Cognitive Development Flashcards
Week 13
Quantitative Changes
Result of growth (height, weight, brain maturation, connections between synapses)
Qualitative Changes
Harder to measure (changes in how we behave, perceive the world, think about the world
Theories of Continuous Development
Theories that talk about constant change (Vygotsky)
ASD
Development disorder with varying symptom expression
Phenotypic Heterogeneity
High variability of phenotypes
The Social Brain
Connected regions in the brain that process social information allowing us to recognize people and evaluate mental state
Parts of the Social Brain
Amygdala, orbital frontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, posterior superior temporal sulcus
Amygdala
Recognise emotional states and regulating our own emotions
Orbital frontal cortex
Reward feelings around other people
Fusiform gyrus
Face recognition
Superior temporal sulcus
Motion in other organisms
Functional MRI (fMRI)
Measures oxygen within the brain because active neurons use more oxygen
Event - Related Potentials (ERP)
Use electrodes to measure currents during a task
Cognitive Development
How thinking develops and changes over the lifespan
Category
Refers to a set of objects, the metnal representations we form of these categories are called concepts
Prototype
Most typical category
Borderline items
Categories that shift overtime
Fuzzy items
Boundaries that move
Knowledge approach
When we learn new concepts and try to connect them to things we already know
Prototype theory
Suggests that we have a summary representation of the category that includes the weighted features
Jean Piaget
Pioneered stage theory and the study of infant/child reasoning
Schemas
“Blueprint” of knowledge
Sensorimotor
Birth - 2 years old. Child explores using senses and new mobility. Develop object permanence - even when an object is hidden it still exists
Preoperational
2 - 7 years old. Able to express knowledge verballe and understand more complicated sensorimotor stimuli (stove is hot sometimes). Do not understand reversibility of events (operations)
Concrete Operational
7 - 12 years old. Understands cause and effect relationships and reversibility. Understands conservation of objects
Formal Operational
12 + years old. Able to think theoretically and appl specific knowledge to general roles and vice versa (Algebra –> abstract theory)
Criticisms of Piaget
- Underestimate abilities of younger children and overestimates abilities of older children (stage 4 isn’t guaranteed)
- No description of what causes advancement to new stage
- Underestimation of the role of social learning and culture
- Development is not necessarily continuous
- Piaget did majority of research on his own children
Vygotsky Sociocultural Theories
Emphasizes that beliefs and values of surrounding culture have a profound influence on childhood development
Zone of Proximal Development
Experience and guidance of a teacher could help a child tackle tougher mental tasks than they could alone
B.F. Skinner
Believed that child development was the result of environmental rewards
Phonemic Awareness
Ability to identify sounds in words
Family Resemblance Theory
Items are likely to be typical if they have features that are frequent in the category and do not have features frequent in other categories
Psychological Essentialism
Belief that members of a category have an unseen property that causes them to be in the category and have the properties associated with it
Sensorimotor Substages
Reflexes, primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of reactions, tertiary circular reactions, early representational thought
Schemata
Mental framework that humans use to organize and construct meaning from information
Assimilation
Process by which new information about the world is incorporated into existing schemata
Accomodation
Process of altering one’s existing schemata as a result of new information of experiences
Equilibriation
When we accommodate information to the point where the original schema no longer has meaning and we must form a new one
Preattachment - 0 - 6 Weeks (attachment development)
Infants are in close contact with caregivers and rely on them for all needs. They are not distressed when left with someone else
Attachment in the Making - 6 wks - 8 mos (attachment development)
Infants prefer familiar people but will eventually calm with new people
Clear Cut Attachment - 8 - 18 mos (attachment development)
Infants actively seek comfort from caaregivers and may show signs of separation anxiety
