Cognitive Psychology Unit 1 AS

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  • Created by: Grace
  • Created on: 07-04-11 19:32

COGNITIVE PYSCHOLOGY- A KEY TOPIC IN AS PYSCHOLOGY UNIT 1

Candidates should:

·        be able to describe and evaluate the cognitive approach in psychology;

·        consider the issues around memorising material, and the problems of eyewitness testimony;

·        consider the explanations of cultural differences in cognitive performance;

·        understand the central issues in the area of autism and the theory of mind;

·        understand the basic characteristics of language;

·        be able to evaluate the usefulness of applying the results of animal research to people;

·        understand the role of reinforcement in learning;

·        consider the implications of research in cognitive psychology.

Note: ideas such as nomothetic and idiogrpahic are largely studied in A2 but you can use the theorys in your AS examinations to enrich your knowledge and understanding, may gain you more marks.

Cognitive psychologists focus on our mental processes or cognitions.  These mental processes that cognitive psychologists focus on include memory, perception, thinking and language.

Key assumptions of the cognitive approach:

  • Human behaviour can be explained as a set of scientific processes.
  • Our behaviour can be explained as a series of responses to external stimuli.
  • Behaviour is controlled by our own thought processes, as opposed to genetic factors.

Evaluation of the cognitive approach

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A viable approach which has been used to create the multi-store model of memory processes, supported by many other experiments.

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Easily combined with other approaches. Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is a popular and successful form of treatment for issues such as obsessive compulsive disorder.

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