This essay will discuss about how and why particular research methods are used to investigate the cognitive level of analysis. The cognitive level of analysis studies cognition, which refers to mental processes such as: perception, attention, language, memory, decision-making and problem solving. The mind, in terms of structures and processes which are involved in the reception, storage and use of knowledge, is studied in this level of analysis. In Psychology, research methods are used for collecting and analyzing data, in other words are ways they conduct their studies. There are a number of different research methods, the 3 main research methods that will be focused on in this essay are: lab experiments, brain imaging technologies and case studies.
In the cognitive level of analysis, the most common research method would be lab experiments. Lab experiment is the only research method that shows cause-and-effect relationship between variables. It takes place in a laboratory or an artificial environment. The researcher would manipulate the IV and controls all the other variables, in order to avoid confounding variables. There is also a controlled environment and standardized procedures. There are three main strengths for this research method. First of all, it can establish cause-effect relationships. Secondly, there is variable control and accuracy of measurements, which indicates objectivity. As for the third strength, lab experiment is easy to replicate, thus increasing the reliability of results. On the other hand, three evident limitations can be observed. The first one would be artificiality, which may result in lack of ecological validity. Demand characteristics and experimenter effects contribute to biased results, w...
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...his man’s brain, which caused severe damage to his hippocampus and the frontal region of his brain. He couldn't form any new memories or recall his past ones then on, because now he has amnesia. He is a patient with anterograde, which is the failure to create and store memories after a trauma, and retrograde, which is the failure to access and store memories before a trauma. This study reveals that the mind can be looked at detaily, which provokes more research studies to be performed based on these patients’ clear insight brain images.
In conclusion, various different methods have their own strengths and weaknesses. Researchers nowadays are able to specialize on particular parts of the brain. Since different methods can give different insights to the brain, therefore applying a range of different methods to the study of the same cognitive phenomenon is necessary.
Zillmer, E. A., Spiers, M. V., & Culbertson, W. C. (2008). Principles of Neuropsychology (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson, Wadsworth.
Experimental research is the one type of research that allows psychologists to make causal statements. It is where the researcher changes one or more variables that may have an effect on some other variables (King, 2016). The hypothesis is a specific expectation about what is going to happen in the experiment (King, 2016). In the research, the hypothesis was that women would perceive fat talk to be more socially acceptable than men (Katrevich et al., 2014). The other elements of experimental method are dependent and independent variables. The independent variable (IV) is the cause of the results, and it is changed by the experimenter to find the effects, but the dependent vari...
life, such as reasoning, problem solving, speaking, visual processing and the memory processing. Moreover, the brain plays a highly important role for encoding and recall different kids of memories. Since computer have been invented, people use CT and PET to discover that there have many regions in the brain are associated with memory processing. Although these technologies help people to explore better the relationship between brain and memory, however the reality cases studying can make people comprehend the impact of life closely about what if some regions of the brain have been damaged. And the experimental study in brain regions also useful for evaluating
In response to the question set, I will go into detail of the study, consisting of the background, main hypotheses, as well the aims, procedure and results gathered from the study; explaining the four research methods chosen to investigate, furthering into the three methods actually tested.
Historically, cognitive psychology was unified by an approach based on an resemblance between the mind and a computer, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). Cognitive neuroscientists argue convincingly that we need to study the brain while people engage in cognitive tasks. Clearly, the internal processes involved in human cognition occur in the brain, and several sophisticated ways of studying the brain in action, including various imaging techniques, now exist, (Sternberg and Wagner, 1999, page 34).Neuroscience studies how the activity of the brain is correlated with cognitive operations, (Eysenck and Keane, 2010). On the other hand, cognitive neuropsychologists believe that we can draw general conclusions about the way in which the intact mind and brain work from mainly studying the behaviour of neurological patients rather than their physiology, (McCarthy and Warrington, 1990).
The experimental design of the research involves the organization of an experiment to effectively test the study’s hypothesis. In addition, it involves setting up proper manipulations and measurements of an experiment. To test this specific hypothesis, the researcher will need significant resources, such as direct scanners, to test and analyze the variables. The variables in the study will include the plasticity of the human brain during different life stages and the age differences between individuals. The experimental design includes independent and dependent variables, which the researcher will thoroughly test and
Caramazza, A., & Coltheart, M. (2006). Cognitive Neuropsychology twenty years on. Cognitive Neuropsychology, Vol. 23, pp. 3-12.
“The Vow” is a movie that encases the turmoil and hardship associated with retrograde amnesia and the classic symptoms and steps associated with recovering and potentially regaining lost memory. Taking into account the information gained through multiple sources; such as, lecture of Mental Health, medical databases, and the personal experiences of Krickett Carpenter, the Vow provides both an accurate and inaccurate depiction of retrograde amnesia.
Whilst evaluating the cognitive approach to psychology there are many strengths such as that the cognitive approach takes an understanding of the influence from mental processes on one’s behaviour, focusing on an individual’s thinking patterns and their perception. This approach also relates to many known functions and operations that the human body performs such as memory and problem solving.
There are three approaches for Peter’s situation with are biological, behavioral, and cognitive. Peter’s anxiety is all the stress of taking harder and more rigorous courses in his major. He went to the University’s counselor who diagnosed him with anxiety disorder, which’s a mental problem that is caused when you’re under too much stress.
Henry Molaison or known as HM contributes to the deep understanding of memory by previous scientists and until now. His case had been a huge research and discussions among the well known scientists during his time and these results in the study of memories. Henry Molaison is living with a severe epilepsy where he need to undergo a surgery as medications were no longer gave him effects for his disease. So, his surgeon William Beecher Scoville suction out both of his hippocampus and when he got recovered from the surgery, his doctor realised that, Henry was having amnesia and seek him for another doctor. What confusing the doctors is that, even though the surgery was a success where Henry seizures decreasing; he is now facing dense memory loss. Then, once it was realized that the hippocampus plays a crucial roles for memory; the surgery of removing hippocampus was then banned for all and this brings to deep study of memory and hippocampus.
Sternberg, R. J. (1999). Cognitive psychology (2nd ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers
Like any other science, psychology is concerned with theories and data. Psychologists use a wide range of research methods and techniques that allow them to gather and make sense of the data that they produce. The methods that psychologists use to research and analyse the experience and behaviours of individuals or groups are called psychological research methods. This essay will be investigating and analysing three research methods to include; experimental, observational and surveys, also, reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses of each in addition to their usefulness in the psychology field.
Experimental designs are viewed as the most accurate, and most demanding of research designs, requiring strict attention to rules and procedures. Researchers use these research designs to manipulate and control testing procedures as a way to understand a cause and effect relationship. Commonly, independent variables are manipulated to judge or decide their effect on a dependent variable (Trochim & Donnelly, 2008).
Throughout the ages, humans have had an inherent interest in studying the complex area of human behaviour, even before psychology was established as a science. Because the study of behaviour is so broad and multifaceted, its scientific study poses particular challenges. Therefore, it can be beneficial to approach the scientific study of human behaviour from the perspective of cognitive psychology. This is the study of cognition, the mental processes that underlie human behaviour (Ling & Cattling, 2012).