Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

A Level Psychology > Cognition and Development > Flashcards

Cognition and Development Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards AP® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

Define cognitive development

A

a general term describing the development of all mental processes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

How long do we go through cognitive development

A

throughout our lifespan

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

When was Piaget writing from

A

1930’s to 1970’s

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What was Piagets great contribution to CD

A

he realised children do not know less tha adults but have a totally different way of thinking

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What two aspects of childrens learning was Piaget most interested in

A

the role of motivation

how knowledge develops

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What unit does Piaget suggest knowledge comes in

A

schemas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What schemas are children born with according to Piaget

A

a small amount of simple schemas that allow for simple interactions between people and the environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What schema do children learn in infancy

A

the ‘me’ schema

eg i have brown hair

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What is assimiliation learning

A

a form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information or a more advanced undertanding of an object

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

How is this linked to the regular assimilatiuon definition

A

as when the new information is concurrent when previous knowledge we can add it to our previous schemas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is accomadation

A

a form of learning that takes place when we acquire information that challenges previous understanding, so we must create a new schema or radically change an old one

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Define equilibration

A

takes place when we have encountered new information and deal with it through assimilation or acommodation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Define constructed knowledge

A

the idea that the infant is constructing their own understanding of the world through their own experience

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

When does Piaget suggest we are motivated to learn

A

when our existing schemas no longer equipt us to make sense of something new

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is this unpleasant feeling called

A

disequilibrium

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

How do we avoid disequilibrium

A

we need to adapt and learn what we need to know

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is the desired state

A

equilibration

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Name a study that supports Piaget’s theory that children learn by forming their own mental representations

A 
Hoew et al (1992)
children aged 9-12
objects down a slope
understanding assessed before and after
children had not come to the same conclusions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What has Piagets theory aided

A

education

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

How has Piaget’s theory helped the classroon

A

replaced 60’s quiet classrooms with activity-orientated classrooms where the children actively engage so it lets them construct their own understanding

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What role did Piaget underplay in learning

A

the role of other people
he believed parents and peers were important in learning as they can set up learning activities but believed most the development happened in the mind of the child

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Who opposed Piaget in the role of other people

A

Vgotsky proposed that learning is a social process and children can learn much more advanced things if supported by peers or an expert adult

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What did Piaget overplay

A 
the importance of equilibration
as children naturally vary in intellectual curiosity 
he had a biased sample from a uni nursery with clever middle-class children
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What did Piaget also underplay

A

the importance of language

he sees language development of cognition

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What are some features of Piagets stage of development

A

cross-culturally universal
sequential
usually passed at the same ages

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What does Piagets stages suggest

A

biological basis for cognitive development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

Name piagets 4 stages

A

sensorimotor 0-2 years
pre-operational 2-7
concrete operations 7-11
formal operations 11+

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

Explain the sensorimotor stage

A

learn to coordinate sensory input with motor actions through circular reactions to test relationships
high egocentric and lack of object permanence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

Explain the pre operational stage

A

now developed object permanence

but unable to conserve (not understanding quantity stays the same when object changes shape)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What is egocentrism

A

seeing the world only from your point of view

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

What do children begin to understand in the pre operational stage

A 
class inclusion 
classification - that objects fall into classes
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

What do children under 7 struggle with

A

subsets of classification

cannot see something being in two classes at once

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

Explain the concrete stage

A 
children perform better in conservation, egocentrism and class inclusion
better reasoning abilities
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
34
Q

What are reasoning abilities also called

A

operations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
35
Q

What do children in the concrete stage still struggle with

A

imagining, reasoning or dealing with abstract concepts

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
36
Q

Explain the formal operational stage

A

capable of formal reason
do not need physical object/can imagine abstracts
can do hypothetico-deduction
focus on form of argument not just content

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
37
Q

What is hypothetico-deduction

A

creating and testing hypothesises in a scientific way

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
38
Q

What is an issue with conservation in Piagets studies

A

he changed their appearance so the children thought they were meant to think the quantity had changed
McGarrigle and Donaldon (1974) repeated this study where a counter was moved by accident
‘Piaget’ group got it wrong
‘Naughty teddy’ group 64% correct

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
39
Q

What is a study that opposes Piagets class inclusion theory

A

Siegler & Svetina (2006)
100 5 year olds
post test feedback given to one group
once told dogs are part of animals, they learn and get it right next time so can understand it

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
40
Q

What is a study that opposes Piagets egocentrism theory

A

Hughes (1975)
3 mountains 3 dolls and walls
once familiarised, children as young as 3.5 could place the doll where it wouldnt be seen by the police dolls
shows that piaget underestimated a childs ability to decentre

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
41
Q

Who did Piaget over and under estimate

A 
under - children, as they arent egocentric and can understand class inclusion and conservation with the right adult help
over - adolescents
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
42
Q

What study shows Piaget overestimated adolescents

A

Bradmetz (1999)
undertaking formal thinking task
only 1 child aged 15 could reliably complete the task

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
43
Q

What did Piaget believe about domain general development

A

that all intellectual development is a single process and that everything develops together

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
44
Q

What research suggests domain general is incorrect

A

research on autism

eg aspergers have normal language and reasoning yet are very egocentric

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
45
Q

What is the difference between Vgotsky and Piaget

A

Piaget saw children as scientists whereas Vgotsky saw children as apprentices who learnt from more experienced others

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
46
Q

What were the two major influences on a childs development of understanding according to Vgotsky

A 
social interaction (learning from others)
language (the vehicle that drives learning)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
47
Q

What is a similiarity bewteen Piaget and Vgotsky

A

both saw children as curious, problem solving beings who play an active part in their own development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
48
Q

What two stages does knowledge go through according to Vgotsky

A

first intermental - between the more and less expert individuals
then intramnetal - in the mind of the less expert

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
49
Q

What does Vgotsky say aboout cultural differences

A

we learn from the adults around us therefore there will be cultural differences in development
they will acquire the tools that best suit their environment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
50
Q

Explain the zone of proximal development

A

are between the childs actual development and potential development
experts allows children to cross the ZPD

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
51
Q

What is the assistance from adults also called

A

scaffolding

52
Q

What is scaffolding

A

support and prompting from experts to help cross ZPD

support gradually withdrawn

53
Q

What are the 5 aspects of scaffolding according to Bruner, Wood and Ross (1976)

A

recruitment - engage childs interests
reduction of degrees of freedom - focus child on task
direction maintenence - encourage child to stay motivated and complete task
marking - highlight most critical parts
demonstration - shwo them how to do it

54
Q

What did Vgotsky believes is vital to cognitive development

A

informal teaching as Piagets discovery learning is not enough

55
Q

Name a study that supports the ZPD

A

Roazzi and Bryant (1998)
children asked to guess number of sweets in box
those with expert help from older kids were better at the task

56
Q

Name a study that supports scaffolding

A

Connor and Cross (2003)

found that mothers agev children hints and tips when needed and distinctive changes occured

57
Q

What are the positive applications to education with Vygotsky

A 
found that teaching assisstants are effective at improving the rate of learning in children
found that tutoring alongside whole class teaching improves progression
58
Q

What is an issue with Vygotsky’s research

A

like piaget, believed learning was the same across all children
does not take into account individual differences such as some liking social interaction and some liking independant work

59
Q

What did Piaget believe about the sensorimotor stage

A

babies dont understand the physical world eg dont undertsnad that an object still exixts even when its out of view

60
Q

What were the criticisms of this

A

that maybe they do undertsnad it but dont have the motor skills or atention span to pursue it

61
Q

What did Baillargeon develop

A

the violation of expectation method to investigate infants understanding of the physical world

62
Q

How does Baillargeon describe the VOE study

A

infants see two events, an expected event that is consistant with their expectations and an unexpected event that violates this expectation

63
Q

What does VOE test

A

object permanency

64
Q

EXplain an early procedure of the VOE study

A 
24 infants, 5-6 months
possible condition (tall and short rabbit and tall passes window)
impossible condition (neither pass through window)
65
Q

What are the findings from this early study of VOE

A

looked at impossible condition for 33.07s
looked at possible condition for only 25.11s
shows they were suprised as looked at impossible for longer, therefore must know the rabbit should be appearing

66
Q

What type of study is this

A

an occlusion study, where an object blocks another

67
Q

What are the alternatives to occlusion studies

A

containment - when an object enters a container it should be there when opened
support - object should fall when unsupported but not whe its on a horizontal surface

68
Q

Who found that infants pay more attention to all of these conditions in VOE experiments

A

Hespos and Baillargeon (2008)

69
Q

What did Baillargeon et al (2012) propose

A

that humans are born with a physical reasoning system

70
Q

What does this physical reasoning system allow

A

for us to initially have some primative awareness of the physical properties of the world but this becomes more sophisticated as we learn from experience

71
Q

What does Baillargeon believe we have from birth

A

object persistence, the idea that an object remains in existence and does not spontaneously alter in structure

72
Q

What do infants begin to identify in their first few weeks of life

A

event categories

73
Q

What is an event categories

A

something that corresponds to the way objects interact eg occlusion

74
Q

Why does the impossible event capture the childs attention the most

A

because of the nature of their PRS, it means they are predisposed to attend to new events that might allow them to develop their understanding of the world

75
Q

Why is Baillargeon a better test of infant understanding

A

better than piaget
high levels of validity
eliminates confoudning variables

76
Q

Why is it hard to know what the infant is thinking

A

VOE shows how babies behave as we might expect them to if they understood the physical world
We are guessing how a baby behaves in response to a VOE event
There may be other reasons why they look for longer - finding one scenario more interesting rather than a true appreciation of the physical world

77
Q

How does PRS expalin why physical understanding is universal

A

Hespos & Van Marle (2012) – we are all born with an innate physical reasoning system
It is universal that if we drop some keys they will fall to the floor. This knowledge requires a a PRS which must be innate otherwise we would see cultural differences

78
Q

How is PRS consistent with other infant abilities

A

Pei et al. (2007) found that children can use crude patterns to judge distance from an early age but becomes more sophisticated with age suggesting that distance perception is also innate

79
Q

Why is behavioural response not the same as understanding

A

Bremner (2013) reminds us that even if the infants attention is maintained for longer in the impossible scene – this does NOT mean they have a clear conscious understanding of the physical world

80
Q

What did Selman (1971) propose

A

that social perspective-taking develops seperately to phsyical perspective-taking (domain specific)

81
Q

Explain Selman’s procedure

A

30 boys 30 girls ages 4,5,6 (evenly split)
each given task asking them how somone feels in different situations
one scenario - holly rescue kitten

82
Q

What were the findings in Selmans procedure

A

a number of distinct role taking levels were identified

found that level correlated to age showing a clear developmental sequence

83
Q

Explain stage 0

A

socially egocentric
ages 3 - 6
Understand others have different thoughts and feeling but often confuse them with their own​
Can identify others visible feelings​
Often cannot identify the social action that might be the cause of others feelings​

84
Q

Explain stage 1

A

social information role taking
6-8
Aware others have access to different information so will have different perspectives​
Usually can only focus on 1 perspective at a time​

85
Q

Explain stage 2

A

self reflective role taking
8-10
Can step into another’s shoes and fully appreciate their point of view​
Understand that other people can perceive other’s perspectives and intentions​
Still focused on only 1 perspective at a time

86
Q

Explain stage 3

A

mutual role taking
10-12
Able to take own and others perspective simultaneously​
Also able to step outside a two person situation and see how an objective 3rd person would view it​

87
Q

Explain stage 4

A

Social and conventional system role-taking​
12+
Understanding that 3rd person perspective taking is influenced by shared societal/cultural values as well as mutual role taking

88
Q

What were the later developments to Selman’s research

A

Schultz, Selman and La Russo (2003) added:
interpersonal understanding - take on different roles
interpersonal negotiation strategies - respond and manage others
awareness of personal meaning of relationships - reflect on behaviour that has happened in past life events

89
Q

What is a positive evaluation of Selman’s research

A

he provided solid cross sectional evidence with string positive correlations between age and taking different perspectives
also supported by longitudinal studies so takes away participant variables
therefore backed up by a range of studies

90
Q

What research suggests that Selman is wrong in believing perspective taking is important for social development

A

Gasser and Keller (2009)
found age and perspective taking abilities does not result in prosocial behaviour
bullies can perspective take
doesn’t result in socially desirable behaviour

91
Q

what is a correlation issue with the research

A

conclusions are based on correlations between data sets
higher perspective skills do not necessarily cause higher levels of social competence
could be other way around
correlation does not mean causation

92
Q

How does Selmans research help understand atypical behaviour

A

Marton et al (2009) compared 50 8-12 ADHD& ASD children with a control group. They were much worse than the control group on understanding scenarios, identifying feelings & evaluating consequences.​

93
Q

What does Selmans work ignore

A

the interaction of other important factors such as empathy, emotional self-regulation, the environment in which the child is raised
based purely on cognition (reductionist)

94
Q

What study based on Selamn’s research shows development includes cultural differences

A

Wu & Keysar (2007) found young Chinese participants did significantly better in perspective taking than matched American’s

95
Q

What is the theory of mind

A

Refers to the ability that each of us has to have a personal theory of not only our own mental state but also what other people believe or what their intentions are​
not a psychological theory

96
Q

Explain the study that looked at intentional reasoning in toddlers

A

Meltzoff (1988) 18 month olds watched adults place beads into a jar.​
Experimental condition = adult struggles and drops beads.​
Control condition = adult successfully drops beads in.​
In both conditions the toddlers placed beads in the jar equally well. They were imitating what the adult intended to do.

97
Q

What did Meltzoff find in this study

A

aged aprox. 18 months have an ability to understand adult intentions. Have a simple ToM

98
Q

What do false belief tasks intend to test

A

if children understand that people can believe in something that they themselves know not to be true

99
Q

Explain a false belief task study

A

Wimmer & Perner (1983) told 3-4 year olds that Max had left his chocolate in the blue cupboard before going outside to play. His mother used some of the chocolate and put it back in the green cupboard. Asked: where would Max look for his chocolate?​

100
Q

What did Wimmer and Perner find

A

3 years – he would look in the green cupboard​
4 years – he would look in the blue cupboard​
Between 3-4 years ToM becomes more advanced

101
Q

Who was tested in Baron-Cohen (1985) sally-anne experiment

A

children with autism

102
Q

Explain the Sally-Anne procedure

A

Used 20 children with ASD, & control group consisted of - 14 with Down’s and 27 without any diagnosis.​
Children were told Sally places a marble in her basket and when not looking, Anne moves it to her box. ​
Q: Where will Sally look for her marble? ​
To answer this the children need to understand Sally’s false belief about where the marble is.​

103
Q

What did Baron Cohen find

A

85% in control correctly id where Sally will look. Only 20% in ASD group get the answer correct.​
ASD involves an ToM deficit

104
Q

What did Baron Cohen suggest

A

that deficits in ToM may be a full explanation for ASD

105
Q

How did Baron Cohen test Tom in older children and adults

A

The eye task – individuals were shown pictures of peoples eyes and asked to select one of two emotions that might be represented

106
Q

What were the findings from the eye test

A

autistic spectrum disorder scored a mean score of 16.3
normal participants with a mean score of 20.3 out of a max of 25
supports idea that ToM may be ASD explanation

107
Q

Why did Baron Cohen develop the eye test

A

as other studies showed adults with ASD could do false belief tasks but he believed those tasks were too simple

108
Q

Who found the validity of ToM is poor

A

Bloom & German(2000) Success in the task requires other cognitive abilities, such as memory,. The Sally-Anne and Max stories require a 3 year old to remember quite a bit of info
Children with ToM can still struggle with false belief tasks. Children who perform badly in the tasks can still enjoy pretend play which requires ToM

109
Q

Why is there more doubt about the tasks

A

The methods used to measure ToM could be simply measuring perspective taking. So responses to Sally-Anne task could simply be an ability to take Sally’s perspective

110
Q

What has ToM studies helped us understand

A

ASD, widely accepted that those with ASD have more problems with age appropriate ToM tests

111
Q

Who questions the assumption that ToM causes ASD

A

Tager-Flusberg (2007) – questions this assumption. Not all people with ToM deficit have ASD and not all those on the spectrum will have ToM deficits
ASD may also have cognitive strengths such as superior visual attention and high systematic reasoning which ToM cannot easily explain

112
Q

Name the two beliefs that make our understanding of how ToM develops confusing

A 
Perner et al. (2002) believes it develops in line with other cognitive abilities in the same way Piaget did 
Wilde Astington (1998) believes we learn ToM through early interactions with adults = a more Vgotsky viewpoint
113
Q

Why does the eye task also lack validity

A

The task of looking at a picture of a static pair of eyes is completely removed from real life and lacks any kind of mundane reality

114
Q

Who discovered mirror neurons

A

First discovered by accident, then investigated by Rizzolatti (2002) ​
Studying activity in the motor cortex of monkeys

115
Q

What did Gallese & Goldman (1998) suggest about mirror neurons

A

suggest mirror neurons respond to not just observed actions but also intentions behind behaviour. Central to social cognition
They suggest humans simulate other’s actions in our motor system and experience their intentions using our mirror neurons

116
Q

Where else are MN suggested to be important

A

in ToM and persepective taking
allows observers to experience an action as if it were their own​
therefore permits individuals to share in the feelings and thoughts of others by empathising with and imitating others

117
Q

What did Ramachandran (2000) suggest about MN

A

proposed that mirror neurons are especially developed in humans, more than other animals, and this explain the uniqueness of humans as a species
enabled us to excel in social relationships
Without these cognitive abilities we could not live in the large groups with the social roles and rules that characterise human culture

118
Q

What did Ramachandran & Oberman (2006) suggest about ASD

A

suggested the ‘broken mirror’ system = dysfunctional MN system prevents the child from developing imitating skills and understanding the social behaviour in others

119
Q

What type of theory is MN

A

social cognition

120
Q

When are MN fired

A

when we see or hear an action

121
Q

What % of neurons in the frontal cortex are mirror neurons

A

10% (Gallese et al 1996)

122
Q

Who showed that we can direct experimental understanding of each other through MN

A

Wicker et al (2003) smelling a bad smell and watching someone else smell a bad smell resulted in the same neural response
may show we can emphathise

123
Q

Who found positive fMRI evidence for MN

A

Haker et al. (2012) fMRI assessed brain activity in participants watching videos of others yawning. When P’s yawned they had considerable activity in Broddman’s area in the right frontal lobe believed to be rich in mirror neurons

124
Q

What are some practical issues with using fMRI for MN

A

it shows a region and not specific neurons
Research only draws inferences
lack of DIRECT evidence for MN activity

125
Q

Explain the mixed evidence for MN and ASD

A

Hadjikhani (2007) reviewed evidence
brain scans have shown a smaller average thickness for the pars opercularis and lower activity in areas associated with MNs
however findings are not consistently replicated so evidence linking ASD to MR is mixed
There is a lack of credible evidence​

126
Q

Who questioned whether MN exist at all

A

Hickok (2009)
All we know about MN is what they do, but if we can’t identify an individual cell how do we know it isn’t other neurons carrying out those functions

127
Q

What does Hickok (2009) also suggest

A

while MN may exist, they may be used to plan behavior rather than understanding others

A Level Psychology (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions