Cognitive Approach

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Cognitive Approach

Assumptions:

- Information received from our senses is processed by the brain and that this processing directs how we behave or at least justifies how we behave the way that we do.

- Our brain works like a computer, it inputs, stores and outputs information.

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Strengths

 - Tends to use a scientific approach through the use of laboratory experiments - Loftus and Palmer - High control over variables, cause and effect established. 

- Useful contributions have arisen - Loftus and Palmer and Gaab - Psychologists have informed courts about the accuracy of eye witness tesatimony, and as a result of this the questioning procedures used by the police and lawyers have been improved. Also therapy such as CBT has been used successfully to treat disorders such has stress and depression.

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Weaknesses

- A lot of studies are carried out in laboratory settings- Loftus and Palmer- participants expected something to happen so concentrated more than would do in real life, because they knew it was an experiment could show demand characteristics.

- Collects mainly quantitative data, compared to qualitative data, which does not provide in depth explanations and reasons for results - Savage Rumbaugh - researchers concluded that pygmy chimpanzees can spontaneously acquire human language, this was through quantitative data, but doesn't tell us why and how they can acquire human language.

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