cognitive approach AO3

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  • one strength- psychologists emphasis on scientific methods
    • cognitive approach AO3
      • one limitation- research evidence lacks ecological validity
        • for example- experiments like memory testing use random word lists which are irrelevant and meaningless in everyday life
          • this suggests- results of the experiment cannot be generalised to everyday life and therefore may not accurately explain why behaviour occurs
            • thus limiting- the validity
      • another strength- its application to treatment of psychological disorders
        • for example- the cognitive approach has been used to explain how faulty thinking processes can cause mental health disorders like depression and has led to the development of treatment like CBT
          • this matter because- cognitive approach has helped improve the lives of many people who suffer from these illnesses
      • one criticism- human minds are ot computers
        • explain- the cognitive approach uses computer analogies to explain human behaviour, however there is an important distinction between human minds and computers
          • for example-  computers do not make mistakes or forget information. this results in an inaccurate representation of the human mind and these theories should be treated with caution
            • this analogy can be considered to be reductionist as it compares the complexity of the human mind with a simple computer
    • for example- experimental methods provides cognitive resarchers wih methods for collecting and evalutaing evidence to reach accurate conclusons
      • this therefore suggests- conclusions are based on more than just common sense and introspection, making this approach more reliable
        • thus strengthening the approach to explaining beaviour

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