1. Cognitive Psychology What is cognitive psychology?

2. Cognition Cognition is the ability to understand or know. It is an internal activity whereby the brain processes some information.

3. Cognitive psychologists Are interested in thinking and the development of mental processes Study topics such as memory, learning, thinking, attention and language

4. Key approaches Behaviour can be explained in terms of how the mind operates The mind is a complex computer which deals with data Psychology should be seen as a pure science

5. Methods Experiments Case studies of brain damaged patients Medical imaging techniques to show the brain in operation

6. Strengths It is useful in understanding how the brain operates and its limitations It is reliable in that experiments can be repeated

7. Weaknesses It doesn’t take human emotion into account fully It sees human action in machine like terms and humans are probably more complex than cognitivists allow.