3 - Cognition and Intelligence Flashcards
What is cognition?
Mental process by which knowledge is acquired, elaborated, stored, retrieved and used
What was Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
Explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment.
How children think rather than what they may know
What are the 4 stages of cognitive development (Piaget)?
- 0-2 years: sensorimotor
- 2-7 years: pre-operational
- 7-11 years: concrete operational
- 11+ years: formal operational
What is the sensorimotor stage?
- 6 substages
- Object permanence
- Develop memory systems around 8 months
- Self-recognition around 18 months
What is object permanence?
Understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be perceived
What is the pre-operational stage?
- Egocentrism - can’t see others perspectives
- Theory of mind around 4-5 years
- Conservation of mass
- Centration
What is the theory of mind?
4-5 years –> learn about other’s emotional states and allows social development
What happens if there is no theory of mind?
Autism
What is concrete operational stage?
- Operational thought is reversible (can pour water into any size glass and know volume is same)
- Direct sensory access (think of real and imaginable things)
What is the formal operational stage?
Systematic thinking, consider alternatives, plan ahead
What is centration?
Thoughts centred around 1 idea at a time
Who came up with the 4 stages of cognitive development?
Jean Piaget
What is IQ influenced by?
Genetics, social/racial differences, environment, culture
What are the uses of IQ tests?
o Identifying educational needs
o Assessment following neurological trauma, learning disability, cognitive impairment
o Predicting school performance & job success
What are the limitations of IQ tests?
o Is IQ stable?
o Does not measure underlying competence or ‘world skills’
What is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale?
Measures intelligence and cognitive ability in adults/older adolescents
14 tests, 2 categories
Verbal and performance IQ
What is IQ?
(Mental age/chronological age) x100
What are new approaches to IQ?
Emotional intelligence
What is cerebral lateralisation?
Different side of brain for different things
What is left side of brain used for?
Complex language, logic, math
What is right brain used for?
Simple language, spatial and pattern abilities, emotions
What is split-brain?
Left brain sees right eye and right brain sees left eye. Right and left working separately
If left eye sees image (right brain), can draw what it is (right brain) but mouth says what the right eye sees (left brain), which may be nothing.
What are chimeric faces?
Different expression on both sides. Split brain respond to both differently with words (left brain) or actions (right brain).
What are schemas?
Theories of how the physical and social world operate. System of organising and perceiving new information into categories, etc.
Who’s theory was it that children use series of schemata to understand the world?
Piaget
What is assimilation?
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Eg. New type of dog is seen. Assimilation = fitting it into existing dog schema.
What is accommodation?
New information that doesn’t fit into a schema is commonly ignored. If it can’t be ignored, accommodation –> modifying schema to fit new info
E.g. dog behaves strangely and unexpectedly for a dog, so the schema is modified so the individual now knows that dogs can behave in this way.
What is operation?
Mentally considering info in a logical manner (pre-operational, concrete, formal)
What is conservation?
Understand that amount is unrelated to appearance (clay experiment, volume of liquids)
Who proposed the idea of multiple intelligences (also emotional intelligence)
Gardner
What is comissurotomy?
Split brain operations, often used for epilepsy treatment
When do kids develop self-recognition?
Around 18 months
What stage of cognitive development does the theory of mind develop?
4-5 years so in ‘pre-operational’
