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PS276 > Ch. 2 - Cognitive > Flashcards

Ch. 2 - Cognitive Flashcards

1
Q

In what 5 ways do adolescent thinking change?

A
  1. think about possibilities
  2. think about abstract things
  3. think about the process of thinking - metacognition
  4. think multidimensionally
  5. think about things as relative rather than absolute
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2
Q

What does it mean that adolescents can better think about possibilities?

A

consider potentials and possible outcomes
- potential to get lost in possibilities (anxiety, overthinking)

consider the future

compare perspectives
- become better arguers

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3
Q

What does it mean that adolescents can better think about abstract things?

A

can consider things they haven’t experienced

can consider concepts (ex. friendship, justice, faith)

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4
Q

What does it mean that adolescents can better think about the process of thinking?

A

metacognition

recognize, monitor, and manage your own thinking

knowing what you do and don’t know, what strategies you’re using, etc.

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5
Q

What does it mean that adolescents can better think multidimensionally?

A

see multiple perspectives, complexity in situations and in the self

ex. I can be both shy and outgoing in different settings

see things through more complicated lenses

enables understanding of sarcasm

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6
Q

What does it mean that adolescents can better think about things are relative rather than absolute?

A

question rather than simply accept

skepticism (everything becomes uncertain)

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7
Q

What did Jean Piaget contribute to cognitive psychology?

A

stage theory of cognitive development

thinking ability progresses through qualitatively different stages as we get older

sensorimotor
preoperational
concrete operations
formal operations

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8
Q

Describe the sensorimotor stage.

A

ages 0-2

understand the world in terms of sensations and behaviours (ex. suck -> get milk)

live in the “here and now”

major achievement is object permanence

internal representation (mentally representing things) makes thought possible

egocentrism

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9
Q

Why does infantile amnesia exist?

A

before internal representation is possible, infants are unable to think of anything so can’t form memories

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10
Q

Describe the preoperational stage.

A

ages 2-7

thoughts are irreversible
- ex. playdough experiment

reason dominated by perception
- use what they see instead of logic

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11
Q

Describe the concrete operations stage.

A

ages 7-12

able to conserve (realize some quantitative attributes do not change despite displacements)

thoughts are now reversible

thinking is concrete, can use logical rules in thinking

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12
Q

Describe the formal operations stage.

A

ages 12+

abstract, potential, imagined thinking

hypothetico-deductive thought (begin with hypothesis, deduce logical inferences in an orderly way)

can envision ALL possible solutions

propositional thinking (can evaluate logic of statements without real-world circumstances)

not everyone attains this level!

development of strong idealism

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13
Q

What are the influencing factors on whether someone reaches the formal operations stage?

A 
social influences
experience
practice
aptitudes
interests
job selection
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14
Q

What is idealism? What effects does it have on adolescent life?

A

envisioning the world as it “should be”, not as it is
- living in the hypothetical future of what things will/should be like

idealistic views on topics/concerns

disparities increase tension with others (adults/parents)
- causes argument, may be intolerant of other views

leads to conflict between possible and actual

  • positive resolution: volunteer, community involvement, effort to improve the world
  • negative resolution: rebellion, destructiveness, unhappiness, isolation
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15
Q

What is adolescent egocentrism?

A

re-emergence of egocentrism in a more advanced form (focus on abstract world and self)

naive idealism and self-absorption

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16
Q

What is naive idealism?

A

sees ideal world and believes they can change it through their actions

can be a positive thing in certain aspects (ex. starting a charity)

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17
Q

What is self-absorption? What are the 2 forms?

A

thinking more about themselves, difficulty differentiating between one’s own and other’s perspective

imaginary audience and personal fable

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18
Q

Describe imaginary audience.

A

heightened sense of self-consciousness in which adolescents believe their behaviour is the focus of everyone else’s attention
- appearance, self, body, skills, etc.

self-focus, self-centered

“if I am thinking about me, others must be thinking about me”

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19
Q

What are the 2 ways in which self-consciousness can manifest themselves?

A

social discomfort or attention-seeking behaviour

importance placed on peers and peer approval

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20
Q

Describe personal fable.

A

egocentric belief that one’s experiences are unique
- “you couldn’t possibly understand”

exaggerated sense of self-importance

illusion of invulnerability

  • “it won’t happen to me”
  • rules/consequences that apply to others don’t apply to me
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21
Q

What are the 3 manifestations of egocentrism?

A

naive idealism

self-consciousness (imaginary audience)

feelings of uniqueness (personal fable)

22
Q

What are the 5 main areas of cognitive change according to the information processing view?

A 
attention
memory
processing speed
organization
metacognition
23
Q

How does attention change with adolescence? (3 types)

A

sustained attention, selective attention, and divided attention improves

24
Q

What results from more frequent multi-device use amongst teenagers?

A

poorer performance, greater impulsivity, decreased growth mindset

25
How does memory change with adolescence?
improved short-term and long-term memory process larger amounts of information increased # and effectiveness of memory strategies increased ability for deep processing (meaningful info more easily transferred to long-term memory)
26
How does processing speed change with adolescence?
increased speed = thinking more quickly - due to myelination automaticity - more practice skills become "automatic", frees cognitive energy for other things
27
What is the Stroop effect?
recognizing colours and reading words at the same time, then resolving conflict between their different meanings can slow down processing speed
28
How does organization change with adolescence?
become more planful more flexible in strategy use, greater number and effectiveness of strategies
29
What is cognitive self regulation?
improved self-directed regulation and control of our cognitions thoughts, beliefs, affects in pursuit of our goals increased ability to take action to apply a solution
30
What is response inhibition?
increased ability to control impulses engage in more appropriate behaviour that will better help them complete task
31
What is behavioural decision theory?
decision making is a rational process of figuring out benefits/costs of different choices and then acting to maximize benefits and minimize costs
32
What are the 5 steps of decision making?
1. identify alternative choices 2. identify consequences of each choice 3. evaluating the pros and cons of each consequence 4. assess likelihood of each possible consequence 5. combining all of this according to some decision rule
33
If adolescents use the same decision-making process as adults with the same efficiency, then why do they make so many "bad" decisions?
different values/priorities adults emphasize negative consequences (risks) whereas adolescents emphasize positive consequences (rewards) both decisions are rational just based on different values may make the same decision but for very different reasons
34
How can too many choices impact decision making?
large number of choices may be overwhelming, cause teens to revert to habit/impulse decisions or to delay decision making
35
What 3 reasons explain why risk taking persists in adolescence even though they are just as good as adults in evaluating risks?
increased interest in the rewards of peer relationships and influence - activation of reward centres increased distress from peer exclusion - right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex plays role in reducing stress from negative peer evaluations, not fully developed in teens - decisions made to avoid peer exclusion self-regulation not fully developed - lateral prefrontal cortex responsible for self-regulation, develops gradually over adolescence all = perfect storm of opportunity for risky behaviour
36
What does driving simulation research show about adolescent risk taking?
early adolescents much more risky when with friends, late adolescents somewhat riskier, adults not impacted all the same when driving alone adolescents likely to engage in risky behaviour when friends are watching - use reward areas of the brain where adults use prefrontal cortex
37
How can risks be positive?
can be adaptive promote prosocial behaviours and learning new skills
38
What are some more effective ways to reduce risky behaviour than classroom-based education?
increase penalties imposed make it harder to access risky things increase economic policies against risky behaviour provide safe activities that meet the need for sensation seeking modelling and direct conversation about decision-making processes from adults
39
Though adolescents use the same decision-making process, what may they not be as skilled at?
evaluating the outcome and learning from their mistakes
40
What are the 4 developments of social reasoning/social cognition?
theory of mind thinking about social relationships conceptions about laws, civil rights, freedoms social conventions
41
What is theory of mind?
allows us to understand other people's actions/feelings other people have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be different from their own
42
What is deductive reasoning?
draw logically necessary conclusions from a set of givens major accomplishment of adolescence
43
What is the reminiscence bump?
adults remember details about people/places/events they encountered during adolescence better than those from other years
44
How is IQ found? When does IQ tend to plateau?
take a test to find mental age, divide mental age by chronological age and multiply result but 100 average is 100 scores plateau mid-late adolescence, provides argument for educational intervention prior to mid-adolescence
45
What is brain development index?
quantifies how mature brain circuitry is increases steadily between 8-22
46
How does culture play a role in IQ?
individuals use intellectual skills not only as a function of cognitive maturation but also in response to everyday problems they have to solve have to understand nature of the environment in which an adolescent develops
47
What is the zone of proximal development?
level of challenge that is still within an individuals reach but that forces an individual to develop more advanced skills Vygotsky
48
What is scaffolding?
structuring a learning situation so it is just within reach of the student
49
What is mentalizing?
ability to understand someone else's mental states
50
What is social cognition?
thinking about people, social relationships, and social institutions
51
How do intuition and logic play a role in decision making?
being able to make decisions intuitively takes advantage of experience and allows us to make decisions more quickly than if we reasoned everything out adults more likely to activate regions reflecting gut-level responding
52
What are social conventions?
things we are expected to do but not because there is any law that tells us we have to

PS276 (12 decks)

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