Development Flashcards
What is the nature vs nurture debate (nativist vs empiricist)?
About whether our behavior and traits are shaped more by genetics (nature/nativist) or by environment and experience (nurture/empiricist).
Nature: Chomsky and Galton
Nurture: Freud and Skinner
What is the theory of mind?
The ability to understand that other people have their own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and perspectives (from around age 3)
At what age is the majority of neural development complete?
Age 5 (90%)
But at age 2 the brain reaches about 80% of its final size, suggesting that cognitive development afterward relies more on knowledge and experience
What is myelination?
When a protective coating forms around nerve fibers in the brain, helping them send messages faster
What is synaptic pruning?
Synaptic pruning is the process of reducing unnecessary synaptic connections, helps the brain become more efficient by keeping only the most useful connections (occurs mainly after the age of 2)
Who was Jean Piaget?
A psychologist, who theorized how children’s thinking evolves in stages as they grow (both nature and nurture)
Claim: All children pass through the same stage of intellectual sophistication and in the same order (has been criticized)
Name the four major Piaget´s stages of development.
1) Sensory-motor stage
2) Preoperational stage
3) Concrete-operational stage
4) Formal-operational stage
What is the sensory-motor stage
Piaget’s first stage of development, from birth to 2 years old. Babies learn through their senses and actions, and develop object permanence—the idea that things still exist even when out of sight.
What is the preoperational stage?
Piaget’s second stage of development, from ages 2 to 7, when children start using symbols (like words), but struggle with logic and seeing things from others’ perspectives
What is the concrete-operational stage?
Piaget’s third stage, from ages 7 to 11, when children develop logical thinking about real-world situations
What is the formal-operational stage?
Piaget’s final stage, starting at age 11 and beyond. In this stage, individuals can think abstractly, reason logically about hypothetical situations, and solve problems systematically
What did Siegler say about cognitive development?
Cognitive development is a gradual process where children use a variety of strategies at the same time and shift between them as they learn and grow
What did Alison Gopnik say about cognitive development?
Young children learn like little scientists, exploring and experimenting with the world around them.
What did Tomasello say about cognitive development?
Humans learn mainly through social interaction and shared experiences with others.
What is conservation in Piaget’s theory?
The understanding that quantity or amount stays the same, even when its appearance changes. For example, if you pour the same amount of liquid into a taller, narrower glass, a child who understands conservation knows the amount of liquid hasn’t changed (start around age 6)
Explain “think better” vs “know better” according to Anderson
Children perform better on tasks as they get older:
“think better” refers to children’s basic cognitive processes become better (can hold more information in working memory or process information faster)
“know better” refers to how children have learned more facts, better methods and gotten more experiences
What are Neo-Piagetian theories of development?
Build on Piaget’s ideas but focus more on the role of the environment and individual differences.
They suggest development is continuous, with people improving their thinking skills over time through experience.
(Ex. Case)
What is Case’s memory-space proposal?
Suggests that cognitive development is linked to the capacity of working memory. As children grow, they can store and process more information at once, allowing them to solve more complex problems
What did Kail say about cognitive development?
It is influenced by improvements in processing speed and working memory, but it is more of a practice-related than a biological explanation
In his mental rotation letter experiment he found that older people were faster at the task, showing a power function in the relationship between age and performance
What did Chi demonstrate?
She showed that experts and novices process information in different ways.
What is elaborative encoding strategies vs rote rehearsal?
Elaborative encoding (better) is making connections to existing knowledge to remember better, while rote rehearsal is simply repeating information without making connections
What is the Flynn effect?
Refers to the observed rise in average IQ scores over time across different countries.
This trend suggests that intelligence, as measured by IQ tests, has been increasing, likely due to factors like improved education, nutrition, and healthcare
What brain areas are involved in development?
Temporal lobe (hippocampus): Memory development
Prefrontal lobe: development in higher-order cognitive functions
Parietal lobe: Sensory integration and motot coordination
Motor cortex and Cerebellum for balance, coordination and fine tuning of motor skills
What was the A-not-B experiment about?
If an object is put under cover A, and then, in front of the child, removed and put under cover B, the child will often look for the object under cover A
What evidence did Case use to support his memory space proposal?
Case used the Noelting Juice problems as evidence. In this task, children of different ages had to judge which pitcher would taste stronger based on the amount of orange juice and water in each.
What cognitive ability does a 3-4-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?
A 3-4-year-old can only compare the extremes: all orange juice versus all water, focusing on one fact at a time.
What cognitive ability does a 4-5-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?
A 4-5-year-old can compare pitchers based on the absolute amount of orange juice, holding two pieces of information (two numbers) in working memory.
What cognitive ability does a 7-8-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?
A 7-8-year-old can recognize if one pitcher has more orange juice and the other has more water, keeping track of two subtractions (difference between juice and water amounts in each of them).
What cognitive ability does a 9-10-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?
A 9-10-year-old can calculate the difference in amounts (but not in percentages) of orange juice and water between pitchers and choose the one with the greater difference. This requires holding four facts in working memory
Reactive vs. proactive control
Reactive control: Responding to situations as they happen, like adjusting when something goes wrong.
Proactive control: Planning ahead to prevent issues, like preparing for challenges before they arise.
What is an AX-CPT paradigm?
A cognitive task used to study cognitive control and attention. It involves participants responding to a series of stimuli, typically letters or numbers, shown in pairs. The task requires them to respond to a target stimulus (e.g., pressing a key) when a specific combination occurs (e.g., “A” followed by “X”). Other combinations (e.g., “A” followed by “Y” or “B” followed by “X”) are non-targets and should be ignored.
What are three critical transitions in the development of cognitive control?
- Overcoming Habit: Children first learn to control their behavior by responding to cues in their environment.
- From Reactive to Proactive Control: They move from only controlling behavior as needed to preparing in advance for challenges.
- Self-Direction: They start to rely less on environmental cues and more on their own internal goals.
What is a verbal fluency task?
A test where a person is asked to quickly generate as many words as possible within a certain category (e.g., animals, words starting with “S”) in a set amount of time
What is confirmation bias?
The tendency to focus on information that supports your existing beliefs and ignore or dismiss information that contradicts them
What is perseveration?
The repetitive continuation of a behavior, response, or thought even when it is no longer relevant or appropriate
What is task-switching?
The cognitive process of shifting attention and adapting to different tasks or rules.
What is endogenous control?
The ability to regulate attention or actions based on internal goals or motivations, rather than external stimuli
What is executive function?
Cognitive processes that manage and regulate behavior, such as planning and working memory
How does development relate to other topics?
