Cognitive Approach | AQA Psychology | A-level
Summary
TLDRThis video script explores cognitive psychology, focusing on internal mental processes like perception, memory, and problem-solving. It introduces the concept of schemas, which shape our understanding and predictability of the world, and discusses how they can both assist and mislead our interpretations. The script also covers cognitive neuroscience, linking mental processes to brain structures, and touches on the implications for mental health and behavior. Interactive experiments, such as the Stroop effect and memory capacity tests, are used to illustrate these concepts.
Takeaways
- ๐ฏ **Hidden Tiger**: The script mentions a hidden tiger, which is a test of perception to see if the viewer can spot it.
- ๐ค **Who Do You See Here**: It asks who the viewer sees in the video, which is Tom, the psychology teacher.
- ๐ต **Squares or Circles**: There's a question about whether the viewer sees squares or circles, testing visual perception.
- ๐ฅ **Introduction to Cognitive Psychology**: Tom introduces cognitive psychology, focusing on internal mental processes.
- ๐ง **Internal Mental Processes**: The script explains internal mental processes like perception, memory, language, problem-solving, and attention.
- ๐ค **Cognitive vs. Behavioral Psychology**: It contrasts cognitive psychology with behavioral psychology, discussing the importance of studying mental processes.
- ๐ **Stroop Effect**: The script includes a mini-experiment on the Stroop effect to demonstrate cognitive processes.
- ๐ข **Short-Term Memory Test**: There's a test of short-term memory capacity, referencing George Miller's 'magical number seven'.
- ๐ **Attention and Perception**: The script discusses how attention and schemas can affect perception and memory.
- ๐ก **Schemas**: It explains what schemas are and how they help process information but can also lead to errors.
- ๐งฌ **Cognitive Neuroscience**: The script introduces cognitive neuroscience, linking mental processes to brain structures.
Q & A
What does the term 'cognitive' mean in psychology?
-In psychology, the term 'cognitive' refers to mental processes or thinking. Cognitive psychologists are interested in studying internal mental processes and how they are involved in behavior.
What are internal mental processes?
-Internal mental processes are private actions or processes of the mind that mediate between stimulus and response. They include perception, memory, language, problem-solving, and attention.
What is the role of schemas in cognitive psychology?
-Schemas are organized units of knowledge that we have developed through experiences. They help us make sense of the world, predict what will happen, and know how to respond appropriately. They act as a framework for interpreting information.
How do cognitive psychologists study mental processes scientifically?
-Cognitive psychologists study mental processes indirectly using inferences. They draw conclusions about the way mental processes work, which cannot be directly observed, by making assumptions based on behavior that can be directly observed.
What is the Stroop Effect and how does it relate to cognitive psychology?
-The Stroop Effect is a cognitive phenomenon where the naming of the color of a word is interfered with when the word itself is a different color. It demonstrates that our mind has a preference for processing words over the color of the word.
What is the capacity of short-term memory according to George Miller's theory?
-According to George Miller's theory, the average capacity for short-term memory is between five and nine items, which he referred to as 'seven plus or minus two'.
How can cognitive psychologists use computer models to understand mental processes?
-Cognitive psychologists use computer models to represent mental processes by comparing the mind's operations to a computer's. This involves inputting information, processing it, storing it, and then retrieving it.
What is cognitive neuroscience and how does it relate to cognitive psychology?
-Cognitive neuroscience is the scientific study of the influence of brain structures on mental processes. It combines cognitive psychology's focus on mental processes with the biological processes of the brain.
How can schemas lead to errors in perception?
-Schemas can sometimes distort our interpretation of sensory information because our expectations and beliefs can influence what we perceive. This can lead to errors when our schemas do not match the actual sensory input.
What is the multi-store model of memory and how does it explain the process of memory?
-The multi-store model of memory suggests that there are separate stores for sensory, short-term, and long-term memory. Information goes through these stores in a linear pattern, from input through senses to short-term memory with attention, then to long-term memory with rehearsal.
How can cognitive psychologists test their theoretical models?
-Cognitive psychologists can test their theoretical models through various research methods, including lab-based experiments, case studies, and brain scanning technology, which allow them to observe the relationship between mental processes and brain activity.
Outlines
๐ Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
This paragraph introduces the viewer to a perception test, hinting at the cognitive approach in psychology. The narrator, Tom, a psychology teacher, explains that cognitive psychology is about understanding internal mental processes like perception, memory, language, problem-solving, and attention. It contrasts with behaviorism, which disregards the study of internal mental processes due to their invisibility. Cognitive psychology, emerging in the 1960s, uses inferences to study these processes indirectly through observable behaviors. Tom invites viewers to conduct mini-experiments to understand inferences better, such as the Stroop effect, demonstrating how cognitive psychologists use scientific methods to investigate the mind.
๐ง Cognitive Psychology's Approach to Memory
Tom conducts an experiment to test viewers' short-term memory capacity by asking them to recall lists of numbers. He references George Miller's 'The Magical Number Seven Plus or Minus Two,' which posits that the average person can hold between five and nine items in short-term memory. The paragraph also touches on the idea of change blindness, where viewers might not notice changes in the video, such as Tom's t-shirt color or a toy's appearance, illustrating the limits of attention. The concept of computer models in cognitive psychology is introduced, comparing the mind to a computer that processes information through input, processing, storage, and retrieval.
๐ The Multi-Store Model of Memory
The paragraph delves into the multi-store model of memory, which includes sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory. It explains how information moves through these stores, with attention being key to transferring information from sensory to short-term memory. Rehearsal is highlighted as necessary for information to reach long-term memory. The paragraph also discusses how schemas, or organized units of knowledge, influence perception and memory, using the example of a restaurant date to illustrate how expectations shape our interpretation of experiences.
๐ฅ Schemas and Their Impact on Perception
This section explores how schemas can both aid and mislead our perception. It uses the example of an ambiguous image that can be seen as either a young woman or an old lady, showing how expectations influence perception. The paragraph also discusses how schemas can cause oversights, as in the case of not noticing the word 'thus' in a sentence due to our reading expectations. It extends the discussion to the serious implications of schemas in eyewitness testimonies and the reconstruction of memories, which can be influenced by our expectations.
๐งฌ Cognitive Neuroscience and Its Applications
The final paragraph introduces cognitive neuroscience, which studies how brain structures influence mental processes. It mentions historical cases like Paul Broca's findings on speech production and modern techniques like fMRI that allow for real-time observation of brain activity during mental tasks. Examples include studies differentiating brain activity during episodic and semantic memory recall and a study measuring brain activity related to love. The paragraph concludes by encouraging viewers to test their understanding of cognitive psychology and explore related topics like depression from a cognitive perspective.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กCognitive Psychology
๐กInternal Mental Processes
๐กSchema
๐กStroop Effect
๐กInference
๐กCognitive Neuroscience
๐กTheoretical Models
๐กShort-term Memory
๐กAttention
๐กPerception
๐กMemory
Highlights
Introduction to the cognitive approach in psychology.
Definition of cognitive psychology as the study of internal mental processes.
Explanation of the role of schema in cognitive psychology.
Discussion on the use of theoretical and computer models in understanding cognitive processes.
Introduction to cognitive neuroscience and its emergence.
Description of mental processes as private actions or processes of the mind.
Critique of behaviorist views on the study of mental processes.
The development of the cognitive approach as a response to behaviorism.
Explanation of the term 'inference' in relation to the cognitive approach.
Use of scientific methods like lab experiments to investigate the human mind.
Introduction to the Stroop effect experiment to illustrate inferences.
Findings that it takes longer to process words based on color rather than meaning.
Explanation of how the Stroop effect suggests the mind's preference for processing words.
Experiment on the capacity of short-term memory using a list of numbers.
George Miller's 'Magical Number Seven' theory on short-term memory capacity.
Discussion on how attention and schemas influence perception and memory.
Example of how schemas can affect eyewitness testimony.
Introduction to the multi-store model of memory.
Explanation of how schemas can be useful but also lead to errors.
Discussion on the role of schemas in mental health, particularly in depression.
Introduction to cognitive neuroscience and its focus on the influence of brain structures on mental processes.
Examples of cognitive neuroscience research, including the love competition at Stanford University.
Conclusion and call to action to explore more about cognitive psychology.
Transcripts
here's a perception test are you ready
first can you see the hidden tiger
second who do you see here
third
squares or circles
and lastly
read this sentence
hey everyone welcome back to barity mind
my name is tom and i'm a teacher of
psychology and on this channel we
explore the world of psychology so that
we can better understand ourselves and
others in this video we're going to
explore the cognitive approach in
psychology and specifically the study of
internal mental processes the role of
schema the use of theoretical and
computer models and the emergence of
cognitive neuroscience
the term cognitive has come to mean
mental processes or in other words
thinking and so cognitive psychologists
are interested in studying internal
mental processes and how mental
processes are involved in behavior
internal mental processes can be defined
as private actions or processes of the
mind that mediate that come between
stimulus and response these mental
processes include things like perception
memory language problem solving and
attention so let's see how well you pay
attention in this video behavioral
psychologists such as bf skinner who
we've explored in other videos argued
that because our mental processes are
not something that can be directly
observed then we cannot study them
scientifically however the cognitive
approach who developed in the 1960s as a
response to the behaviorist's failure to
acknowledge mental processes argued that
mental processes can and should be
studied scientifically they argue that
this can be done indirectly using
inferences the word inference is a key
term to understand in relation to the
cognitive approach an inference is
drawing a conclusion about the way
mental processes work which we cannot
directly observe
by making assumptions based on behavior
that we can directly observe cognitive
psychologists use scientific methods
such as lab experiments to investigate
the human mind so let's conduct a couple
of mini experiments together to
illustrate inferences first up the
stroop effect you're going to need the
stopwatch on your phone for this in a
moment i'm going to put a list of words
on the screen when i say go you start
your timer your task is simply to say
the word aloud and not the colour
for example if you see this you would
say blue green orange aloud just like i
did you've got to complete the whole
list of words as fast as you can and you
press stop when you said the last word
just to be clear you are to say the word
not the colour of the word here's your
first list timer at the ready
go
easy right
make sure to write down somewhere how
long it took you now let's do that again
with another list of words but this time
you have to say the color of the word
not the word for example if you see this
you would say red blue green allowed
just like i did got it
timer at the ready go
so how did you do
which list did you complete the quickest
researchers have found again and again
that it takes people on average longer
to say the second list than the first
list now let's think about this in terms
of inferences
what can we conclude from these findings
about our mind we cannot directly
observe the mental processes that are
going on in your mind but we can observe
your behavior in this case the
observable behavior was the time taken
to complete the task there is no
subjective opinion here this is an
objective measurement so what conclusion
can we draw about your mind based on
your observable behavior
it appears to suggest that our mind has
a preference for the processing of words
over the colour of the word why might
this be well what if i told you that a
seven-year-old can complete the second
task faster than both you and me what
might that suggest the strip effect
suggests that our mind wants to
understand words first and this makes
sense given the education we've had from
very ill on in life emphasizing the
importance and the priority of reading
and that's why younger children who have
had less reading experience can complete
the task faster let's do another
experiment this time into the capacity
of your short-term memory i'm going to
present a list of numbers on the screen
which you need to read and then when and
only when i make them disappear from the
screen you can pause the video to try
and recall them by writing them down i
will then present you with another list
of numbers we're going to do this eight
times and at the end i'll reveal all the
numbers so you can check how many you
got right and you've got to really
concentrate for this so pen and paper
ready or phone ready here we go
make a note of where you made your first
mistake so this task is designed to
measure the capacity of your short-term
memory we cannot directly observe your
memory at work but we can do is observe
your behavior in terms of how many
numbers you correctly recalled and then
see at what point you started to make
errors from this we can draw a
conclusion about how much your short
term memory can hold george miller in
1956 published a paper called the
magical number seven plus or minus two
in this paper miller proposed a theory
as the name suggests that the average
capacity for short-term memory was
between five and nine items or what he
called seven plus or minus two
let me know if any of you managed to
score higher than seven in the comments
below now earlier in the video i said
that we would see how well you were
going to pay attention since i said that
several things have changed during this
video and i wonder how many of them
you've noticed for example i've changed
my t-shirt three times i started in a
white t-shirt and somehow i'm in this
one and maybe some of you noticed that
because you were looking out for it but
what else did you see change did you
notice how the color of the light behind
me swapped over
and what about the toy panda on the
bookshelf over here who's become peter
rabbit then at some point in the video a
large toy giraffes appeared nibbling on
the leaves of my plant
when did that appear
what we don't pay attention to
we don't see and what about that hidden
tiger image i showed you at the
beginning did you see it take a look at
the stripes on the tiger
it says
the hidden tiger
right in front of your eyes but because
you weren't looking for it
you couldn't see it
the development of the first computers
gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor
for describing mental processes mental
processes are regarded as information
processing with the mind operating in a
similar way to a computer computer
models refer to the process of using
computer analogies as a representation
of human thinking the computer model
allows mental processes to be thought of
in terms of inputting information
processing that information then storing
it and finally retrieving or downloading
the information in human terms
information is input through our senses
which is then processed by the brain it
can then be stored in our memory and can
then be retrieved from memory through
either recall or recognition
additionally cognitive psychologists use
theoretical models the word theory
simply means a system of ideas intended
to explain something so a cognitive
psychologists create models that try to
explain the way our mental processes
work
these models are simplified
representations based on current
research theoretical models often show
the stages of a particular mental
process as mental processes cannot be
directly seen models help to represent
different aspects of the cognitive
system for example here is a famous
model relating to memory it's called the
multi-store model isn't this the most
beautiful model you have ever seen this
model tries to show how memories are
processed as the name suggests the
multi-star model proposes that there are
multiple or separate stores for three
different types of memory sensory
short-term memory and long-term memory
and that information goes through each
of these stores in a linear pattern
notice from this model how you have the
computer model idea of input process and
output
this model suggests that memory enters
through our senses and then he's passed
to our short term memory but this only
happens when you pay attention then when
information is rehearsed we can
temporarily keep it in our minds for a
short period of time
then for it to go to long-term memory
the information needs further rehearsal
and then if we got asked about that
information in an exam for example we
would then retrieve that information
from long-term memory too short to
memory to be temporarily used to answer
the question for example consider the
stroop effect we talked about earlier
you may have never heard of that before
but through this video information is
coming through your eyes and ears if you
are paying attention to the video this
information would then have gone to your
short-term memory which you would have
needed to complete the streep effect
task at the end of this video they're
going to be some questions to help you
check your understanding which is a
great way to not only see if the
information has gone into your long-term
memory but also a great way to
strengthen and consolidate your
understanding of the streep effect
having theoretical models allows
psychologists to provide testable
theories about mental processes and
these can be studied scientifically lots
of research has been done to test the
accuracy of the multistar model to find
out how well it explains memory and
since then newer models have been
proposed that have improved our
understanding
now a fascinating aspect to our mental
processes relates to the role of schemas
mental processes like perception and
memory can often be affected by our
expectations and beliefs
schemers are organized units of
knowledge that we have developed through
experiences they help us to make sense
of the world so that we can predict what
is going to happen and know how to
respond appropriately they're a
framework through which you and i can
interpret information let's imagine a
young man is on a date with his
girlfriend and he's taking her out to a
restaurant can you think of everything
that is going to happen from the moment
the girl arrives outside the restaurant
to the moment they sit down at the table
what do you expect to happen well
because he's a classy guy he opens the
door for her of course then as soon as
they enter the waiter arrives and asks
have you booked and because he's a
gentleman of course he's booked the
waiter then shows them to the table and
being the classic guy that he is he
pulls out the chair for her the waiter
then asks if there's anything they would
like to drink before giving them each a
menu ladyfirst of course and explains
the specials for today notice how you
and i have a schema for a restaurant we
know what to expect because we have
built up through experience an organized
unit of knowledge specifically for
restaurants now let me ask you this is
mcdonald's a restaurant well technically
they call themselves a restaurant but we
all know that mcdonald's is different
from your typical restaurant i mean can
you imagine entering mcdonald's and
standing at the door until a waiter
comes to ask if you've booked and then
when you walk over to the table you go
to pull the chair out for your
girlfriend and you can't because
someone's nailed it to the floor now as
you have probably begun to appreciate
schemers can be very useful they enable
us to process lots of information
quickly and this is useful as a sort of
mental shortcut that prevents us from
being overwhelmed by environmental
stimuli they work on the basis that we
try and process stimuli in the simplest
and most economical route possible
schemas also help us predict what will
happen based on our past experiences
which also helps make life simpler can
you imagine not having a schema for a
restaurant every time you turn up you've
got to figure out what the protocol is
however schemas do sometimes have their
downside this is because they can often
distort our interpretation of sensory
information research into perception has
found that participants interpretation
of what they may hear or see is
influenced by their expectations for
example have another look at the picture
i showed you at the start
did you see a young woman or an old lady
researchers found that if you are shown
images associated with a young woman
before seeing this image you
unsurprisingly see a young woman but the
reverse is true if images associated
with an old woman are presented how you
perceive sensory information can be
influenced by your expectations for
another example do you remember what
that sentence said that i showed you at
the start of the video
want another look
now what did it say did you notice the
two thus
if you didn't that's because you have a
schema for what a sentence should look
like a set of expectations based on your
previous experiences of reading
sentences that helps you to predict what
is there and speeds up your reading
ability however the downside to this is
that you can miss things that are right
in front of your eyes in plain sight
this can be a very serious problem when
it comes to eyewitness testimony when we
recall events we've witnessed we are not
simply rewinding the video in our mind
and pressing play memories work by being
reconstructed in our minds and during
this reconstruction sometimes they are
influenced by our schemas our
expectations of events check out the
video where we evaluate the cognitive
approach to see how this knowledge has
been applied in order to improve the way
the police conduct interviews schemers
can also have an impact on an
individual's mental health where we can
develop a negative schema about
ourselves which is one part of albert
beck's theory of depression we've
explored this in videos on the topic of
psychopathology where we looked at
cognitive explanations of depression
i'll link that video in the description
below if you want to check that out
we can develop our understanding of
human behaviour further by combining
cognition our mental processes with
biological processes this brings us to
cognitive neuroscience cognitive
neuroscience is the scientific study of
the influence of brain structures on
mental processes
the word neuro relates to the nervous
system particularly the brain so
cognitive neuroscience looks at the
possibility of how mental processes
relate to brain structures trying to
figure out which parts of the brain may
be involved in specific cognitive mental
processes has somewhat of a history in
psychology for example in the 1960s
french physician paul brucker conducted
a case study of a patient called louis
victor laborn otherwise known as tan
because tan was the only word he could
clearly pronounce this patient had lost
the ability to produce speech but had no
problems hearing and comprehending
speech after tan died broca conducted a
post-mortem examination of his brain and
discovered a lesion in the left frontal
lobe broker discovered this also in a
number of other patients which led to
the conclusion that the specific area of
the brain must be responsible for speech
production linking the cognitive mental
process of language with a biological
structure with the relatively recent
development of technology particularly
with respect to brain scanning
techniques psychologists have the
ability to explore cognitive
neuroscience like never before for
example fmri machines can observe the
activity of the brain at the same time
as someone is performing a mental
process the famous memory researcher
endl tolving reported that data from
studies that use pet scans to monitor
the blood flow of the brain found that
when participants thought of episodic
memories these are personal
autobiographical memories such as what
you did on your birthday last year a
different part of the brain was
activated compared to when participants
thought of semantic memories and these
are fact-based memories with no personal
reference such as the capital of
sweden's stockholm this nicely related
the different types of long-term memory
to different biological structures for
another rather fun example researchers
at stanford university conducted what
they called the love competition where
they invited different people of varying
ages to think about the people they most
love in the world whilst their brain was
being scanned in an fmri machine they
were able to identify which individuals
loved more deeply in comparison to the
others by measuring the level of
activity in the dopamine serotonin and
oxytocin pathways in the brain linking
an emotion to a biological process it's
a fun video i'll put a link to that in
the description too so you can go and
check it out if you want and a quick
side note here you can see from the
examples we've covered that cognitive
psychologists can use a range of
research methods to study human behavior
this includes lab-based experiments such
as those researchers conduct into their
stroop effect or the capacity of
short-term memory they can also conduct
case studies which are in-depth analysis
of an individual or a small group of
people often with an unusual or rare
case such as patient tan and then
specifically with cognitive neuroscience
we can see them combining cognitive and
biological processes with brain scanning
technology for things like memory in the
research of toving and the emotion of
love in the research at stanford
university
each of these ways of studying human
behavior have their strengths and
limitations but that's something we
cover in the next video when we evaluate
the cognitive approach
so now let's test your understanding of
what we've covered about the cognitive
approach in this video a question will
appear with a few seconds for you to
pause the video before the answer
appears here we go
question one what does the word
cognitive mean
question two name three examples of
internal mental processes
question three in relation to cognitive
psychology define what is meant by an
inference
question four define what you meant by a
schema and give an example
question five explain how schemas can be
useful but also how they can potentially
lead to errors and mistakes
question six
what is meant by cognitive neuroscience
describe an example of this to
demonstrate your understanding
so now that you hopefully understand
something of the cognitive approach bear
in mind the limits of your mental
abilities particularly in terms of your
attention and how easily schemas can
influence our behavior if you'd like to
explore more about cognitive psychology
check out this video on the cognitive
explanation of depression and if you're
ready to evaluate the cognitive approach
you can click on that video now for more
on the other approaches in psychology
check out the link to the playlist in
the description below i hope you found
this video helpful and we'll see you in
the next one
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