cognitive approach
Cognitive approach
The cognitive approach focuses on the way information is processed by humans. It looks at how we as individuals treat information and how it leads to responses. Cognitive psychologists study internal processes such as attention, language, memory, thinking and perception. The main assumption of this approach is that in when information is received it is then processed by the brain and this processing directs how we as individuals behave or justify why we behave the way we do. With the cognitive approach it is hard to view its constructions, though, some say that it is an example of theoretical constructs. This means that we cannot directly see processes such as thinking but we can infer what a person is thinking based on simply the way they act. Cognitive psychologists mainly focus on internal mental processes such as memory. Attention is put on how individuals learn to solve problem and the mental processes that are present between stimulus and response. This approach has been influenced by developments in computer science, such that the ideas are very similar. It gets its idea from how a computer works and how we process information. Based on the computer analogy, cognitive psychology is interested in how the brain inputs, stores and outputs information. Loftus and Palmers (1974) study of an eyewitness testimony demonstrates how the cognitive process of a person’s memory can be misled by other information provided after an event. This highlights that memory is a dynamic process which can be influenced by many events such as leading questions. The study also shows that memory is a dynamic process and changes to make sense of certain experiences. When individuals behave in a certain way towards another individual, it is likely that we challenge to understand how the other is thinking and feeling. Baron-Cohen’s (1997) study of behaviour and how it can be influenced by a cognitive process identifies a ‘theory
The cognitive approach focuses on the way information is processed by humans. It looks at how we as individuals treat information and how it leads to responses. Cognitive psychologists study internal processes such as attention, language, memory, thinking and perception. The main assumption of this approach is that in when information is received it is then processed by the brain and this processing directs how we as individuals behave or justify why we behave the way we do. With the cognitive approach it is hard to view its constructions, though, some say that it is an example of theoretical constructs. This means that we cannot directly see processes such as thinking but we can infer what a person is thinking based on simply the way they act. Cognitive psychologists mainly focus on internal mental processes such as memory. Attention is put on how individuals learn to solve problem and the mental processes that are present between stimulus and response. This approach has been influenced by developments in computer science, such that the ideas are very similar. It gets its idea from how a computer works and how we process information. Based on the computer analogy, cognitive psychology is interested in how the brain inputs, stores and outputs information. Loftus and Palmers (1974) study of an eyewitness testimony demonstrates how the cognitive process of a person’s memory can be misled by other information provided after an event. This highlights that memory is a dynamic process which can be influenced by many events such as leading questions. The study also shows that memory is a dynamic process and changes to make sense of certain experiences. When individuals behave in a certain way towards another individual, it is likely that we challenge to understand how the other is thinking and feeling. Baron-Cohen’s (1997) study of behaviour and how it can be influenced by a cognitive process identifies a ‘theory