Module 4: Other Cognitive Development Theories

Question 1

Information Processing Theory

Answer 1

Children as little computers
Even simple activities involves chain of mini cognitive asks that build on each other
Focus on underlying cognitive skills that allow kids to manage and manipulate information and how do these skills develop over time
Precise specification of the surprisingly complex processes involved in children’s thinking
Task analysis

Question 2

Task Analysis

Answer 2

Identification of goals needed to perform the task, obstacles preventing immediate realization of the goals, prior knowledge relevant to achieving goals, potential strategies for reaching the desired outcome
Helps info processing researchers understand and predict children’s behaviour
Computer simulation: type of mathematical model that expresses ideas about mental processes in precise ways

Question 3

Information Processing View of Children’s Nature

Answer 3

Cognitive development occurs continuously in small increments, different ages on different tasks
The child as a limited capacity processing system
Cognitive development arises from children gradually surmounting processing limitations (working memory, processing speed, knowledge of strategies and content)
Children are active problem solvers (goal - obstacle - strategy sequence)

Question 4

Memory

Answer 4

ability to acquire, store, maintain, and later retrieve information when you need it

Question 5

Attention

Answer 5

focusing your awareness onto a particular range of stimuli or events you experience

Question 6

Types of Memory

Answer 6

Working (short term)
Long term
Executive function

Question 7

Working Memory

Answer 7

Actively attending to, maintaining, and processing information
Limited in capacity and length of time
Capacity and speed of working memory increase greatly during infancy, childhood, adolescence
Due to increased knowledge of content and brain maturation

Question 8

Long Term Memory

Answer 8

Knowledge that people accumulate over their lifetime
Factual, conceptual, procedural, attitudes, opinions, etc.
Totality of knowledge
Unlimited amount of information and period of time

Question 9

Executive Functioning

Answer 9

Control behaviour and thought processes
Intentional regulation of one’s behaviour
Consciously taking charge of your attention and actions in pursuit of goals
Prefrontal cortex plays important role (reason for differences in EF across ages)
Increases greatly during preschool and elementary years
Quality of executive functioning during early childhood predicts outcomes

Question 10

Key Executive Functions

Answer 10

Inhibition
Enhancement of working memory
Cognitive Flexibility

Question 11

Inhibition

Answer 11

Ability to override reactive or tempting behaviours in order to facilitate more deliberate actions
E.g. say night when see moon and say day when see sun
E.g. shown three arrows, focus on middle one and tap according hand

Question 12

Enhancement of Working Memory

Answer 12

Use of strategies to improve

Question 13

Cognitive Flexibility

Answer 13

Ability to adjust your thinking, consider multiple perspectives, reinterpret events or stimuli
Dimensional change card sort (DCCS)
Match by colour or by shape
Two objects of different colours in front
Shown third object and have to match either colour or shape and tap hand for which one
E.g. kids might not have cognitive flexibility for conservation of matter tasks (e.g. only focus on height of water, can’t switch evaluation tools)

Question 14

Basic Processes

Answer 14

Simplest and most frequently used mental activities
Associating events with each other, recognizing objects as familiar, recalling facts and procedures, generalizing from one scenario to another
Encoding
Improved speed of processing plays key role in development of memory, problem solving, learning (increases most rapidly at young ages)
Myelination and increased connectivity responsible for faster processing

Question 15

Encoding

Answer 15

Representation in memory of specific features of objects and events
Information that isn’t encoded isn’t remembered
Requires some level of attention (selective attention)
Once encoding occurs, can engage in basic processes like association, recognition, recall, etc.

Question 16

Strategies

Answer 16

Between 5-8 children begin using memory strategies
Rehearsal
Selective attention

Question 17

Rehearsal

Answer 17

Rpeating information multiple times in order to remember it

Question 18

Selective Attention

Answer 18

Intentionally focusing on the information that is most relevant to the current goal
Ignoring irrelevant information (Children are bad at this)
Show triangles, circles, and smileys, ask how many triangles
4-5: struggle greatly
7-8: perform much better

Question 19

Content Knowledge

Answer 19

Children’s knowledge about everything increases with age and experience
Makes easier to integrate new material with existing understanding, improving recall
Children learn more about new info about a topic when they know more than adults about it (and learn more new info than adults)
Prior content knowledge improves memory for new information (Improves encoding and Provides useful associations)

Question 20

Overlapping Waves Theory

Answer 20

Development of problem solving
Individual children usually use a variety of approaches to solve problems
Most children use at least 3 different strategies on conservation of number problems
When certain strategies prove to be more effective they use them more often
Choose strategies appropriate to the situation
Accurately characterizes problem solving in contexts including arithmetic, time telling, reading, spelling, scientific experimentation, biological understanding, tool use, recall from memory
See graph in notes with overlapping lines (children use many strategies at different ages)

Question 21

Child’s Arithmetic Improvements

Answer 21

Children discover new strategies
Faster and more accurate execution of strategies
Choose among strategies increasingly adaptively
Children who play board games become more familiar with numbers

Question 22

Planning in Children

Answer 22

Children fail to plan in situations where it would help problem solving
Planning is difficult because involves inhibiting desire to solve problem immediately
Children tend to be overly optimistic about abilities and believe they can solve problems without planning
With time and maturation of prefrontal cortex, overoptimism is reduced and frequency and quality of planning increases

Question 23

Core Knowledge Theories

Answer 23

Children as products of evolution
Innate knowledge in certain domains of special evolutionary importance (E.g. physical laws, social processes, biological categories)
Domain-specific learning mechanisms for rapidly and effortlessly acquiring information in those domains (Experience-expectant processes)

Question 24

Core Knowledge View of Children

Answer 24

Similar to Piaget and info processing theories (Children as active learners)
Differ from Piaget and info processing theories
-Differing views of children’s innate capabilities
-Children enter the world equipped with general learning abilities and specialized learning mechanisms (mental structures) that allow quick and effortless acquisition of information
-domain specific

Question 25

Domain Specific

Answer 25

Information and learning that is specific to a particular domain of cognition (mind, like the brain, is highly compartmentalized)
Learn especially quickly in areas of evolutionary importance

Question 26

Nativism

Answer 26

Belief that infants born with substantial knowledge of evolutionarily important domains, and ability to quickly/easily acquire knowledge in these domains
Elizabeth Spelke proposed core knowledge theory (four core knowledge systems)
Language acquisition device

Question 27

Constructivism

Answer 27

Infants possess specialized learning abilities that allow them to quickly understand domains of evolutionary importance (rudimentary/basic knowledge)
Blends elements of nativism, Piagetian theory, info processing theories
Innate mechanisms begin to construct more complex knowledge structures about the world
Children organize their understanding of domains into informal/naive theories
Age 2: understand that people can have preferences
Age 7: understand that people can have false beliefs

Question 28

Four Core Knowledge Systems

Answer 28

Inanimate objects
Minds/intentions of people/animals
Numbers of objects/events/etc
Spatial layouts and geometric relations

Question 29

Language Acquisition Device

Answer 29

Helps children to rapidly master complicated systems of grammatical rules in language

Question 30

Sociocultural Theories

Answer 30

Children as social learners
Much of learning and cognitive development occurs in an interpersonal context
Guided participation
Social scaffolding
Cultural tools

Question 31

Guided Participation

Answer 31

More knowledgeable people organize activities in a way that allows less knowledgeable people to perform the activity at a higher level than they could manage on their own

Question 32

Social Scaffolding

Answer 32

Adults and others with greater expertise organize the physical and social environment to help children learn
More competent people provide temporary framework that supports children at a higher level than children could manage on their own
Choose task beyond a children’s current level, but might be able to do with help
As competency grows, scale back support
Within zone of proximal development

Question 33

Cultural Tools

Answer 33

Symbol systems, manufactured objects, skills, values, and other ways culture influences our thinking

Question 34

Sociocultural View of Children’s Nature

Answer 34

Children as social learners, intertwined with people who help them gain skills and understanding
Children’s cognitive development is guided by communication and interaction with others
Children intent on participating in activities prevalent to the specific time and place in which they live
Gradual and continuous changes in children’s thinking
Importance of guided participation

Question 35

Sociocultural Phases of Regulating Behaviour

Answer 35

At first behaviour is controlled by other people’s statements
Then behaviour controlled by their own private speech
Behaviour controlled by internalized private speech (thought), silently telling themselves what to do

Used for challenging tasks

Question 36

Private Speech

Answer 36

Tell themselves aloud what to do, like parents have done earlier (most evident from 4-6)

Question 37

Children as Teachers & Learners

Answer 37

Humans have inclination to teach others and inclination to attend to and learn from such teaching

Question 38

Children are Products of Culture

Answer 38

Processes that produce development (e.g. guided participation) same in all societies
Content that children learn (e.g. symbols, artifacts, skills, values) vary from culture to culture and shape thinking accordingly

Question 39

Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 39

Push skillset, but still within their grasp
Allows growth, but prevents getting stuck/frustrated

Question 40

Social Referencing

Answer 40

Use emotional reactions of caregivers to regulate their own behaviour and learn about novel objects
Child looks at you to share enjoyment or see if you’re watching them
Important for social development
Shows interest in people and their reactions (autism children are delayed at this)

Question 41

Intersubjectivity

Answer 41

Mutual understanding that people share during communication
Foundation of human cognitive development
Effective communication requires participants to focus on the same topic, and each other’s reactions
Joint attention

Question 42

Joint Attention

Answer 42

Infants and social partners intentionally focus on a common referent in the environment
Increasing ability to learn from others and evaluate competence of other people (decide who to imitate)
E.g. at first bday infants look more at objects that are the focus of social partner’s gaze
E.g. at first bday infants actively direct partner’s attention to objects they find interesting