Cognitive Approach

Cognitive Approach

1. Memory Stores

   • SM - sensory memory  LTM - long term memory  STM - short term memory 
   • Strengths:  practical application - understanding can help improve memory  showing that there are three different memory stores with their different characteristics 
   • Weaknesses:   The different characteristics are not so clear in every day life
   • Duration
     • How long the information lasts
     • SM - very brief
     • STM - up to 30 seconds
     • LTM - may last a lifetime
   • Capacity
     • The maximum amount of information that can be held 
     • SM - very high
     • STM - magic number (7+_ 2)
     • LTM - practically unlimited
   • Encoding
     • How the information is stored and retrieved
     • SM - depends on the sense
       • Iconic store - visual  Echoic store - sound
     • STM - mainly acoustic (sounds)
     • LTM - mainly semantic (meaning)

2. Remembering

   • Strengths:  practical application - understanding cues can help improve memory research support - findings show cues are important in retrieving memories
   • Weaknesses:  cues are not always useful (e.g. a cue could be a classroom but for exams your not in the classroom so the cues are useless) 
   • Free recall - remembering without assistance
   • Cued recall - remembering with assistance
     • Meaningful cues - learn this at the same time as the material
       • e.g. STM= short term memory 
     • Cues without meaning - learned at the same time as you experience something
       • learning at the same time as a thunderstorm so the next time there's a storm you remember the material 
   • Recognition - remembering because we have encountered it before

3. Reconstructive memory

   • Strengths:  practical application - people's memory can change that's why EWT are never used alone in court  research support - (war of the ghosts story) shows how we reconstruct memory 
   • Weaknesses:  some memories are accurate and can remain unaffected 
   • Schema - a cognitive framework that helps organise and interpret information
   • Rationalisation - when you something doesn't make sense to you so you change it until it does
   • Confabulation - when you fill in the gaps in your memory
   • Shortening - when your memory becomes shorter

4. Cognitive priming

   • When exposure to one stimulus influences how you respond to subsequent stimuli 
   • Strengths:  practical application - can prevent obesity  research support - studies show playing violent video games can cause people to act more aggressive
   • Weaknesses:  lack of replication - often different findings are found
   • Repetition - directly priming so you respond quicker
     • e.g. time after ____ heart to ____
   • Semantic - they both belong to similar categories
     • e.g. primed to think of dogs so when you see a picture of a wolf and cat you recognise the wolf first 
   • Associative - regularly associated
     • e.g. cat +mouse 

5. Cognitive biases

   • Strengths:  practical applications - understanding can help us reduce our negative effects on behaviour  research support - evidence between HAB and aggression so introducing angermanagement 
   • Weaknesses:  FAB is not universal - in collectivist cultures 
   • Heuristics - cognitive shortcut
   • Fundamental attribution error (FAE) - when we reason our own shortcomings but blame others for theirs
   • Conformation bias - we favour information that confirms our belifs
   • Hostile attribution bias (HAB) - when you assume someone is being aggressive towards you when they may not be

6. Assumptions

   • behaviour is a product of informational processing
     • -perception -attention -memory -language
   • Computer analogy
     • sensory info --> processing and storage --> behavioural change

7. Cognitive scripts/ memory scripts - a collection of schemas linked together to produce a list

   • Strengths:  practical applications - understanding can help us resist stereotyping negatively  research support - findings support the fact scripts influence us every day 
   • Person perception
     • Making assumptions
     • Stereotyping and bias

8. Gender

   • Strengths:  practical application - understanding can help us acknowledge biases and the downfalls  research support - findings shows priming gender roles can have an effect on uinvoluntry behaviours such as pain 
   • Weaknesses:  Ignores non-cognitive factors 
   • Biases
     • Alpha bias - has a binary perspective and don't believe is LGBTQIA+
     • Beta bias - believe both men and women are equal and the same (fails to acknowledge the differences)
   • Gender schema
     • Information about gender is based on your beliefs and biases which can affect your own gender identity
     • developed during childhood
   • Cognitive priming
     • Sex role stereotypes - your gender expectations prime you to expect particular gender related behaviours
     • Gender roles - priming for typical gender related behaviour

9. Aggression

   • Strengths:  practical application - can be used to help reduce aggression  research support - research showing evidence that cognitive factors have an impact 
   • Weaknesses correlation not causation - limited can't help us find the true cause 
   • Priming
     • Banduras bobo doll experiment
   • Hostile attribution bias
   • Hostile Instrumental Verbal Violent
   • Scripts
     • aggressive people have a wider range of aggressive scripts