The Cognitive Approach

The Cognitive Approach

The cognitive approach looks not just at what happens to a person and how they react, but also at the mediating processes in between, such as thoughts and beliefs. 

Beck (1976) described how cognitive errors can have emotional and behavioural consequences. For example, over-generalisation means taking one event (such as falling out with a friend) and assuming it applies to all situations ('nobody likes me'). An anorexic person's cognitive error is the belief that they are overweight, which then leads to excessive dieting. Beck (1976) states that depressed people have a cognitive triad of negative thoughts about themselves, the world and the future. These beliefs must be tackled in order to change a person's mood or behaviour.

Evaluation points are the the cognitive approach is hugely influential, and its models of thought processes have influenced therapy and treatment methods. Also, the approach is supported by research findings which show that thought processes are not always logical.

The main areas of study in cognitive psychology are:

- Perception (how we process images and sounds)

- Thinking (ideas, beliefs and schemas)

- Memory (retention, remembering, forgetting)

Cognitive psychology uses a lot of experiments and tends to research on humans, not animals.

Cognitive Perspective: Assumptions

Assumption 1

Our behaviour is best explained in terms of internal mental processes ie. mediational processes between stimulus and response.

Illustration of assumption 1

• Behaviourist psychologists thought that language could be explained through conditioning.

• However, linguistics researcher Chomsky (1957) stated infants use 'metal rules' such as 'add -ed to make a past tense'.

Assumption 2

The processes in the mind operate like a computer ("information processing approach") ie. inputing, storing and retrieving data- Broadbent (1958).

Illustration of assumption 2

• The multi-store model treats memory as a series of stores.

• However, artificial intelligence has proved illusive.

Assumption 3

Our thought processes and beliefs (rather than genetic factors) affect how we perceive and respond to the world. To change behaviour. thinking patterns need to be changed.

Illustration of assumption 3

• Illusions

• A-B-C model

Implications of theory

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

A client/patient works with a psychotherapist in a structured way, attending a limited number of sessions. This challenges irrational or negative thinking.

CBT techniques

1. Agenda setting- Client and therapist work together at start to agree task schedule.
2. Cognitive restructuring- replacing distortions with thoughts that are more accurate and useful
3. Reframing- situations re-interpreted more rationally (positively)
4. Homework- client is set tasks to do e.g. worksheets, diary or activities

CBT tackles irrational thinking

• Mind reading- jumping to conclusions about what others may be thinking of you.

• Catastrophising- magnifying/labelling patterns

• Overgeneralising- thinking that things always or never happen a certain way.

• Unfair judgements- continually putting yourself down/holding yourself responsible.

• Making demands- fixed, rigid rules using 'should' or 'must' statements; perfectionism.

Social Norms

Social Norms

In this view, behaviour is atypical because it goes against the norms of society, and people therefore find it 'weird'. A social norm is an unwritten rule about what is right or wrong in social behaviour. Norms depend heavily on culture, varying between countries and over time. An advantage of deviating from social norms is that it fits with everyday experience of what people see as typical. Disadvantages of deviating from social norms are that every culture or subculture will have a separate viewpoint, so no worldwide standard of mental illness can be established using this definition and there is too much reliance on one cultural view of right and wrong could lead to discrimination.

In society, there are actions which come to us naturally like shaking someone's hand. This act of kindness has been introduced to us since we were young. Everyone knows when social norms are appropriate in a situation for example when going for a job interview. Whenever you are in a job interview we know that shaking hands at the start and at the interview is deemed as being normal. Social norms take place in all kinds of situations and some of these social norms come to us naturally.

However if, shaking hands had been seen as abnormal then society wouldn't be as it is today. This is because if you are meeting someone for the first time and don't shake their hand like you would normally do, it wouldn't really matter because if no one else is doing it then why should you ? It would be seen as unnecessary. What would society be like if no one ever shook hands ? In my view it would be really different because everyone would be shy and no one would talk to each other as they do now. It would be odd but because shaking hands is an act of kindness and everyone is aware of it, our society is more pleasurable and more kind.