Cognitive Development Flashcards
At which point of gestation does cortical folding begin?
Around 20 weeks
What is neural pruning?
Loss of white and grey matter during development
What are the two major schools of thought regarding cognitive development?
- Empiricism
2. Nativism
What is the nativist view?
- Emergence of cognitive skills as consequence of genetically pre-programmed cognitive mechanisms
- Areas of the brain are specialised to process particular kinds of input
What is the empiricist view?
- Newborn mind is a blank slate
2. Sensory images impinge on the brain and become interconnected ideas
What is the constructivist view?
Mental structures develop out of the interaction between with physical and social reality
Children are born with innate schemas, which are extended and reshaped as they interact with the world
What is the sensori-motor stage of cognitive development?
Age 0 - 2
Infant understands world through physical actions performed on it
Knowledge schemas become gradually restructured
What is infantile egocentrism?
Babies draw no distinction between themselves and the outside world
What is object permanence?
The understanding that things still exist even though we can no longer perceive them or are not currently interacting with them
What is theory of mind?
Developing an idea of what others are thinking
When does theory of mind develop?
Around 4 years
What is the social brain?
Brain areas involved in processing social information
What causes the teenage personality changes?
Developmental changes in pre-frontal cortex cause adolescent egocentricity and lack of regard for future consequences
