Chapter 3: Cognitive Development Flashcards

1
Q

What are the FRONTAL LOBES?

A

part of the brain immediately behind the forehead; involved in higher brain functions like planning ahead and analyzing complex problems

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2
Q

What is SYNAPTIC PRUNING?

A

the overproduction of synapses is reduced, making brain functioning faster and more efficient, but less flexible

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3
Q

What is MYELINATION?

A

process by which myelin, a blanket of fat wrapped around the main part of the neuron, grows

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4
Q

What is EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING?

A

the ability to solve cognitive problems without becomign distracted and to adjust one’s strategy as the nature of a problem changes

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5
Q

What is the CEREBELLUM?

A

the lower part of the brain, beneath the cortex;
initially thought to only be involved with movement;
has been found to be important for math, music, decision-making, social skills, humor

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6
Q

What is GREY MATTER?

A

the outermost layer of the brain, composed mainly of neurons and unmyelinated axons

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7
Q

What is WHITE MATTER?

A

the part of the brain that consists of myelinated axons

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8
Q

What is the PREFRONTAL CORTEX?

A

the foremost part of the frontal lobe, involved in functions like planning and reasoning; also includes parts of the lower brain involved in emotions and motivation

new connections here in adolescence indicate growing emotional self-control

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9
Q

What is NEURODEVELOPMENTAL PLASTICITY?

A

the interaction bw the maturation of the brain and the environment

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10
Q

What are ASYNCHRONIES in the context of cognitive development?

A

the fact that not all parts of the brain mature at the same time; in adolescents, emotion-focused capacities of the brain have developed before the congitive and executive-focused capacities&raquo_space; adolescents have difficulty integrating emotion and cognition effectively

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11
Q

Describe Paiget’s COGNITIVE STAGE MODEL.

A

sveral periods in which abilities are organized in a coherent, interrelated way

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12
Q

What is a MENTAL STRUCTURE in the context of Piaget’s development theory?

A

the organization of cognitive abilities into a single pattern, such that thinking in all aspects of life is a reflection of that structure

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13
Q

Describe the COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL APPROACH.

A

approach to understanding cognition that emphasizes changes that take place at adifferent ages

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14
Q

What is MATURATION?

A

development due to genetically-based processes with limited influence from the environment &laquo_space;accoding to Piaget, the driving force behind development from one stage to the next

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15
Q

What are SCHEMAS?

A

structures for organizing and interpreting information

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16
Q

What is ASSIMILATION?

A

when new information is altered to fit an existing scheme in a person’s mind

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17
Q

What is ACCOMODATION?

A

changing the scheme to adapt to the new information

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18
Q

Describe Piaget’s FORMAL OPERATIONS stage.

A

the stage of adolescence, from age 11-15/20; people learn to think systematically about possibilities and hypotheses - capacity to reason is increased

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19
Q

What is HYPOTHETICAL-DEDUCTIVE REASONING?

A

Piaget’s term for the process by which the formal operational thinker systematically tests possible solutions to a problem and arrives at an answer that can be defended and explained

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20
Q

What is ABSTRACT THINKING?

A

thinking in terms of symbols, ideas, and concepts

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21
Q

What is METACOGNITION?

A

the capacity to “think about thinking” that allows adolescents and adults to reason about their thought processes and monitor them

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22
Q

What is COMPLEX THINKING?

A

thinking that takes into account multiple connections and interpretations, such as the use of metaphor, satire, and sarcasm

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23
Q

In the context of research, what are INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES?

A

approach to research that focuses on how individuals differ within a group, such as performance on IQ tests

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24
Q

What is POSTFORMAL THINKING?

A

type of thinking beyond formal operations, involving greater awareness of the complexity of real life situations

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25
Q

What is PRAGMATISM?

A

type of thinking that involves adapting logical thinking to the practical constraints of real-life situations

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26
Q

What is DIALECTICAL THOUGHT?

A

type of thinking that develops in emerging adulthood, involving an awareness that most problem do not have a single solution and that problems must often be addressed with crucial pieces of information missing

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27
Q

What is REFLECTIVE JUDGEMENT?

A

the capacity of the emerging adult to evaluate the accuracy and logic of sometimes conflicting evidence and arguments

28
Q

What is RELATIVISM?

A

considering the merits of competing views and trying to compare these

29
Q

Describe DISCONTINUOUS vs CONTINUOUS cognitive development.

A

IPT approaches cognitive change as CONTINUOUS: gradual and steady, as opposed to DISCONTINUOUS: taking place in stages that are distinct from one another (Piaget)

30
Q

What is SELECTIVE ATTENTION?

A

the ability to focus on relevant information while screening out information that is irrelevant
adolescents are better than young children at this, and emerging adults are better than adolescents

31
Q

What is DIVIDED ATTENTION?

A

the ability to focus on more than one task at a time
adolescents are better than children, but divided attention might still result in less efficient learning than focused attention

32
Q

What is SHORT TERM MEMORY?

A

memory for informatio that is currently the focus of your attention; retains info for 30 seconds or less

33
Q

What is WORKING MEMORY?

A

an aspect of short term memory that refers to where informaton is stored as it is comprehended and analyzed

34
Q

What is LONG-TERM MEMORY?

A

memory for information that is commited to longer term storage, so you can recall information after a period when your attention has not been focused on it

35
Q

What are MNEOMIC DEVICES?

A

memory strategies, such as oragnizing information into coherent patterns; adolescents are more capable of using these strategies than young children

36
Q

What is AUTOMATICITY?

A

the degree of cognitive effort a person needs to devote to processing a given set of information; adolescents show greater processing in a number of respects but automaticity depends more on experience than age alone

37
Q

What is REDUCTIONISM?

A

breaking up a phenomenon into separate parts to such an extend that the meaning and coherence of the phenomenon as a whole becomes lost&raquo_space; potential to do so with IPT and computer analogy

38
Q

What is ENCODING?

A

the cognitive process whereby information is transferred from one form of memory to another, deeper form of memory; adolescents are able to encode more information, more relevant information, and in a more efficient way, as they age

39
Q

What is MAINTENANCE REHEARSAL?

A

using repetition, usually verbal, to keep information active in short term memory for a longer among of time; increases the chance it will be transferred to long term memory

40
Q

What is ELABORATIVE REHEARSAL?

A

a more effective technique that involves the connecting of new information in STM with information already stored in LTM

41
Q

What is DEPTH PROCESSING?

A

an even more effective encoding strategy in wihch information is encoded via its meaning

42
Q

What is CRITICAL THINKING?

A

thinking that involves not merely memorizing information but analyzing it

43
Q

What is MEDIA LITERACY?

A

the ability to discern evidence-based and unibased information in media in order to make sound judgements

44
Q

What is meant by ORGANIZATION CORE in terms of adolescent cognitive development?

A

cognitive development affects all areas of thinking, no matter the topic

45
Q

What is SOCIAL COGNITION?

A

how people think about other people, social relationships, and social institutions

46
Q

What is PERSPECTIVE TAKING?

A

the ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others

47
Q

What is PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR?

A

promoting the well-being of others

48
Q

What is THEORY OF MIND?

A

the ability to attribute mental states to one’s self and others

49
Q

What is THE IMAGINARY AUDIENCE?

A

belief that others are acutely aware of and attentive to one’s appearance and bhaviour; an aspect of adolescent egocentrism

50
Q

What is the PERSONAL FABLE?

A

belief in one’s personal uniqueness, often including a sense of invulnerability to the consequences of taking risk; an aspect of adolescent egocentrism

51
Q

What is OPTIMISITC BIAS?

A

the tendency to assume that accidence, diseases and other misfortunes are more likely to happen to other people than to oneself; adolescents tend to have this stronger than older adults

52
Q

What is the PSYCHOMETRIC APPROACH to intelligence testing?

A

an attempt to understand human cognition to evaluting cognitive abilities using intelligence tests

53
Q

What is the WECHSLER INTELLIGENCE SCALE FOR CHILDREN (WISC) and what are its components?

A

the most widely used intelligence test for children ages 6-16
- verbal comprehension index
- visual spatial index
- fluid reasoning index
- processing speed index
- working memory index

54
Q

Whas is an INTELLIGENCE QUOTIENT (IQ)?

A

a measure of a preson’s intellectual abilities based on a standardized test

55
Q

In terms of IQ testing, what are AGE NORMS?

A

technique for developing a psychological test in which a typical score for each age is established by testing a large random sample of people from a vareity of geographical areas and social class backgrounds

56
Q

In terms of IQ testing, what is RELATIVE PERFORMANCE?

A

an individual’s score compared to those of other people the same age

57
Q

In terms of IQ testing, what is ABSOLUTE PERFORMANCE?

A

an individual’s score compared to those of other people, regardless of age

58
Q

What is FLUID INTELLIGENCE?

A

mental abilities that involve speed of analyzing, processing, and reacting to information; peaks in emerging adulthood, then declines

59
Q

What is CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE?

A

accumulated knowledge and enhanced judgement based on experience; tends to improve through the 20s and 30s

60
Q

List the 9 types of intelligence highlighed by Howard Gardner.

A

Lingquistic
Logical-Mathematical
Musical
Spatial
Bodily-Kinesthetic
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Naturialist
Existential

61
Q

What is CONVERGENT THINKING?

A

done to solve a problem with only one correct answer

62
Q

What is DIVERGENT THINKING?

A

produces many answers to a single problem

63
Q

What is the ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT?

A

the gap bw how competently a person performs a task alone and when guided by an adult or more competent peer

64
Q

What is SCAFFOLDING?

A

the degree of assistance provided to the learner in the zone of proximal development, gradually decreasing as the learners’ skills develop

65
Q

What is GUIDED PARTICIPATION?

A

the teaching interaction bw two people, often an adult and a child or adolescent, as they particiapte in a culturally valued activity