Chapter 4: Cognition, Consciousness, and Language Flashcards
Which lobe is much larger in humans?
Frontal lobe
What is cognitive development? How is it limited during early childhood?
- The development of one’s ability to think and solve problems across the lifespan
- Limited by the pace of brain maturation
Jean Piaget divided the lifespan into four stages of cognitive development. What are they?
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational
- Concrete operational
- Formal operational
- Each stage prepares the individual for the stage that follows
According to Piaget, how do infants mainly learn?
Through instinctual interaction with the environment (ex: grasping reflex)
Piaget referred to organized patters of behaviours and thought as schemata. What can a schema include?
- Concept, behavior, or a sequence of events
According to Piaget, how is new information processed in a child?
- Processed via adaptation
- As a child proceeds through the stages, new information has to be placed into the different shcemata
According to Piaget, adaptation comes about by two complementary processes, what are they?
Assimilation and accomodation
What is assimilation?
The process of classifying new information into existing schemata
What is accommodation?
The process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass this new information
How long does the sensorimotor stage last? What does the child need to learn?
- From birth until 2 years old
- Learns to manipulate his or her environment in order to meet physical needs
Differentiate the two types of circular reactions? Why are they repeated?
Primary: repetition of a body movement that originally occurred by chance (sucking thumb), repeated since child finds it soothing
Secondary: when manipulation is focused on something outside the body (throwing tows from high chair), repeated since child gets a response from the environment
What is the key milestone that ends the sensorimotor stage?
The development of object permanence, which is understanding that objects continue to exist even when outside of view (ex: peek-a-boo is entertaining since infants lack object permanence)
Object permanence marks the beginning of what?
Representational thought, in which the child has begun to create mental representations of external objects and events
How long does the preoperational stage last? What is it characterized by?
- 2 to 7 years old
- Symbolic thinking, egocentrism and centration
Define symbolic thinking.
Refers to the ability to pretend, play make-believe, and have an imagination
Define egocentrism.
Refers to the inability to imagine what another person may think or feel
Define centration.
The tendency to focus on only one aspect of a phenomenon or inability to understand the concept of conservation (ex: 1 large slice vs 2 small slices = same size BUT child will want 2 slices of pizza)
How long does the concrete operational stage last? What do they understand? They can engage in logical thought as long as what? Can they think abstractly?
- 7 to 11 years
- Can understand conservation and consider the perspectives of others
- Able to engage in logical thought as long as they are working with concrete objects or information that is directly available
- NO ability to think abstractly
When does the formal operational stage start? What is it marked by?
- At around 11 years old
- Marked by the ability to think logically about abstract ideas
- Problem-solving
Who proposed that the engine driving cognitive development is the child’s internalization of her culture?
Lev Vygotsky
Compare fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. When do they peak? Do they decline?
Fluid: problem-solving skills (peak in early adulthood)
Crystallized: use of learned skills and knowledge (peak in middle adulthood)
They both decline with age
What is delirium? What can it be caused by?
- Rapid fluctuation in cognitive function that is reversible and caused by medical (nonpsychological) causes
- Electrolyte and pH disturbances, malnutrition, low blood sugar, infection, drug reaction, alcohol withdrawal, and pain
Define mental set.
The tendency to approach problems in the same way.
Define functional fixedness.
The inability to consider how to use an object in a nontraditional manner.