • Luxury brands use minimalist designs to prime customers to think of exclusivity, justifying higher prices.

Role of Cognitive Scripts

  • Cognitive script: Set of behaviors and expectations for events.
  • Acquired through experience or taught.
  • Depend on memory scripts and person perceptions.
  • Example: Dining at a restaurant has a social script and protocol.

Cognitive Bias

  • Introduced by Tversky and Kahneman in 1972.
  • Systematic deviations from rationality.

Common Cognitive Biases

  • Fundamental Attribution Error: Attributing behavior to internal characteristics, overlooking external factors.
  • Confirmation Bias: Seeking information that confirms existing beliefs.
  • Hostile Attribution Bias: Interpreting ambiguous actions as hostile.

Cognitive Processes

  • Perception: Processing information and giving it meaning.
  • Attention: Selecting and focusing on stimuli.
  • Information processing: Compiling captured information.
  • Memory: Retaining information for later use.
  • Cognitive processes allow the brain to process information, register it, retrieve it, and learn.