Chapter Three: Cognitive Foundations - Key Terms Flashcards
Abstract thinking
Thinking in terms of symbols, ideas, and concepts.
Accommodation
The cognitive process that occurs when a scheme is changed to adapt to new information.
Adolescent egocentrism
Type of egocentrism in which adolescents have difficulty distinguishing their thinking about their own thoughts from their thinking about the thoughts of others.
Age norms
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 variety of geographical areas and social class backgrounds.
Assimilation
- The cognitive process that occurs when new information is altered to fit an existing scheme.
- In the formation of an ethnic identity, the approach that involves leaving the ethnic culture behind and adopting the ways of the majority culture.
Automaticity
Degree of cognitive effort a person needs to devote to processing a given set of information.
Cerebellum
A structure in the lower brain, well beneath the cortex long thought to be involved only in basic functions such as movement, now known to be important for many higher functions as well, such as mathematics, music, decision making, and social skills.
Cognitive development
Changes over time in how people think, how they solve problems, and how their capacities for memory and attention change.
Cognitive stage
A period in which abilities are organized in a coherent, interrelated way.
Cognitive developmental approach
Approach to understanding cognition that emphasizes the changes that take place at different ages.
Commitment
Cognitive status in which persons commit themselves to certain points of view they believe to be the most valid while at the same time being open to reevaluating their views if new evidence is presented to them.
Complex thinking
Thinking that takes into account multiple connections and interpretations, such as in the use of metaphor, satire, and sarcasm.
Componential approach
description of the information-processing approach to cognition, indicating that it involves breaking down the thinking process into its various components.
Concrete operations
Cognitive stage from age 7 to 11 in which children learn to use mental operations but are limited to applying them to concrete, observable situations rather than hypothetical situations.
Continuous
A view of development as a gradual, steady process rather than as taking place in distinct stages.
Critical thinking
Thinking that involves not merely memorizing information but analyzing it, making judgments about what it means, relating it to other information, and considering ways in which it might be valid or invalid.
Crystallized intelligence
Accumulated knowledge and enhanced judgment based on experience.
Cultural psychology
Approach to human psychology emphasizing that psychological functioning cannot be separated from the culture in which it takes place.
Dialectal thought
Type of thinking that develops in emerging adulthood, involving a growing awareness that most problems do not have a single solution and that problems must often be addressed with crucial pieces of information missing.
Discontinuous
A view of development as taking place in stages that are distinct from one another rather than as one gradual, continuous process.
Divided attention
The ability to focus on more than one task at a time.
Dualistic thinking
Cognitive tendency to see situations and issues in polarized, absolute, black-and-white terms.
Executive functioning
The ability to control and manage one’s cognitive processes.
Fluid intelligence
Mental abilities that involve speed of analyzing, processing, and reacting to information.
FMRI
A technique for measuring brain functioning during an ongoing activity.
Formal operations
Cognitive stage from age 11 on up in which people learn to think systematically about possibilities and hypotheses.
Frontal lobes
The part of the brain immediately behind the forehead. Known to be involved in higher brain functions such as planning ahead and analyzing complex problems.
Gray matter
The outer layer of the brain, where most of the growth in brain cells occurs.
Guided participation
The teaching interaction between two people (often an adult and a child or adolescent) as they participate in a culturally valued activity.
Hypothetical deductive reasoning
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.
Imaginary audience
Belief that others are acutely aware of and attentive to one’s appearance and behavior.
Individual differences
Approach to research that focuses on how individuals differ within a group, for example, in performance on IQ tests.
Information processing approach
An approach to understanding cognition that seeks to delineate the steps involved in the thinking process and how each step is connected to the next.
Intelligence quotient
A measure of a person’s intellectual abilities based on a standardized test.