Topic 3 of 6 · Form 5
The cognitive approach
Behaviour is influenced by internal mental processes – perception, attention, memory, language and thinking – which can be studied scientifically, often comparing the mind to a computer (information processing).
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Assumptions
Behaviour is influenced by internal mental processes – perception, attention, memory, language and thinking – which can be studied scientifically, often comparing the mind to a computer (information processing).
Key topics
- Attention and memory: research on doodling improving attention during a boring task.
- Theory of mind and autism: the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" test, developed to measure the ability to read emotions from the eye region.
- Eyewitness testimony and line-ups: research on how children and adults identify suspects.
Methods
Laboratory experiments, cognitive tests, case studies of brain-damaged patients.
Evaluation
Strengths: scientific methods, practical applications (education, eyewitness procedures, therapy). Weaknesses: artificial tasks, low ecological validity, the computer analogy may oversimplify human thinking, ignores emotion and biology.
Worked example: Why might laboratory memory experiments lack ecological validity?
Participants recall artificial material in unfamiliar settings, so results may not reflect memory in everyday life.
Check yourself
- What is the information processing model?
- What is theory of mind?
- Give one strength of the cognitive approach.
Show answers
- A model treating the mind like a computer: input, processing (storage) and output.
- The ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs and feelings different from one's own.
- Any one: scientific methods, useful applications, explains internal processes.
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