S2 W6 Cognitive development in adolescence

Question 1

Basic Level Cognitive functions

Answer 1

Attention,
Perception
Memory.
Limbic system.

Question 2

High level cognitive functions

Answer 2

Logical reasoning
Problem solving
Prefrontal cognition

Question 3

Cognitive functions: Content: Perception

Answer 3

is a cognitive ability that is present from early on in life.
However, it changes with age. Notably, with development we see a change in the flexibility perception. Flexibility of visual perception is tested easily with ambiguous figures = figure that can be perceived in two (or more ways.)

Question 4

Cognitive function: content: selective attention

Answer 4

is the ability to allocate attentional resources and focus on a specific object.
The ability improves with age, especially in adolescence. Crucial for problem solving where you may need to pay attention to relevant information and ignore irrelevant information.

Question 5

Cognitive Function: Content: Processing speed

Answer 5

defined as the time it takes the brain to receive or output information, or the speed in which mental calculation can be carried out.

Speed of processing develops rapidly during childhood and continues to develop during adolescence. Older adolescents show faster speed of processing compared to younger ones. This development is at least partially driven by maturation of white matter in the brain (maelynation).

Question 6

Cognitive Function: Structure: Memory

Answer 6

Short-term memory (STM) = Memory that is only required for a short duration of time.

Question 7

Structure: Memory: Span task

Answer 7

series of items presented at a rate of 1/sec (letter/digits or words). Task is to repeat them in the same order

Question 8

Structure: Memory: Spatial span task

Answer 8

during which blocks are presented in a particular arrangement and the experimenter taps the blocks in a specific order. Participants are required to repeat the sequence.

Question 9

Cognitive function: Process: Face processing

Answer 9

Face recognition: early adulthood our memory for faces is amazing. 90% accuracy in recognizing faces of high school classmates from yearbook photos – as long as 35 years after graduation

Question 10

Encoding switch hypothesis: carey and diamond 1977

Answer 10

Information about faces in represented in memory differently at different ages. This theory suggests that:
young children rely on information about individual features;
adolescents and adults use information about the configuration of the features.

Question 11

Face Memory Task

Answer 11

memorize target faces + find the target in a panel containing two non-target faces

Question 12

Ambiguous figure

Answer 12

figure that can be perceived in two or more different ways.
Younger children usually reported only seeing one element in the illustration rather than two.
Older children could readily perceive the figures in more tha none way, this suggest increased flexibility of thought in adolescence allows alternation between different perspective to be easily accomplished.

Question 13

Selective attention

Answer 13

ability to allocate attentional resources and to focus on specific topics. Young children appear to divide their attention between the central and incidental objects but older preadolescents selectively maintain their attention to the central objects as required by task demands.

Question 14

Featural processing

Answer 14

Tendency to process the separate features of the face, as opposed to perceiving the relationship between the parts.

Question 15

Configural processing

Answer 15

processing that pays particular attention to the overall spatial layout of individual features