What are Core Principles?
Princples are very important as they underpin the entire unit. Go home and ask your parents what core princples they hold as your parents. What are their main beliefs that affect how they behave with you? This will hopefully get you somewhere in terms of understanding of their actions, attitudes and approaches. It's much the same in IB Psychology. Each Level of Analysis has a set of Core Principles, almost like a structure that holds up a bridge so traffic can successfully cross.
Principle
Humans are information processors so therefore mental processes guide behaviour.
This is interesting because this principle asks us to consider the mind almost like a machine that processes data. This becomes more evident when you consider how sensory data works its way through our sensory system. The principle also suggests that our overt behaviour (actions or products we can see) comes from an unseen process that takes place somewhere in our brains, and not necessarily from something that happens physiologically or socially. This means that images, or other processes in the mind, are really important for helping us navigate our worlds. Remember this principle when we discuss schemas, for example.
This is interesting because this principle asks us to consider the mind almost like a machine that processes data. This becomes more evident when you consider how sensory data works its way through our sensory system. The principle also suggests that our overt behaviour (actions or products we can see) comes from an unseen process that takes place somewhere in our brains, and not necessarily from something that happens physiologically or socially. This means that images, or other processes in the mind, are really important for helping us navigate our worlds. Remember this principle when we discuss schemas, for example.
Principle
Unlike what was initially thought before the study of the mind really began, the mind can be studied scientifically.
This is a really important principle in cognitive psychology. Early behaviourists believed that only observable behaviour could and should have been studied. For example, how many times a lab rat hits a lever in order to get a food pellet. An action like that is quantifiable, measurable, directly observable, and it was believed anything that couldn't be directly observed (ie: experience of emotion, or thought) was not really that valuable to psychological study because it was subjective. Cognitive psychologists disagreed with this and showed that cognitive process could be measured scientifically, particularly through lab experiments. As you can see, the principle itself impacted beliefs around research methdology and how cognitive investigations were - and are - carried out.
This is a really important principle in cognitive psychology. Early behaviourists believed that only observable behaviour could and should have been studied. For example, how many times a lab rat hits a lever in order to get a food pellet. An action like that is quantifiable, measurable, directly observable, and it was believed anything that couldn't be directly observed (ie: experience of emotion, or thought) was not really that valuable to psychological study because it was subjective. Cognitive psychologists disagreed with this and showed that cognitive process could be measured scientifically, particularly through lab experiments. As you can see, the principle itself impacted beliefs around research methdology and how cognitive investigations were - and are - carried out.
Principle
Cognitive processes, such as memory, attention, or decision-making, are influenced by social and cultural factors.
This principle should not come as a great surprise. What we feel, think, remember, experience, perceive, think about is not just a product of itself or one context. These feelings, thoughts, perceptions, and memories are constantly being impacted by what and whom we surround ourselves with. Think about how your thoughts and memories are impacted the shows you watch, the people you talk to, the experiences you have while traveling, for example. Have you ever gone on a trip that has sort of changed how you see the world? This is called a paradigm shift, and it means that how our mind works is altered by our social context. What we surround ourselves with - traditions, cultures, people, contexts - impacts who we 'are'.