Ch. 2 - Cognitive Flashcards
In what 5 ways do adolescent thinking change?
- think about possibilities
- think about abstract things
- think about the process of thinking - metacognition
- think multidimensionally
- think about things as relative rather than absolute
What does it mean that adolescents can better think about possibilities?
consider potentials and possible outcomes
- potential to get lost in possibilities (anxiety, overthinking)
consider the future
compare perspectives
- become better arguers
What does it mean that adolescents can better think about abstract things?
can consider things they haven’t experienced
can consider concepts (ex. friendship, justice, faith)
What does it mean that adolescents can better think about the process of thinking?
metacognition
recognize, monitor, and manage your own thinking
knowing what you do and don’t know, what strategies you’re using, etc.
What does it mean that adolescents can better think multidimensionally?
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
What does it mean that adolescents can better think about things are relative rather than absolute?
question rather than simply accept
skepticism (everything becomes uncertain)
What did Jean Piaget contribute to cognitive psychology?
stage theory of cognitive development
thinking ability progresses through qualitatively different stages as we get older
sensorimotor
preoperational
concrete operations
formal operations
Describe the sensorimotor stage.
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
Why does infantile amnesia exist?
before internal representation is possible, infants are unable to think of anything so can’t form memories
Describe the preoperational stage.
ages 2-7
thoughts are irreversible
- ex. playdough experiment
reason dominated by perception
- use what they see instead of logic
Describe the concrete operations stage.
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
Describe the formal operations stage.
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
What are the influencing factors on whether someone reaches the formal operations stage?
social influences experience practice aptitudes interests job selection
What is idealism? What effects does it have on adolescent life?
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
What is adolescent egocentrism?
re-emergence of egocentrism in a more advanced form (focus on abstract world and self)
naive idealism and self-absorption
What is naive idealism?
sees ideal world and believes they can change it through their actions
can be a positive thing in certain aspects (ex. starting a charity)
What is self-absorption? What are the 2 forms?
thinking more about themselves, difficulty differentiating between one’s own and other’s perspective
imaginary audience and personal fable
Describe imaginary audience.
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”
What are the 2 ways in which self-consciousness can manifest themselves?
social discomfort or attention-seeking behaviour
importance placed on peers and peer approval
Describe personal fable.
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
What are the 3 manifestations of egocentrism?
naive idealism
self-consciousness (imaginary audience)
feelings of uniqueness (personal fable)
What are the 5 main areas of cognitive change according to the information processing view?
attention memory processing speed organization metacognition
How does attention change with adolescence? (3 types)
sustained attention, selective attention, and divided attention improves
What results from more frequent multi-device use amongst teenagers?
poorer performance, greater impulsivity, decreased growth mindset
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)
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
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
How does organization change with adolescence?
become more planful
more flexible in strategy use, greater number and effectiveness of strategies
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
What is response inhibition?
increased ability to control impulses
engage in more appropriate behaviour that will better help them complete task
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
What are the 5 steps of decision making?
- identify alternative choices
- identify consequences of each choice
- evaluating the pros and cons of each consequence
- assess likelihood of each possible consequence
- combining all of this according to some decision rule
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
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
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
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
How can risks be positive?
can be adaptive
promote prosocial behaviours and learning new skills
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
Though adolescents use the same decision-making process, what may they not be as skilled at?
evaluating the outcome and learning from their mistakes
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
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
What is deductive reasoning?
draw logically necessary conclusions from a set of givens
major accomplishment of adolescence
What is the reminiscence bump?
adults remember details about people/places/events they encountered during adolescence better than those from other years
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
What is brain development index?
quantifies how mature brain circuitry is
increases steadily between 8-22
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
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
What is scaffolding?
structuring a learning situation so it is just within reach of the student
What is mentalizing?
ability to understand someone else’s mental states
What is social cognition?
thinking about people, social relationships, and social institutions
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
What are social conventions?
things we are expected to do but not because there is any law that tells us we have to
