Discuss How and Why Particular Research Methods Are Used at the Cognitive Level of Analysis.

Authors Avatar by dean879 (student)

Daniel Koopowitz 11C        Psychology        03/10/12

Discuss How and Why Particular Research Methods Are Used at the Cognitive Level of Analysis.

Cognitive Psychology is an approach to psychology that emphasizes internal mental processes. Cognitive psychology is also one of the more recent additions to psychological research. The Cognitive Level of Analysis or CLOA is the Level of analysis that deals with the inner workings of the human brain. This mini essay reviews how and why particular research methods are used at the Cognitive Level of Analysis.

 As you know, one of the most scientific ways to study mental processes is through lab experiments. This is because the high levels of control allow a researcher to isolate a particular component of the cognitive process for study. In other words to test the IV and its effects on the DV. However the high levels of control bring artificiality into play. This can be seen as a weakness of lab experiments. It is vital to ensure that a lab experiment is ecologically valid. Correlation studies are important at the Cognitive Level of Analysis because it is not always ethical, easy or convenient to create situations or tests in a lab setting. Correlation studies looks at the relationship between the two variables rather than cause and effect.

Join now!

Naturalistic observation is key at the Cognitive Level of Analysis because in an experiment/lab, participants might not display their true mental processes. Naturalistic observations have high ecological validity however they lack control. Another important research method is interviews. These allow cognitive psychologists to obtain highly detailed and personal information that is difficult to obtain elsewhere e.g., experiments. Experimenter bias plays a role with interviews when a researcher is not well trained and contaminates the information. Another weakness of this method is that the process of gathering data may interfere with the cognitive processing.

 Case studies allow researchers to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay