psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
What is happening inside the black box?
?
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
What is happening inside the black box?
?
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
What is happening inside the black box?
?
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
• Do we need to look inside the black box to find out what it does?
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
Today’s session
You will learn how to... You will learn about...
Describe and apply psychological approaches & theoriesConsider the relationship between an approach and its methods
The cognitive approachThe information processing metaphorCognitive models
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
Behaviourism
S R
Behaviourists aren’t interested in what happens in between S and R. They don’t
think you need to know.
psyc
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ron.
org.
uk
Social learning theory
S RO
Social Learning Theorists say that things take place within the organism that mediate between S and R.
You do need to know about the person’s mental processes.
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org.
uk
Cognitive approach
S RIP
Cognitive psychologists extend this idea and say that our behaviour is determined by the way we process information
taken in from our environment.
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The computer metaphor
In which ways is a brain similar to a computer?
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The computer metaphor
Input processes
Information manipulation
processes
Output processes
Information storage
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Cognitive models
• Cognitive psychologists use the results of their research to develop models of how people process information
• They infer mental processes from comparisons between the information (input) a person receives and the behaviour (output) they produce
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1. Takes in a shape.
2. Counts the vertices.
3. Adds one to this number.
4. Outputs a shape with the new
number of vertices.
What does this information processor do?
psyc
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ron.
org.
uk
What does this information processor do?
This may not be what is actually happening in the black box, but it allows us to account for how the box
translates input into output. It is a useful model.
1. Takes in a shape.
2. Counts the vertices.
3. Adds one to this number.
4. Outputs a shape with the new
number of vertices.
psyc
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ron.
org.
uk
What will the output be?
Our model allows us to predict how the information processor will behave. It is still not necessary for us to
know what’s actually happening in the box.
1. Takes in a shape.
2. Counts the vertices.
3. Adds one to this number.
4. Outputs a shape with the new
number of vertices.
psyc
hlot
ron.
org.
uk
Cognitive models
Info from environment
BehaviourSpeech
LTM
WMP B
psyc
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Cognitive methods
• Experimental cognitive psychology– Laboratory experiments
• Cognitive neuropsychology– Case studies– Investigations of the brain