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AICE Psych 08/23/13

AICE Psych 08/23/13. Cognitive Psychology. A main strength scientific approach that uses laboratory experiments laboratory experiments is that they are high in control researchers are able to establish cause and effect

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AICE Psych 08/23/13

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  1. AICE Psych08/23/13

  2. Cognitive Psychology • A main strength • scientific approach that uses laboratory experiments • laboratory experiments is that they are high in control • researchers are able to establish cause and effect • For example Loftus and Palmer were able to control the age of the participants, the use of video and the location of the experiment. • standardisedexperiments are easy to test for reliability • Lack ecological validity • artificial situations it may be difficult to generalise the findings to everyday life.

  3. Cognitive Psychology Strength • modern types of therapy are based on the cognitive approach • memory and language • The Baron-Cohen et al. study enables us to better understand the behaviour of people with autism • Loftus and Palmers study highlights the limitations of eye-witness testimonies • ape research may offer strategies to help children with language difficulties to develop language or to use strategies such as the lexigramsystem • dominant approach in psychology allied with neurology • cognitive science

  4. Cognitive Psychology weakness • validity of measuring cognitive processes • infer what a person is thinking • relies heavily on self-report measures and observation • reasons why we have to question the validity of self-report measures and observation • For example • we can only infer that adults with autism have theory of mind difficulties from the results of the Eyes Task or that pygmy chimps are really using language when they communicate through a Lexigram. • brain scanning techniques we are able to record the active parts of the brain more accurately • brain-scanning techniques are giving insights about how memory work.

  5. Cognitive Psychology Weakness cont. • reliance on the computer analogy leads to a reductionist and mechanistic description of experiences and behaviour • Reductionism is the idea that simpler things can explain complex phenomena • The cognitive approach often takes this narrow focus and ignores social and emotional factors that may impact on cognition • For example, the autism study investigated just one central cognitive deficit as an explanation for autism. • reductionist approach does have strengths • advantage of the reductionist view is that by breaking down a phenomenon to its constituent parts it may be possible to understand the whole • This type of single mindedness has lead to some great discoveries in psychology as it has in the 'natural' sciences.

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