What are the strengths and weaknesses of the cognitive approach?

Answer 1

Strengths:

Cognitive Psychology is probably the most dominant approach today:

1. It investigates many areas of interest in Psychology that had been neglected by behaviourism; yet, unlike psychoanalysis and Humanism, it investigates them using a more rigorous scientific method.

2. This approach has tended to use a scientific approach through the use of laboratory experiments, as shown in the Loftus & Palmer study.

Weaknesses:

Cognitive models have been accused of being:

1. Over simplistic - ignoring the huge complexity of human functioning compared to computer functioning.

2. Unrealistic and over hypothetical - ignoring the biological influences and grounding of mental processes.

Answer 2

Strengths of the cognitive approach: Emphasis on mental processes like perception, memory, and thinking; can explain complex human behavior; scientifically rigorous.

Weaknesses of the cognitive approach: Overlooks emotions and motivations; may oversimplify human cognition; difficult to directly observe mental processes.

Answer 3

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