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Approaches (Cognitive (Outline (influenced by developments in computer…
Approaches
Cognitive
Outline
influenced by developments in computer science and analogies are often made between how a computer works and how we process information.
how the brain inputs, stores and retrieves information.
The main assumption of the cognitive approach is that information received from our senses is processed by the brain and that this processing directs how we behave.
internal mental processes cannot be observed directly but we can infer what a person is thinking based on how they act.
Schemas: mental framework used to interpret incoming information quickly and effectively, this prevents us from being overwhelmed by the vast amount of information we perceive in our environment.
However it can also lead to distortion of this information as we select and interpret environmental stimuli using schemas which might not be relevant. This could be the cause of inaccuracies in areas such as eyewitness testimony. It can also explain some errors we make when perceiving optical illusions.
Evaluate
The cognitive approach uses a very scientific method; mainly lab. experiments. These are controlled and replicable so the results are reliable however they lack ecological validity because of the artificiality of the tasks and environment so it might not reflect the way people process information in their everyday life.
For example Baddeley (1966) used lists of words to find out the encoding used by LTM, however these words had no meaning to the participants so the way they used their memory in this task was probably very different than they would have done if the words had meaning for them. This is a weakness as the theories might not explain how memory really works outside the laboratory.
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