LECTURE 6 - COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Flashcards
What is cognitive development?
The development of mental processes like memory, language, problem-solving, and decision-making.
What is cognition?
The mental processes leading to knowledge, understanding, and awareness.
Who proposed the stages of cognitive development?
Jean Piaget.
What are the four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development theory?
Sensorimotor (0-2 years), Preoperational (2-7 years), Concrete Operational (7-12 years), and Formal Operational (12+ years)
What characterizes the sensorimotor stage?
Infants learn through sensory experiences and interactions with objects but lack object permanence.
What is object permanence?
Understanding that objects continue to exist even when not visible.
At what age does Piaget claim object permanence develops?
Around 8-9 months.
How has research challenged Piaget’s view on object permanence?
Studies using looking-time methods suggest object permanence appears as early as 3.5 months.
What characterizes the preoperational stage?
Children develop language and mental imagery but are egocentric and struggle with conservation and reversibility.
What is egocentrism in Piaget’s theory?
The inability to understand that others may have different perspectives.
What is conservation in cognitive development?
Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.
What characterizes the concrete operational stage?
Children use logical operations for concrete problems but struggle with abstract thinking.
What is abstract thinking?
The ability to understand complex, hypothetical, or symbolic ideas not tied to concrete experiences.
What characterizes the formal operational stage?
Adolescents develop deductive reasoning and systematic problem-solving abilities.
What is Theory of Mind (ToM)?
The ability to attribute mental states, beliefs, and intentions to others and understand that these may differ from one’s own.
How is Theory of Mind tested?
Using false-belief tasks, like the Sally-Anne task.
At what age do children typically pass false-belief tasks?
Around 4 years old.
What did Onishi and Baillargeon (2005) demonstrate about ToM?
Infants as young as 15 months show signs of understanding false beliefs through looking-time experiments.
What is symbolic play?
Non-literal use of objects or actions for fun, such as pretending a banana is a phone.
At what age does symbolic play begin?
Around 12 months.
How is symbolic play related to language development?
More symbolic play is associated with faster language acquisition.
What is anchoring bias?
Focusing decisions on irrelevant, concrete data points (e.g., a discounted price).
What is survivorship bias?
Drawing conclusions from successful cases while ignoring failures.
Why is object permanence important?
It helps infants understand continuity and causality in the physical world.
What is deductive reasoning?
Using logical steps to derive conclusions from general principles.
How did Baillargeon et al. (1985) test object permanence?
Using a “violation of expectation” paradigm where infants looked longer at impossible events.
How does symbolic play show abstract thinking?
It involves using objects/actions as symbols for something else, indicating mental imagery.
What are the limitations of Piaget’s research?
Small sample size, lack of statistical rigor, and reliance on observational methods.
What is the novelty preference in infant research?
Infants are drawn to new and unfamiliar stimuli over familiar ones.
What is the main critique of Piaget’s stages?
Modern research suggests cognitive abilities develop earlier and more gradually than Piaget proposed.
Why is abstract thinking important?
It supports planning, problem-solving, theory building, and navigating social interactions.
What evidence supports abstract thinking in younger children?
Pretend play and imaginative activities starting around 12 months.
What is the relationship between symbolic play and abstract thinking?
Symbolic play is an early form of abstract thinking and correlates with cognitive development.
What did Wimmer and Perner (1983) find about ToM?
Four-year-olds correctly attributed false beliefs, while three-year-olds struggled.
How is cognitive development studied in infants?
Using methods like looking-time experiments to infer knowledge without relying on language.
What is spatial contiguity in object permanence?
The understanding that objects do not appear in two locations without traveling between them.
What are the implications of cognitive biases like anchoring?
They can distort decision-making by overemphasizing irrelevant information.
How does abstract thinking evolve during adolescence?
Adolescents develop the ability to reason hypothetically and solve systematic problems.
What is the key takeaway about cognitive development?
Many cognitive skills develop earlier than Piaget suggested, driven by both innate abilities and learning.
