Chapter 7 Flashcards
information processing approach
analyzes how individuals encode info, manipulate it, monitor it, & create strategies for handling it
- Rejected behavioral approach; focuses on how people think
Mind compared to computer, but computer is more accurate and doesn’t have consciousness like us
developmental robotics
uses robots in examining various developmental topics & issues like motor dev., perceptual dev., info processing, & language dev.
encoding
process by which info gets into memory
automaticity
ability to process info w/ little or no effort
strategy construction
creation of new procedures for processing info
metacognition
thinking about thinking or knowing about knowing
attention
focusing of mental resources; improves cognitive processing
selective attention
focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant
divided attention
concentrating on more than one activity at a time
sustained attention
ability to maintain attention to selected stimulus for long time
executive attention
planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting & compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, & dealing w/ novel/difficult circumstances
orienting/investigative process
first year of life; direct attention to potentially important locations in environment & recognizing objects & their features; deploy attention more quickly & flexibly
habituation & dishabituation
decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations of the stimulus & recovery of responsiveness after a change in stimulation
joint attention
two or more people focus on same object or event
▫ Requires ability to track another’s behavior (following their gaze), one person directing another’s attention, and reciprocal behavior
▫ Caregiver points or uses words to direct attention
▫ Gaze following begins at 10-11 months
Babies begin directing adults attention at 1 yr old
Describe attention in infancy.
- Can detect a contour & fixate on it
- Scan patterns thoroughly
Prefer complex patterns
- Scan patterns thoroughly
Describe attention in preschool children.
Attention improves during preschool years, after the toddler stage.
They make advances in executive & sustained attention
Limitations: - Salient vs relevant dimensions (pay attention to stimuli that stand out or are salient, even when it isnt relevant to the task or problem)
- Planfulness is still improving and they struggle to plan
metamemory
individuals knowledge about memory
○ Childrens metamemory limited; don’t understand that related items are easier to remember than unrelated ones, etc.
○ Preschoolers have inflated opinion of memory abilities
○ Poor at the beginning of elementary but improve by age 11-12
theory of mind
awareness of one’s own mental processes & mental processes of others
- Perceptions: 2 years, children recognize that another person will see whats infront of their own eyes instead of what the child sees
- Emotions: child can distinguish positive & negative emotions
- Desires: children recognize that others have different desires
- Know that desires are related to actions & emotions (if we get what we desire we are happy; if we don’t we are sad)
- Children realize that people can have false beliefs at 3-5 yrs
Preschoolers do not think much about thinking
Describe attention in adulthood.
Older adults may struggle to focus on relevant info more than younger adults & are less adept at exercising selective attention
Describe metacognition in adolescence.
□ Increased capacity to monitor & manage cognitive resources to effectively meet demands of a task
□ Ability to determine how much attention will be given to a resource
□ Better planning and strategies
Older adults overestimate memory problems they have; adults think a lot about their declines in memory and planning or organizational skills
memory
retention of information over time
What is the process of memory?
Encoding, storage, & retrieval
schema theory
people mold memories to fit info that already exists in their minds
Describe memory in infancy.
- Babies can remember perceptual-motor info (kicking a mobile to make it move, they will remember to do this later), but could just be implicit memory
- Implicit memory: without conscious recollection; performed automatically
- Explicit memory: conscious recollection of facts & experiences
- Babies show explicit memory after 6 months & improves in 2nd yr
- Infants memories are fragile & short lived, except for memory of perceptual motor actions
- Hippocampus + cerebral cortex matures during 6 month to 12 month of age, forming explicit memory
- Infantile amnesia: not remembering being an infant
Describe memory in childhood.
- Long term memory: permanent & unlimited
- Short term memory: retaining info for up to 30 seconds w/o rehearsal of info
- Short term increases in childhood
- working memory develops
fuzzy trace theory
Two types of memory representations:
1. Verbatim memory traces- precise details of info 2. Gist- central idea of info
Describe how memory changes with aging.
- Declines in working memory in late adulthood but can be improved w/ training
- Decreases in processing speed in middle & late adulthood
episodic memory
retention of info about where and when of life happenings (what color were the walls in ur bedroom as a kid or what did u eat this morning)
semantic memory
person’s knowledge about the world
- Declines less than episodic memory - Older adults take longer to retrieve semantic info - Tip of the tongue phenomenon
source memory
ability to remember where you learning something
- Failures increase w/ aging
prospective memory
remembering to do something in future
- Some declines w/ age
thinking
manipulating & transforming info in memory
strategies
use of mental activities to improve processing of info
- Ex: rehearsing info & organizing - Creating mental images - Elaboration: engaging in more extensive processing of info
Describe concept formation in infancy.
- Can know concepts as young as 3-4 months
- Perceptual categorization: similar features are grouped together
- Conceptual categories formed at 7-9 months
Processing info is less stage like and more gradual
cognitive control
synonym of executive function; exercising effective control (focusing attention, cognitive flexibility, etc)
Increases in adolescence
critical thinking
grasping deeper meaning of ideas, keeping an open mind about different approaches & perspectives, & deciding for oneself what to believe or do
mindfulness
being alert, mentally present, & cognitively flexible while going thru life’s everyday tasks
- Important for critical thinking - Creates new ideas, open minded - Can improve children's executive function + more
Describe executive function in childhood.
- Early childhood: developments in cognitive inhibition, cognitive flexibility, goal setting, and delay of gratification
