Exam #4 Flashcards
- What is the central hypothesis of the stage theories of cognitive development?
- What is the central hypothesis of the sociocultural theories of cognitive development?
Stage Theories
- The view that children’s cognitive development occurs in age-specific stages, where stages are characterized by differences in children’s cognitive abilities from one age to the next
- Genetic changes that we don’t have to onset
Sociocultural Theories
- The view that children’s cognitive development occurs as a result of their interactions with others and the culture they live in
- Emphasize how other people and the attitudes, values, and beliefs of the surrounding culture, influence children’s development.
- Define the term “object permanence.”
- Indicate what stage of Piaget’s theory this cognitive milestone is associated with.
Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible to the child.
-Example: looking for a toy after it is hidden
This is associated with the sensorimotor milestone, which is from birth to 2 years.
- What is the difference between the cognitive state of egocentrism and the cognitive state of theory of mind?
- What stage of Piaget’s theory is milestone of theory of mind associated with?
Egocentrism: the failure to understand that the world is seen and understood differently by others than it is by the child
Theory of mind: the ability to attribute mental states to others, and therefore to understand that others have different beliefs, knowledge, and perspectives than one’s own
think of the Sally Anne experiment
The switch to theory of mind is associated with the preoperational stage (age 2-6)
- Define the developmental psychology term “conservation.”
- Indicate what stage of Piaget’s theory this cognitive milestone is associated with.
Conservation is the notion that the quantitative amount of an object stays the same, even if the appearance changes
ex: child knows that the amount of water is the same after it is poured into a different glass
Associated with the concrete operation stage (ages 7-11)
- Define the term “zone of proximal development.”
- Provide an example of a situation in which a certain skill is clearly within a person’s zone of proximal development.
The zone of proximal development is skills that a child has but cannot perform on their own/ a skill a child can perform with guidance.
A sub-theory within sociocultural theories that a child is able to learn skills that go beyond their current level of development as a result of receiving help from “more knowledgeable others”
*For example, if a baby can only crawl, standing might be in their zone of proximal development
*For example, if a kid can ride a bike with training wheels by themself, it is reasonable to think that they can learn to ride a two-wheeler with the support of a parent
- Describe Noam Chomsky’s theory of universal grammar.
- Which milestones of human cognitive development provide support for Chomsky’s theory?
According to Noam Chomsky, we have an inborn cognitive system designed to help us understand language rules, and children learn language by attempting to apply these innate rules. An example of this would be a child saying “I ‘eated’ spaghetti yesterday.” Although incorrect, the child recognizes that we use ‘ed’ to make things past tense.
Milestones that support Chomsky’s theory include babbling, first words, telegraphic speech, etc.
(7) Define the developmental psychology term “attachment” or “attachment behavioral system.”
An inborn predisposition among vulnerable-born infants to form strong emotional bonds with a primary caregiver. Humans are vulnerable-born because we are born less developed than most other animals, and babies can’t fend for them or feed themselves or do anything for themselves. We have developed this because it increases our likelihood of survival.
(8) Describe:
* The complete procedure of the Sally-Anne False Belief Test;
* The 2 possible responses a child can give to the test;
* What each of those 2 responses indicates about the child’s current cognitive abilities.
In the Sally-Anne false belief test, children were sat down and told a story about dolls. In the story, Sally and Anne were playing with a ball and Sally put the ball into the basket and left. While Sally was gone and moved the ball to the box. The experimentor of the study made sure to mention that when Sally was gone she could not hear or see what was going on inside the house. Children were asked “when she came back to the house, where would Sally think that the ball is?”.
Children could respond with the basket, indicating that they understand that Shelly does not know the same information that they know, the ball was moved. This is egocentrism
Children could say that Sally would look in the box because they know that it’s in the box, and they are unable to picture Sally’s point of view or understand Sally’s lack of information. This is cognitive state theory of mind.
- Describe 1 element of Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development that has turned out to be largely correct
- Describe 1 element of Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development that has turned out to be largely incorrect
Piaget had correct the fact that development seems to occur in milestones in his chronological order.
He had incorrect the strict age limitations on these stages. Under certain circumstances, environments, and variables, children can reach stages sooner or later than the age groups that Piaget defined. Development is more gradual than in age groups or stages.
There are also more developmental milestones that exist than what he came up with.
- Describe 1 element of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development that has turned out to be largely correct.
- Describe 1 element of Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development that has turned out to be largely incorrect.
Vygotsky got correct that children at the same level of development do get ahead if they have appropriate scaffolding (e.g., Deb Roy’s son). (this proves environmental factors and learning from the “more knowledgeable others” can occur.) (Zone of proximal development)
Vygotsky was incorrect because there definitely are some age-based cognitive and physical milestones. There are things where no matter how much a parent encourages learning, a child just can’t learn because of their age. (their brain is physically too small)
(11) Describe:
* The complete procedures of Harry Harlow’s research on infant rhesus monkeys;
* Harlow’s 3 main findings from this research;
* Which hallmark of human infant attachment each of Harlow’s 3 main findings supports.
Procedure: Baby monkeys were striped away from their mother right after they were born. He created two substitutes for the monkey’s mother: a wire mother made from chicken wire and able to dispense milk, not at all resembling a monkey, and a cloth mother that resembled a monkey more through face and texture but did not give milk.
The monkey was released into a chamber where he could only pick one mother at a time.
- Finding #1: These babies spent 17-18 hours a day on the cloth mother and less than 1 hour a day on the wire mother.
-Proximity maintenance: helps keep infant safely near caregiver
He introduced a machine meant to scare the baby monkey into the chamber with both mothers to see what he would do.
- Finding #2. A baby gets a great sense of security in the presence of the mother. When you frightened a baby, it went running to it’s mother and was comforted, and then all of the fear disappeared and was replaced by a complete sense of security.
-safe haven: contact with the caregiver automatically provides infant with comfort and reassurance.
The monkey is first introduced by itself into a new environment (6 foot room with various items) with and without the cloth mother. The way that it interacted was measured.
- Finding #3: “The monkey, by rubbing against the cloth mother… builds up his reservoir of affection and security [and then] goes out to explore this new, strange world”
-secure base: the caregiver represents an anchoring point from which the child can safely explore the world.
(12) Describe:
* The complete procedure of Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Test;
* The 3 possible responses a child can have to the test;
* What each of those 3 responses indicates about that child’s attachment style.
In step one of the study, they bring a child and their caregiver into a new room that has toys and things that the child can go and explore. The caregiver encourages the child to explore while remaining present. After a few minutes a stranger also comes into the room and starts to interact with the caregiver and then the child. A few minutes later, the caregiver leaves the room, leaving the child along with the stranger. A few minutes after that, the caregiver returns and the stranger leaves. Ashworth was interested in how the child would behave in each phase of this situation. Her key question was “does a child feel that they can count on their caregiver to be available and responsive when needed?”
3 Responses (yes, no, maybe)
If the answer is yes, the baby will feel uncomfortable initially when the stranger enters and will cling to their caregiver. Then, they will slowly warm up to the stranger, given that the caregiver support them. When the caregiver leaves, the baby will be in distress until they return. When the child is reunited with the parent, they are clingy. Securely attached
Broman’s answers:
If yes, the baby is happy to play/explore when caregiver is present (secure base)
cautious (safe haven) but eventually friendly to stranger while caregiver is preset
separation anxiety when caregiver leaves
quickly comforted upon caregiver’s return (safe haven)
If no, avoidance attachment: the baby experiences no separation anxiety when the caregiver leaves and the baby acts coldy toward the caregiver when they come back.
If maybe, anxious (or ambivalent attachment)
anxious throughout the test,
clings to caregiver and is wary of exploring because they are afraid the caregiver will leave them.
inconsolable when caregiver leaves
eager when caregiver returns but remains anxious
- Define the social psychology term “attitudes.”
- Name and define the 3 characteristics of attitudes.
an attitude is an enduring positive or negative evaluation of a person, object, or event
Characteristics:
Direction: whether the attitude is positive or negative
Magnitude: the strength of the attitude
Consciousness: whether the attitude is conscious (explicit) or unconscious (implicit)
(14) Define “cognitive dissonance.”
Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that occurs whenever a person holds two cognitions (ideas, attitudes, beliefs , opinions) that are psychologically inconsistent, such as “Smoking is a dumb thing to do because it could kill me “ and “I smoke two packs a day.”
Browman’s answer: an unpleasant feeling that arises when a person engages in or experiences a behavior that is inconsistent with their attitudes, and their engagement in that behavior cannot be attributed to external forces
(15) Define the social psychology term “persuasion.”
When a person’s attitudes are influenced by communication efforts by another person
2 routes: central and peripheral
