Which of the following is a feature of the cognitive approach?

The cognitive approach in psychology emphasizes the importance of internal mental processes, such as thinking, memory, and problem-solving. An essential feature of this approach is the exploration of how individuals process information, which includes the analytical processes involved in learning and memory. This approach looks at how thoughts influence behavior, highlighting the role of mental activities in understanding and interpreting the world.

For instance, cognitive psychologists investigate how people encode, store, and retrieve information, which directly informs their behaviors and decisions. By focusing on these mental processes, the cognitive approach sets itself apart from perspectives that mainly concentrate on observable behavior or biological functions.

In contrast, other options focus on aspects outside the cognitive domain. For example, social influences, conditioning through external stimuli, and physiological reactions to stress relate to social psychology, behaviorism, and biological psychology, respectively, rather than the cognitive framework.