cognitive development

Question 1

what is plasticity?

Answer 1

plasticity of the brain refers to the way it changes in response to its environment, and its ability to adapt and change

Question 2

where does plasticity occur?

Answer 2

synaptic connections in the brain

Question 3

what is the purpose of plasticity?

Answer 3

necessary for learning to take place

Question 4

what is developmental plasticity?

Answer 4

the development and consolidation of natural pathways in babies, children and adolescents (when changes occur more frequently)

Question 5

stages of developmental plasticity

Answer 5

1. proliferation: neurons divide and multiply
2. migration: once formed, neurons move to their final location in the central nervous system and these locations determine what their function will be
3. circuit formation: the axons of new neurons move outwards towards adjacent cells and circuits are completed
4. synaptic pruning: pruning occurs in childhood and again in adolescence - extra/unneeded neurons are removed
5. myelination: myelin sheathing grows around the axons of neurons, insulating them and making neural transmission more efficient (completed around age 23)

Question 6

how does the cerebellum develop in adolescence?

Answer 6

there is an increase in the number of neurons and synapses in the cerebellum, the part of the brain responsible for balance, muscle tone and the performance of motor skills - this is why some teenagers are more physically uncoordinated that older adults

Question 7

how does the amygdala develop in adolescence?

Answer 7

the part of the brain responsible for emotions, it becomes more active

Question 8

how does the corpus callosum develop in adolescence?

Answer 8

thickens and there is and increase in the number of connections (or nerve fibres) between the two hemispheres

Question 9

how does the frontal lobe develop in adolescence?

Answer 9

responsible for motor movement and higher order thinking, doesn’t fully develop until early 20s
- very last part of the brain to undergo the process of myelination
- as this is not developed, the brain relies on the amygdala, leading to higher emotional states and potential increases in risky/bad decisions

Question 10

what is adaptive plasticity?

Answer 10

the ability of areas of the cerebral cortices remain plastic throughout life, despite developmental plasticity diminishing

Question 11

what is the purpose of adaptive plasticity?

Answer 11

• enables older brains to be modified through experience or learning
• adults continue to develop synapses as a result of experience
• the brain can also continue to develop and recover from serious injury

Question 12

what is an enriched environment?

Answer 12

opportunity for stimulation of the brain by social and physical stimulation

Question 13

what is a deprived environment?

Answer 13

an absence or depletion of things to encourage development

Question 14

name the seven stages of development across the lifespan

Answer 14

prenatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle age, old age

Question 15

what is physical development?

Answer 15

the development of our bodies, which affects our psychological function

Question 16

what is cognitive development?

Answer 16

the development of our mental abilities through the course of our lifespan

Question 17

what is social and emotional development?

Answer 17

understanding social rules and the ability to regulate emotions

Question 18

what is maturation?

Answer 18

the genetically programmed process that governs growth, e.g. being able to walk, roll over, etc

Question 19

what are inborn reflexes?

Answer 19

babies are born with them, they are automatic responses to specific stimuli, programmed from genetic material

Question 20

what is a developmental norm?

Answer 20

indicates the average age that a certain behaviour or skill will be achieved

Question 21

what is a critical period?

Answer 21

a time in life when certain experiences must happen for normal development to proceed

Question 22

what happens if someone misses a critical period?

Answer 22

they can impact the individual’s capacity for future development - beyond this period the behaviour would not occur

Question 23

what is a sensitive period?

Answer 23

a time that it particularly suited to learning things due to the nature of the growing brain

Question 24

what happens if someone misses a sensitive period?

Answer 24

there is more flexibility - allows for the possibility that, given the right circumstances, individuals can still experience psychological development, even if they began with deprived conditions

Question 25

summarise the Harlow attachment study

Answer 25

• he separated infant monkeys from their mothers at birth
• he found that when he placed monkeys in an individual cage containing a blanket, they became attached to the blanket and got upset if it was taken away, which indicates attachment may be formed by means other than nourishment
• Harlow then conducted an experiment where he placed the infant monkeys with surrogate mothers for 6 months
  –in one condition, the surrogate mother was made from wire and had a baby bottle attached
  –in the other condition, the mother was made from soft cloth and did not include a feed bottle
  –he found that the infant monkeys spent more time with the cloth surrogate mothers - even though the wire surrogate provided food and nourishment
  –he also discovered that when he frightened the monkeys, those raised with the cloth mother would run hold onto it for security, whereas those raised by the wire mother did not seek comfort from it
  –in further investigations, he found that when the cloth mother could rock, feed and provide warmth to the monkey, then attachments were stronger
• significance: feeding and nourishment do not create attachment, contact comfort is more important

Question 26

summarise the Lorenz attachment study

Answer 26

• studied how attachment occurs in young ducklings and goslings
• in his experiment he took a large clutch of goose eggs and kept them until they were about to hatch
  – he placed half of the eggs under a mother, and kept the other half beside himself
  – when the eggs that he kept hatched, Lorenz imitated a mother goose’s quacking sound, which caused the newly hatched geese to regard him as their mother, and continue to follow him as if he were
  – the eggs placed under the mother goose regarded her as their mother, and followed her accordingly
• this led Lorenz to conclude that newly hatched geese will follow the first moving object they see within the 12- to 17-hour critical period after hatching
• significance: tendancy of a young animal to fixate its attention on the first object to which it is exposed is called imprinting. suggests attachment is an innate instinct

Question 27

summarise the Bowlby study and stages of attachment

Answer 27

• studied development of attachment in children
  1. pre attachment (0-2 months)
• not yet formed, not distressed by parents leaving
  2. attachment in the making (3-7 months)
• beginning, they recognise their parents, may not protest when separated
  3. clear-cut attachment (8-24 months)
• seek specific attachments, display separation anxiety
  4. goal directed partnership (24+ months)
• understand caregivers will return, separation anxiety decreases

Question 28

summarise the Ainsworth study of attachment

Answer 28

• studied differences in the quality of attachment
• created the strange situation room where infants experienced a sequence of events, including separations and reunions with their mothers, and introductions to an adult stranger
• attachement styles
  Type A: insecure avoidant
  Type B: secure
  Type C: insecure resistant

Question 29

what is Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

Answer 29

• proposed that during cognitive development, the brain builds schemata: mental frameworks that organise past experiences and provide and an understanding of future experience, as children grow they become more complex
• assimilation: the process whereby new experiences are combined with existing schemata
• accommodation: when new experiences cause schemata to change or modify

Question 30

what are the four stages of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

Answer 30

1. sensorimotor (0-2 years)
   - learn about world through their senses and actions
   - develop object permanence
2. pre-operational (2-7 years)
   - symbolic thinking
   - animism (inanimate objects are alive)
   - egocentrism
   - centration
   - seriation
   - conservation
   - irreversibility
3. concrete operational (7-12 years)
   - perform basic mental tasks involving physical objects
   - understand reversibility and conservation
   - display less egocentrism and centration
   - struggle with abstract thinking
4. formal operational (12+ years)
   - can think logically and methodically about physical and abstract problems

Question 31

what are the criticisms of Piaget’s cognitive development theory?

Answer 31

• children can gain cognitive skills at an earlier age
• cognitive abilities can develop inconsistently
  piaget’s perspective - considered scientific logical thinking, but not how different cultures can influence cognitive development
• suggests children move from simple to complex thinking, other research suggests it is more complicated and that children do not follow the same developmental path
• often conducted experiments on his own children, so his methodology is questionable

Question 32

what is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory?

Answer 32

• emphasised the importance of social interaction in a child’s cognitive development
• children learn first by interacting with others who are more skilled, and then integrate that knowledge into their own mental structure

Question 33

what is the zone of proximal development? (Vygotsky)

Answer 33

• continuum of cognitive development stretching from solo performance to
• collaborative corporation
  refers to the “sweet spot” where children are able to learn how to accomplish a task, with guidance from someone else, which they would not be able to do by themselves

Question 34

what is the more knowledgeable other? (Vygotsky)

Answer 34

• another individual with greater knowledge about a particular topic
• this theory recognises the importance in a child’s cognitive development of interaction with a person who has more knowledge or understanding about a topic

Question 35

what is scaffolding? (Vygotsky)

Answer 35

• providing support to a child to help them learn and master a task independently
  when someone is teaching a child how to accomplish a task, they may originally
• start by providing a lot of guidance and instruction, and then gradually reduce the level of support as the child masters the skills required

Question 36

what is the information processing model of cognition?

Answer 36

• aims to identify the specific processes that account for cognitive development, including how quickly we can process information and how our memories are encoded and retrieved
• according to this model, processing speed, or mental quickness, is the key variable that contributes to cognitive development

Question 37

what is metacognition

Answer 37

a key factor that involves an individual’s personal awareness and understanding of their own thought processes