1. Strengths of the cognitive approach:
Mediational Processes : It does not ignore mediation of cognition in between stimulus and response – it tries to explain what is happening in the mind between stimulus and response.
Important Contributions: The approach has numerous useful applications, including: advice about the validity of eyewitness testimony, Cognitive behaviour therapy, how the thinking of children develops (Piaget).
It is a scientific approach using mostly experimental methods. This is an advantage because it can provide experimental data to test its theories.

2. Explaining Mediational Processes
The approach focuses on Mediational Processes : the processes that happen “inside” the mind. This is a strength COMPARED TO BEHAVIOURISM because Behaviourists ignored what happens in the mind because it is not directly measurable
The cognitive approach tries to explain what is happening in the mind between stimulus and response.
By doing this we understand more about how memory works.
Eg The Tulving and Psotka(1971) Experiment

3. Tulving and Psotka(1971) See “The Value of Retrieval Cues” on p52
Write a summary of the research
What do the findings tell us about the mediational process of Memory?

4. Important Contributions
Important Contributions: The approach has numerous useful applications, including: advice about the validity of eyewitness testimony, Rational Emotive therapy, how the thinking of children develops (Piaget).
These are strengths because they provide useful explanations of behaviour and effective ways of dealing with individuals who have problems.

5. Scientific Approach
It is a scientific approach using mostly experimental methods. This is a strength because it can provide experimental data to test its theories, experiments using standardised procedures can be replicated to check for reliability and validity.
A good example is attribution theory – this is supported by experimental data.

6. Strengths of the cognitive approach:
In Pairs Write 50 words on why each bullet is a strength
Mediational Processes
Important Contributions
Scientific approach

7. Weaknesses of the cognitive approach:
Nature and Nurture: Despite taking both into account it fails to take into account some biological factors (nature) and cultural influences (nurture)
Determinist Approach: It is deterministic saying we are determined by schemas, although we may have some choice in how to interpret information.
Reductionist: It is reductionist- ignoring the huge complexity of human functioning compared to computer functioning.
Mechanistic: Too cold and mechanistic assuming that all behaviour is the result of rational thought processing.

8. Nature v Nurture
Despite taking both into account it fails to take into account some biological factors (nature) and cultural influences (nurture).
This is a weakness because compared to the Biological Approach it ignores the influence of genes on behaviour eg Bouchard & McGue’s work on IQ.

9. Mechanistic
Machine Reductionism: The approach reduces a human being with feelings and emotions to a “thinking machine”.
This is a weakness because it ignores the role of social and emotional factors in our behaviour.
For example Kelley’s Covariation model suggests that people follow certain rules in making attributions. Many of us are not even aware that we are using rules.

10. Determinist approach:
It is deterministic saying our behaviour is determined by schemas.
Schemas are the result of experience we can’t control (the environment we grow up in) and the social interactions we have as we get older.
This process leads to CULTURAL STEREOTYPES that may determine the way we interpret situations.
This is a weakness because it ignores the individual’s ability to ignore cultural stereotypes.

11. Weaknesses of the cognitive approach:
In Pairs Write 50 words on why each bullet is a weakness
Nature and Nurture: Despite taking both into account it fails to take into account some biological factors (nature) and cultural influences (nurture)
Determinist Approach: It is deterministic saying we are determined by schemas, although we may have some choice in how to interpret information.
Mechanistic: Too cold and mechanistic assuming that all behaviour is the result of rational thought processing.