Cognition and Development Flashcards
What is Social Cognition?
Cognitive processes we use when in social situations
E.g. We decide how to act in certain situations
What is Perspective-taking?
Cognitive ability to understand a social situation from a different perspective
E.g. Joining the end of a line because you see others in a line
Who researched perspective-taking?
Selman
How did Selman research perspective-taking?
30 boys, 30 girls
20 4yr-olds, 20 5yr-old, 20 6yr-olds
Social cognition was measured by presenting children with scenarios in which they had to decide how different people may feel
E.g. a child is told not to climb a tree by their parent but comes across their friend’s kitten up a tree, the child is asked how each person in the scenario would feel if she does or doesn’t climb the tree
What did Selman find in his research into perspective-taking?
Found that social cognition changes with age and identified key stages of development:
Egocentric, social informational, self reflective, mutual, social and conventional system
What age range is the Egocentric stage of development?
3-6
What age range is the social informational stage of development?
6-8
What age range is the self reflective stage of development?
8-10
What age range is the mutual stage of development?
10-12
What age range is the social and conventional system?
12+
What is the Egocentric stage of development?
(3-6 years old) Children cannot distinguish between their own emotions and those of others, can identify the emotional state of others but do not know what caused it
What is the Social Informational stage of development?
(6-8 years old) A child can tell the difference between their own POV and other peoples, can only focus on one perspective at a time
What is the Self Reflective stage of development?
(8-10 years old) children can put themselves in another persons POV and fully understand it, can’t do it with multiple POVs at the same time
What is the Mutual stage of development?
(10-12 years old) Children are able to look at a situation from their own and another POV at the same time
What is the Social and Conventional system stage of development?
Young people understand that being able to see other viewpoints in not enough for people to agree with one another, social conventions are needed to keep order
What is violation of expectation?
A method used to investigate infant knowledge of the world in which children will show surprise if they encounter a situation they are not familiar with which shows they do not have an intact knowledge of the world
What are Piaget’s stages of intellectual development?
Sensorimotor stage, per-operational stage, Concrete operations and formal operations
What is the sensorimotor stage of intellectual development?
(0-2 years old) Recognises the existence of the self as a being that can act intentionally, object permanence develops
What is the pre-operational stage of intellectual development?
(2-7 years old) Language develops, children are ecocentric and understands class inclusion
What is the concrete operations stage of intellectual development?
(7-11 years old) Children develop the ability to think logically, only applied to physical objects
What is the formal operations stage of intellectual development?
(11+ years old) Abstract and hypothetical thinking develop
What is object permanence?
Ability to realise that an object still exists when it passes out of the visual field
What is conservation?
The ability to realise that quantity remains the same even when the appearance of an object or group of object changes
What is egocentrism?
A child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own POV
What is class inclusion?
A child recognises that classes have subsets and are themselves subsets of larger classes
E.g. There are different breeds of dogs but dogs are mammals
What is Cognitive Development?
The development of mental processes through stages, especially in childhood
What is Schema?
A mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing which are developed from experience
What is equilibration?
Takes place when we have encountered new information and built it into our understanding of a topic through assimilation or accommodation
What is assimilation?
A form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information or a more advanced understanding of an object, person or idea.
Adding to a schema
What is accommodation?
A form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information that changes our understanding of a topic.
A new schema is formed
What is Semiotics?
The signs and symbols developed within a particular culture
What is Scaffolding in terms of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development
The process of helping a learner cross the ZDP and advance as much as they can within their stage of development
What is the ZPD?
(Zone of proximal development) The gap between a child’s current level of functioning and what they can potentially do with the right help
What is Autism?
This is a broad term for a wide range of features. Typically they face challenges with social interaction and repetitive behaviours
