Contents Cognitive Psychology

• What is Cognitive Psychology?

• Assumptions

• Methods of Investigation

• Core Studies from Cognitive Psychology - Loftus and Palmer and Gardner and Gardner

• Contributions to Psychology

• Strengths and Weaknesses

• Summary

Cognitive Psychology

Cognitive Psychologists look at our higher mental processes such as language and

memory.

Assumptions

• The Study of our internal mental processes is important to understanding our behaviour.

• The human brain, like a computer is an information processor. We receive, interpret and respond to information and these processes can tested scientifically

Assumptions

• The Study of our internal mental processes is important to understanding our behaviour.

• The human brain, like a computer is an information processor. We receive, interpret and respond to information and these processes can tested scientifically

Methods of Investigation

1) Experimental.

Cognitive Psychologists conduct their research under strict laboratory conditions. An Independent variable is manipulated and a dependent variable is measured. For example, the IV in Loftus and Palmer’s eye witness testimony experiment is the wording of the critical question and the DV is the how fast the participants estimated the car was travelling

2) Case Study

This method is used by Cognitive Psychologists when conducting research on an unusual case. A case study involves conducting research on just one participant in detail and over a long period of time. For example, cognitive psychologists may use the case study method when looking at rare cases of amnesia or when attempting to teach an animal to use language.

Core Studies from Cognitive Psychology

Loftus and Palmer (1974) Eye Witness Testimony.

• Aim: To see if the wording of a question affects memory.

• Design: Experimental

• Variables: the IV: The wording of the critical question. DV:the estimated speed and whether participants reported seeing non-existent glass.

• Procedure: Participants watched video clips of car crashes and were asked a number of questions. The Critical question: “how fast were the cars travelling when

they smashed/collided/bumped etc”

• Results: Participants who had heard the more emotive verbs e.g. smashed were significantly more likely to estimate that the cars were travelling faster and they were significantly more likely to have reported that they has seen glass than those who had heard the less emotive verbs- e.g. contacted.

This shows us that memories can be distorted after an event and that the wording of questions affects memory.

Teaching sign language to a chimpanzeeGardner and Gardner (1969)

• Aim: To see if a chimpanzee can be taught to use American Sign Language

• Design: Longitudinal Case Study

• Materials: A mobile home (Where the Chimpanzee lived) Toys

• Procedure: Washoe, a chimpanzee, was looked after in a mobile home and had a similar routine to a child. Life evolved around feeding and playing. She was trained to use American Sign Language using Operant Conditioning. Washoe was encouraged to imitate signs and she was rewarded with a tickle for imitating a sign. A sign was recorded as learnt when 3 observers saw the sign used in the correct context over 15 consecutive days.

• Results: Washoe learnt 30 signs after 22 months. She was able to display some of the following key features of language: differentiation, transference and combining signs. This study supports the view that language is learnt through positive reinforcement.

Contributions to Psychology

Cognitive Psychology has helped us to understand the following:

• Memory. Research into the nature and structure of memory/ Methods to improve memory/ Explanations of forgetting.

• Therapy. Cognitive behavioural techniques

• Education. Improving teaching techniques

Strengths and Weaknesses

• It mostly uses rigorous scientific methods

• The approach has had many practical applications

• This area has worked with other areas of psychology to produce the following: social learning theory, social cognition and artificial intelligence

• It is too simplistic. It ignores the complexity of the human functioning.

• It ignores biological influences of human functioning

• It ignores emotions, conscious experience and free will.

Cognitive Psychology Summary

• Cognitive Psychologists look at our internal mental processes

• They carry out their research using the experimental method and the case study method

• Their research has many practical applications in understanding our how our memory works, how people learn, and in therapy.

• It is scientific, but it has been accused of being overly simplistic.