Cognitive Approach

The cognitive approach provides the ‘missing-link’ left by the behaviourists, that mental process between stimulus and response. What happens between receiving information about our environment and acting upon it. To fill in this gap, the cognitive model generally adopts an information processing approach, comparing mental functions to the latest developments in computer hardware.

The main features/beliefs of the cognitive approach are:

Behaviour is influenced by thoughts that can be both conscious and non-conscious – internal mental processes.
Mental processes are information processing and the processing can be compared to that of a computer.
Models can be used to provide testable theories about mental processing and these can be studied scientifically and inferences made.
Cognition and biological processes can be integrated leading to cognitive neuroscience as a way forward to understanding human behaviour.
Methodology – use of controlled experimentation – inference about mental processes on the basis of observed behaviour.

Schemas (strictly speaking schemata)

Schemas are the basis of our ideas. Faced with a novel situation we can rely on existing schemas as a guide. I may not have been to a wedding before but I still have expectations of what will happen; a bride, a groom, a ring, speeches, dad dancing and a punch up in the car park! Strictly speaking our schemas for events are called scripts. Those for groups of people are called stereotypes. When faced with a novel situation or unfamiliar face they allow us to make snap decisions with little or no mental effort.

Strengths of schemas:

schemas help us predict what will happen in our world based on our experiences
schemas enable us to process vast amounts of information rapidly
schemas prevent us from becoming overwhelmed by environmental stimuli.

Weaknesses of schemas:

schema can distort our interpretation of sensory information
schema lead to perceptual errors or inaccurate EWT / memories
schema can cause biased recall / see what we expect
negative / faulty schema may have a negative impact on mental health

As you may see from the problems with schemas, they are not always ideal, and it’s important for schemas to develop and change. Jean Piaget believed that we change schemas all of the time as children. For example, if a child sees a chicken for the first time it will learn the schema that all chickens have feathers, a beak, wings and claw like feet. When the child sees a duck for the first time they may call it a chicken. They have applied the schema, but it doesn’t fit. The child will then develop a new schema that learns that ducks are birds that live in ponds and have feathers and a beak etc.

Stereotypes are the perfect example of where schemas can go wrong. They may be based on previous experiences, but they are not always accurate. Schemas may not change due to people disregarding information that doesn’t fit neatly into existing schemas whilst focusing on that that does.

How the Cognitive Approach studies behaviour:

The cognitive approach utilizes controlled experiments to understand cognitive processes. The mind is unobservable, you cant open up someone’s brain and see what they are thinking in little speech bubbles. We can only infer cognitive processes by observing behaviour and talking to people.

Inference is a key aspect of the cognitive approach. This involves going beyond the immediate evidence to make assumptions about mental processes that cannot be directly observed.

For example, one piece of research which we will cover in the memory course is a study by Loftus and Palmer.

Loftus and Palmer (1974)
EXPERIMENT 1:

Loftus had a sample of 45 American students recruited via a self-selected sample – advertised at he university – could potentially earn course credit. All participants were shown the same 7 film clips of different traffic accidents which were originally made as part of a driver safety film.

After each clip participants were given a questionnaire which asked them firstly to describe the accident and then answer a series of questions about the accident. There was one critical/leading question in the questionnaire: “About how fast were the cars going when they hit each other?” One group was given this question while the other 4 groups were given the verbs “smashed’, ‘collided’, ‘contacted’ or ‘bumped’, instead of ‘hit’.

Results: Mean speed estimates in mph for the verbs used in the critical/leading question

Smashed 40.8
Collided 39.3
Bumped 38.1
Hit 34.0
Contacted 31.8

Conclusion: It was concluded that Response bias had occurred – The verb used in a question doesn’t influence the memory of the event, but instead influences a participant’s response i.e. the way a question is phrased influences the answer given. The leading question is used as a clue, which leads them to answer in a particular way.

This is an example of where the cognitive approach uses a highly controlled lab experiment in order to make inferences about memory. Although we can be pretty sure that the verb caused the participant to increase their speed estimate, we cannot know this for sure. This is because our minds are unobservable. In inference also means that it is simply an interpretation, this means there could be other reasons for the speed increase. For example, the driving experience of the participants could have influenced the accuracy of the speed given, and not the verb!

Cognitive Neuroscience

Brings psychology into the twenty first century! It combines our study of behaviour and the very latest understanding of the brain. Cognitive Neuroscience is the Scientific study of brain/neurological structures, mechanisms, processes, chemistry and understanding how these aspects of the brain are responsible for certain cognitive/mental/thinking processes.

Early examples go back to the nineteenth century and the work of Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke who isolated areas of the left hemisphere of the brain involved in language production and understanding respectively. We will also look at the working memory model of STM that has shown there to be links between executive functions and the prefrontal cortex.

Modern scanning techniques such as fMRI are allowing for ever-more detailed analyses of brain areas and combined with other experimental techniques is allowing for an unprecedented understanding of the links between brain function and behaviour.

Cognitive Neuroscience has many practical applications including:

Use of scanning/imaging techniques eg to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain leading to treatment for memory problems
Use of scanning/imaging techniques to study mental processing patients with depression or OCD or in children with autism or dyslexia
Use of imaging techniques and angiography to study the effects of normal ageing on the brain or to observe the effects of stroke on the brain
Use of computer simulations/computational modelling to test theories or hypotheses about mental processes such as attention, memory, problem solving etc
Use of computer modelling to develop voice recognition programmes
Use of eye-tracking/motion-tracking to study visual word processing and reading

Evaluation of the Cognitive Approach

Strengths:

Scientific methods: The cognitive approach attempts a scientific explanation and adopts a scientific methodology. Because it uses scientific methods its theories and assumptions are testable and more objective than those of the psychodynamic approach. For example the study by Loftus & Palmer and all of the studies within the MSM such as Peterson & Peterson and Baddeley. They all use lab experiments in order to understand the cognitive process of memory. This is a key strength of the cognitive approach because there is a high degree of control over variables which means that cause and effect can be established. In addition, variables are operationalised to make measurements accurate and objective. Standardisation of procedures means research can be replicated to enhance reliability.

Useful Applications: Cognitive psychology has numerous applications. As part of the memory topic we will learn about the cognitive interview technique for improving Eyewitness Testimony. Kohnken et al. (1999) – Carried out a meta-analysis of 42 studies and found that the Cognitive Interview gave consistently more accurate information in comparison to the Standard Interview. Improves credibility of the technique. This means that police departments and courtrooms can improve the accuracy of testimony and ensure a fair trial. Research has supported its effectiveness in increasing amount and accuracy of recall. In addition, during the psychopathology unit we will learn how the cognitive approach has been widely applied in the treatment of depression and anxiety and stress disorders. CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) combining cognitive and behaviourist approaches tackles the thought processes behind unwanted or abnormal behaviour. David et al (2008) Using 170 patients suffering from major depressive disorder that were treated using REBT had better outcomes than those treated with anti-depressants 6 months after treatment. This makes the treatment more useful because it ensures that the individual does not need to return to be treated again.
Further useful applications: The cognitive approach spurred the development of Cognitive Neuroscience which has been used to gain even further insight into how the mind and brain are connected. Previously the mind was seen as separate from the brain, but now it is the common belief that they are very much intertwined. As you can see from the notes above, Cognitive Neuroscience have many useful applications. For example, Use of scanning/imaging techniques eg to locate different types of memory in different areas of the brain leading to treatment for memory problems
Further Useful Applications: Another strength of the cognitive explanation of behaviour is it’s usefulness within the real world. For example, studies like Peterson and Peterson (1959) have lead to the development of educational theories on retrieval practise, highlighting the importance of rehearsal in learning, and the theory of cognitive load, based on the computer model that our minds can only process so much at once. These both come from the cognitive approach and have lead to improvements within the education system and teaching. This is a strength of the approach because it highlights how beneficial it is within society, by improving teaching and making education more effective, this will result in better outcomes for younger generations both within academic achievements and also post school choices.

Weaknesses:

Alternative Explanations: A weakness of the cognitive approach is the alternative explanation of the biological approach to explain behaviour. Early Cognitive psychologists place an emphasis on the concept of the mind and how the internal mental processes cause behaviours. For example, Beck’s negative triad explains that negative thought processes are what lead to symptoms of depression. In comparison, Gottesman (2010) found that the risk of mental illness was much greater for children who had of two parents with a diagnosis of bipolar, thus suggesting that there is likely to be a biological element to the development of mental disorders, which isn’t considered by early cognitive psychology. As a consequence, this suggests that the cognitive approach doesn’t provide a full enough explanation of all behaviours and that other approaches needs to be considered with cognitive theories to ensure their accuracy. However (this point must be included!) it can be argued that the later development of cognitive neuroscience resulted in the integration of the mind and brain working together to cause behaviour, allowing for a more interactionist perspective and therefore a more accurate depiction of the causes of behaviour.
Internal mental processes aren’t observable (unscientific- use as a challenge) However, it is worth recognising that there are aspects of this approach which could be argued to be less scientific. Internal mental processes are located within the mind, which is an unobservable concept, therefore suggesting that regardless of highly controlled lab studies, the approach is still lacking in the empirical method, a feature of science.
Subjectivity of the approach: The main disadvantage of the cognitive approach is that it refers to cognitive processes that we cannot directly observe. It relies heavily on inference. Critics of Loftus and Palmer’s leading questions experiments pointed to the validity of the re constructive memory hypothesis, as we cannot be sure that memory has changed as the researchers couldn’t observe memories, but only the answers given – which may have been the result of demand characteristics, or even poor judgement of speed. Therefore, the cognitive approach may lack being scientific on the basis that it is subjective in what is taken from findings. Assuming that findings are the result of invisible processes is heavily subjective and therefore the internal validity being raised as issues.
Reductionist: A weakness of the cognitive approach is it takes a reductionist perspective of behaviour. Lab studies and a high control of variables mean that the psychologist tend to only be looking at one aspect of behaviour at a time, rather than how many factors interact to cause a behaviour. As a consequence this may mean that the approach misses the complexity of human behaviour and context behind behaviour and therefore might not be as accurate when explaining certain phenomena.
Nomothetic approach: whilst these theories have been developed to be applied to the wider population, it can be argued that this doesn’t apply to everyone and taking a nomothetic approach isn’t an accurate way to apply psychological knowledge. Craik & Watkins suggest that elaborative rehearsal, where you connect a memory to a previous memory, results in the greatest recall therefore suggesting that a more idiographic approach to applying the cognitive approach would be better.
Low ecological validity due to high use of lab experiments: Artificiality of the situation impacts on ecological validity; ecological validity often affected by narrowness of dependent variables so that sight is lost of behaviour as a whole. Studies such as Loftus and Palmer and Peterson and Peterson use artificial stimuli – eg nonsense words / ambiguous figures, and this means that the approach may not be an accurate explanation of behaviour when applied to real situations of cognitive processes such as memory. In addition, the awareness of participation means people taking part may exhibit demand characteristics which could affect the validity of the research. If the research to support the approach can be questioned, then the credibility of the cognitive approach can also be questioned.