Discuss the use of laboratory experiment in accordance to assumption of cognitive approach.

Discuss the use of laboratory experiment in accordance to assumption of cognitive approach.

Mind Uploading – this short metaphor would probably the best describe the method used and assumptions of the cognitive approach.  Cognitive approach assumes that our behaviour is mainly based on how our cognitions operate. Cognitive psychology uses variety of different methods to investigate its assumptions, such as case studies (the famous case of KF). Although the preferred method in this discipline is laboratory experiment as it provides most scientific evidence supporting the assumptions. In other terms is a computer science discipline, that’s why metaphor used at the beginning is completely adequate. Let me explain why.

On the contrary to other psychological approaches such as behaviourism (that is based on observable behaviour), cognitive psychology focus on internal mental states.

‘’all processes by which the sensory input is transformed, reduced, elaborated, stored, recovered, and used. It is concerned with these processes even when they operate in the absence of relevant stimulation, as in images and hallucinations… Given such a sweeping definition, it is apparent that cognition is involved in everything a human being might possibly do; that every psychological phenomenon is a cognitive phenomenon.” By Neisser (1967)

One of the cognitive approach applications that laboratory design has been used for, its on memory research .

“Memory is the process of maintaining information over time.” (Matlin, 2005)

As memory is an internal state it cannot be measured by any other method than laboratory experiment. This is simply because we cannot observe memory but we can test for example :the recall of it in accordance to the theory of how we process information.

But what it is laboratory experiment? It is a procedure carried out in laboratory setting where all the variables are controlled. Therefore it is highly scientific as it can be replicated and extraneous variables are less likely to provide other explanation of the behaviour investigated as they are controlled as well.

Atkinson and Shiffrin, (1968) are well known in psychology for proposing the simplified model of memory (multi store model). They assumed that our memory poses couple of stores. How we process the information depends how the information flow through those systems. Firstly information enter sensory memory (information are stored for couple of seconds) them the information are passed to the short term memory (stored for 18 sec and we encode 7 information) them the information are transferred to the long term memory through attention and rehearsal. Long term memory has unlimited capacity for both storage and remembering information.

Murdoch (1962) investigated that theory using laboratory experiment. He presented participants with list of the words and asked them later to recall how many they could remember. He found that the words presented at the begging were better recalled (primacy effect) because they were transferred to long term memory. He also found that words at the end were better recalled (recency effect) because they were in short term memory.

There are lots of advantages to this method (already mentioned before). Such as scientific validity, good internal validity etc.

On the other hand this method has been criticised a lot for being low ecologically valid. This is because the artificial setting is created in order to investigate its theories. This could be off putting but we have to bear in mind that this method its not the only method that cognitive psychology uses. For example field experiment (eyewitness theories by Loftus and Palmer 1974) . Therefore it can be argued that cognitive psychology as a discipline is high in ecological validity.

Conclusively despite the disadvantages of the laboratory experiments as a method, cognitive psychologists still uses this method as main when investigating assumptions of the cognitive psychology. It is the best method to investigate the internal states because they can be objectively measured by using laboratory experiments.