Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Psychology is the study of how the mind works. It looks at what it calls mediational processes (processes that occur in our minds), such as perception,
attention, memory, forgetting, learning, language and sometimes even
intelligence. The studies in this section cover a number of these. Loftus and Pickrell look at memory, for example. Baron-Cohen et al look at perception and how it is affected by autism, whereas Held and Hein study the development of perception in animals.
Do your own cognitive experiments!The Psytoolkit website has a great introduction to cognitive psychology and cognitive experiments.
Read here for a glossary of terms commonly used in cognitive research. Then try the tutorials and experiments here. Try them on your family and friends! |
After studying this section, you should be able to:
• describe and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology
• describe and evaluate the various methodologies used to study cognitive psychology
• describe and evaluate the various issues and debates appropriate to cognitive psychology
• describe the cognitive core studies in relation to methodology, approaches and perspectives, and issues and debates
• evaluate the cognitive core studies in relation to methodology, approaches and perspectives, and issues and debates
• describe and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology
• describe and evaluate the various methodologies used to study cognitive psychology
• describe and evaluate the various issues and debates appropriate to cognitive psychology
• describe the cognitive core studies in relation to methodology, approaches and perspectives, and issues and debates
• evaluate the cognitive core studies in relation to methodology, approaches and perspectives, and issues and debates
Evaluating an approach, using studies as evidenceA common question in Paper 1 is to evaluate the approach, using the studies you have covered as an example. E.g...
Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the cognitive psychology approach using one of the studies listed below as an example. [10]
A very common mistake here is for students to simply evaluate the study itself (e.g. saying the strengths and weaknesses of the Held and Hein study). This does not answer the question. You need to use the studies as examples, in order to evaluate THE APPROACH! Using the PEE structure can be very helpful here. For example: P - Make a point about a strength or weakness of the approach (e.g. see the ones given below) E - Give and example from one of the four studies you have covered, which helps to illustrate your point. E - Explain why this is a good/bad thing for the approach. |
Assignment 1 - Evaluating the Cognitive ApproachAnswer the question in the section on the left. If you need a model to guide you, use the example answer on the social psychology page. Write four developed PEE points, then submit your answer using the form on the home page.
Assignment 2 - The importance of the cognitive approach...
A sample paper 1 examination question on the cognitive approach focused on it's importance (in other words its strengths)
Read the answer in the document below, and mark it using the mark scheme at the bottom of the document. Write a mark and a brief justification for why you've give that mark. Submit your mark and comments to the appropriate document on the Google drive
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Cognitive approach studies dustbin game
Strengths of the cognitive approach
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Weaknesses of the cognitive approach
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RevisionRepetitions flashcards
The 'social approach studies' flashcard file is below. Save it to your computer or device and open it using the Repetitions program to use.
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ExtensionThe 'computer analogy', the idea that the mind operates like a computer, is a key idea of the cognitive approach. But is the brain really like a computer? For example, do you think a computer could ever be conscious?
Read John Searle's famous Chinese Room argument suggesting that artificial intelligence could never be conscious. Do you agree? Below is a picture of a connectionist network, which are used to model brains in computers. This one is special though... I built it! The video below shows how this might work. Ask for more info if you're interested. |