Development

Question 1

What is the nature vs nurture debate (nativist vs empiricist)?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What is the theory of mind?

Answer 2

The ability to understand that other people have their own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and perspectives (from around age 3)

Question 3

At what age is the majority of neural development complete?

Answer 3

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

Question 4

What is myelination?

Answer 4

When a protective coating forms around nerve fibers in the brain, helping them send messages faster

Question 5

What is synaptic pruning?

Answer 5

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)

Question 6

Who was Jean Piaget?

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

Name the four major Piaget´s stages of development.

Answer 7

1) Sensory-motor stage
2) Preoperational stage
3) Concrete-operational stage
4) Formal-operational stage

Question 8

What is the sensory-motor stage

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

What is the preoperational stage?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What is the concrete-operational stage?

Answer 10

Piaget’s third stage, from ages 7 to 11, when children develop logical thinking about real-world situations

Question 11

What is the formal-operational stage?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What did Siegler say about cognitive development?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

What did Alison Gopnik say about cognitive development?

Answer 13

Young children learn like little scientists, exploring and experimenting with the world around them.

Question 14

What did Tomasello say about cognitive development?

Answer 14

Humans learn mainly through social interaction and shared experiences with others.

Question 15

What is conservation in Piaget’s theory?

Answer 15

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)

Question 16

Explain “think better” vs “know better” according to Anderson

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What are Neo-Piagetian theories of development?

Answer 17

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)

Question 18

What is Case’s memory-space proposal?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

What did Kail say about cognitive development?

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What did Chi demonstrate?

Answer 20

She showed that experts and novices process information in different ways.

Question 21

What is elaborative encoding strategies vs rote rehearsal?

Answer 21

Elaborative encoding (better) is making connections to existing knowledge to remember better, while rote rehearsal is simply repeating information without making connections

Question 22

What is the Flynn effect?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What brain areas are involved in development?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What was the A-not-B experiment about?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What evidence did Case use to support his memory space proposal?

Answer 25

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.

Question 26

What cognitive ability does a 3-4-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?

Answer 26

A 3-4-year-old can only compare the extremes: all orange juice versus all water, focusing on one fact at a time.

Question 27

What cognitive ability does a 4-5-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

What cognitive ability does a 7-8-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?

Answer 28

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).

Question 29

What cognitive ability does a 9-10-year-old have in the Noelting Juice problem?

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Reactive vs. proactive control

Answer 30

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.

Question 31

What is an AX-CPT paradigm?

Answer 31

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.

Question 32

What are three critical transitions in the development of cognitive control?

Answer 32

1. Overcoming Habit: Children first learn to control their behavior by responding to cues in their environment.
2. From Reactive to Proactive Control: They move from only controlling behavior as needed to preparing in advance for challenges.
3. Self-Direction: They start to rely less on environmental cues and more on their own internal goals.

Question 33

What is a verbal fluency task?

Answer 33

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

Question 34

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 34

The tendency to focus on information that supports your existing beliefs and ignore or dismiss information that contradicts them

Question 35

What is perseveration?

Answer 35

The repetitive continuation of a behavior, response, or thought even when it is no longer relevant or appropriate

Question 36

What is task-switching?

Answer 36

The cognitive process of shifting attention and adapting to different tasks or rules.

Question 37

What is endogenous control?

Answer 37

The ability to regulate attention or actions based on internal goals or motivations, rather than external stimuli

Question 38

What is executive function?

Answer 38

Cognitive processes that manage and regulate behavior, such as planning and working memory

Question 39

How does development relate to other topics?