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Adolescent Psychology > The Fundamental Changes of Adolescence: Cognitive Changes > Flashcards

The Fundamental Changes of Adolescence: Cognitive Changes Flashcards

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1
Q

What is Jean Piaget’s stage theory on cognitive development?

A

Cognitive development involves a sequence of four stages.

  1. Sensorimotor (0-2)
  2. Preoperational (2-7)
  3. Concrete operational (7-11)
  4. Formal operational (12-)

Stages are constructed through processes of assimilation,
accommodation, and equilibration.

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2
Q

What are Piaget’s fundamental assumptions on children?

A

Children are mentally active from birth. Children’s mental and physical activity contribute to their development.

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3
Q

What is the constructivist approach to cognitive development in children? (Piagets Stage Theory)

A
  • Children construct knowledge for themselves in response to their experiences.
  • Children’s constructive processes involve: Generating hypotheses, Performing experiments, Drawing conclusions from their observations
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4
Q

What are the central properties of Piaget’s stage theory?

A
  • Qualitative change
  • Broad applicability
  • Brief transitions
  • Invariant sequence
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5
Q

What is schemata? (Piagets Stage Theory)

A

Schemata are concepts (mental models) that are used to help us
categorize and interpret information. Children develop schemata to help them understand the world.

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6
Q

What are the 2 processes used to adjust schemata? (Piagets Stage Theory)

A

Assimilation: of new information or experiences in terms of their current schemata

Accommodation: when they change their schemata based on new
information

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7
Q

What happens during the Sensorimotor Stage in Piagets stage theory of cognitive development?

A
  • Lasts from birth to about 2 years old
  • Children learn about the world through their senses and motor behavior
  • Young children may: Put objects in their mouths to see if the items are edible, Once they can grasp objects, they may shake or bang them to see if they make sounds

Sensorimotor intelligence: Piaget’s term for the way infants think
by using their senses and motor skills

Object performance:
-A not B task: tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was
last found, rather than in the new location where it was last hidden
-Between 5 and 8 months old, the child develops object
permanence - The understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists
- they also begin to exhibit stranger anxiety which is a fear of unfamiliar people

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8
Q

What happens during the Pre-opertional Stage in Piagets stage theory of cognitive development?

A

-approximately 2 to 7 years old
-Children can use symbols to represent words, images, and ideas
-So in this stage they engage in pretend play
-Children also begin to use language in the
preoperational stage, but they cannot understand adult logic or mentally manipulate information
- Symbolic representation: Use of one object to stand for another
-Centration: Focusing on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event to the exclusion of other relevant but less striking features (e.g., conservation concept)
-Egocentrism: Perceiving the world solely from one’s own point of view
-Conservation concept: Changing the appearance of objects does not necessarily change the properties

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9
Q

What happens during the Concrete Operational Stage in Piagets stage theory of cognitive development?

A
  • Occurs from about 7 to 11 years old
  • Children begin to reason logically about concrete features of the world - Limited to concrete situations
  • Systematic and hypothetical thinking difficult
  • They have a firm grasp on the use of numbers and
    start to employ memory strategies
  • Children master the concepts of: Conservation, Reversibility
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10
Q

What happens during the Formal Operational Stage in Piagets stage theory of cognitive development?

A

-From about age 12 to adulthood
-Children can also deal with abstract ideas and
hypothetical situations
-Children in this stage can use abstract thinking to problem solve, look at alternative solutions, and test these solutions
- In adolescence, a renewed egocentrism occurs
- Piaget believed this stage was not universal (i e not all adolescents
reach it)
- Adolescent thinking expands and enriches intellectual life

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11
Q

What is the proposed 5th stage of cognitive development for Piaget’s stage theory?

A
  • Many developmental psychologists
    disagree with Piaget, suggesting a fifth
    stage of cognitive development, known
    as the post-formal stage
  • At this stage, decisions are made
    based on situations and circumstances, and logic is integrated
    with emotion as adults develop principles that depend on contexts
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12
Q

What are the contributions and weaknesses of Piagets Theory?

A

Contributions
- Piaget’s theory remains very influential in understanding cognitive development.

Weaknesses
- The theory is vague about the mechanisms that give rise to children’s thinking and
produce cognitive growth.
-Infants and young children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized.
-The theory understates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development.
-The stage model depicts children’s thinking as more consistent than it is.

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13
Q

What are the basic principles of Piaget’s theory?

A

Cognitive developmental approach - there is a change over time in how people think
Developed by Jean Piaget

Cognitive stages - Cognitive abilities organized into a mental structure

Maturation- Driving force behind development from one stage to the next

Schemes - Infants based on sensory and motor processes. After infancy symbolic and representational.

Assimilation and accommodation - Usually take place together in varying degrees

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14
Q

How is the formal operational stage significant to adolescence?

A
  • Stage most relevant to cognitive development in adolescence
  • Complex tasks and logical, systematic thinking (Pendulum problem - what determines the speed of the pendulum?)
  • Hypothetical deductive reasoning - process by which the formal operational thinker systematically tests possible solutions to a problem and arrives at an answer that can be explained/defended
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15
Q

How does thinking during adolescence become more absract/complex?

A
  • Abstract Thinking - Ex: time, friendship, faith (the understanding of their concepts)
  • Complex thinking
  • Metacognition - Self awareness of thinking processes, includes thinking about what you think of others & what they think of you
  • Likely to see things in greater complexity and perceive multiple aspects of a situation
    -Metaphor understand the literal, concrete meaning as well as less obvious, more
    subtle meanings
    -Sarcasm picking up on meanings in tone and context
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16
Q

What are the limitations of Piaget’s theory?

A

Individual differences in formal operations
- Piaget - most people proceed through the same stages at about
the same ages because they experience the same maturational
processes
- Research has proven this wrong - consider social environmental influences on cognitive development

Culture and formal operations

  • Not all cultures develop formal operational thought
  • Must be applied to materials and tasks specific to the culture
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17
Q

What is pragmatism ?

A
  • Post-formal thinking
  • Emerging adults recognize practical limitations to logical
    thinking.
  • Adolescents exaggerate how logical thinking will be effective in real life.
  • Dialectical thought
  • Peng and Nisbett
  • Chinese culture strives to reconcile contradictions by seeking middle ground.
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18
Q

What is reflective judgement?

A

the capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments

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19
Q

What is dualistic thinking?

A

the cognitive tendency to see situations and issues in polarized absolute B&W terms (may be seen in adolescence particularly)

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20
Q

What is multiple thinking?

A

cognitive approach entailing recognition that there is more than one view of things and its difficult to justify one position as true/accurate

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21
Q

What is relativism?

A

recognize the legitimacy of competing points of view, but also being able to compare the relative merits of these views

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22
Q

What is commitment?

A

people commit to themselves to certain points of view which they believe to be the most valid, but also being open to re-evaluating their views if new evidence is presented

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23
Q

What is the information-processing approach?

A
  • Views cognitive changes as continuous (unlike Piaget’s Theory)
  • Focuses on the thinking process at all ages
  • The computer is the model for this approach
  • Componential approach - looks at the mind as consisting components
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24
Q

What is selective attention and divided attention?

A
  • Selective attention: process by whcih we focus on one stimulus by tuning out another, gets better as you age
  • Divided attention: process of paying attention to 2 or more stimuli at the same time, may result in less efficient
    learning
  • Especially problematic for those with learning disabilities
  • Capacities for selective attention and
    divided attention improve during
    adolescence.
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25
Q

What is short-term/ working memory?

A

Memory for information that is current focus of attention.

  • Input and storage of new information
  • Working memory - the aspect of ST memory before it is stored, as it is comprehended & analyzed
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26
Q

What is long term memory?

A

Longer term storage. Unlimited capacity but some knowledge may be lost.
- Mnemonic devices

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27
Q

How does executive functioning develop during adolescence?

A
  • Speed of processing information
    increases in adolescence
  • Greater automaticity
  • Greater executive functioning
28
Q

What are the critiques of the information -processing approach?

A

Reductionism: Fails to consider how human cognition works as a whole rather
than a set of isolated parts. Computers have no self reflection, self awareness, or emotions.

29
Q

What are the features of critical thinking during adolescence?

A
  • The ability to analyze and make judgments about new
    information is enhanced
  • Simultaneous consideration of different kinds of knowledge
    more possible
  • More metacognitive strategies available
  • Critical thinking must be taught
30
Q

How do decision making abilities develop over adolescence?

A
  • Competence in decision making varies substantially with
    age. Adolescents better at anticipating consequences than
    preadolescents. Skills continue to improve into early adulthood
  • Adolescents take more risks than adults.
  • Adolescents are more influenced by strong emotions and
    psychosocial factors.
31
Q

What is social cognition?

A

Social cognition how people think about others, social relationships, and social
institutions

32
Q

What does it mean to say cognitive development functions as an “organizational
core.”?

A

Organizational core - cognitive development affects all areas of thinking

33
Q

In regards to Selman’s theory on perspective taking, what are the stages of development?

A

Young children - unable to separate their perspective from others

Ages 6-8, difficulty comparing perspectives

Ages 8-10, most understand there are other points of view different from their own

Ages 10-12, mutual perspective taking

34
Q

In regards to Selman’s theory on perspective taking, what is

social and conventional system perspective taking?

A

Realizing that the social perspective of self & others are influenced not only by interactions with each other but also by their roles within the larger community.

35
Q

In regards to Selman’s theory on perspective taking, what is theory of mind?

A

Theory of mind - your feelings and others feelings are independent of each other.

36
Q

What is egocentrism in adolescence?

A

Being able to introspect may lead to periods of extreme self absorption, referred to as adolescent egocentrism.

2 problems in thinking:
The imaginary audience: comes from a heightened sense of self consciousness - you imagine that you are the focus of everyone else’s attention. Social media exacerbates such ideas, makes adolescents more self-conscious.

The personal fable: Revolves around the adolescents egocentric belief that his/her experiences are unique, enhancing self-esteem & importance but also can be dangerous as one assumes bad things won’t happen to them. “No one understands me”, Optimistic bias

37
Q

What is the main way intelligence is assessed?

A

Psychometric approach
- Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC V) : Ages 6 to 16

  • Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS V): Ages 16 and up
  • Six verbal subtests and five performance subtests
  • Results give an overall intelligence quotient (IQ) and establishes age norms (relative and absolute performance)
38
Q

How are fluid and crystallized intelligence measured?

A

Fluid intelligence - Tested by the performance subtests. Peaks in emerging adulthood.

Crystallized intelligence - Assessed by subtests in comprehension, information, vocabulary. Increases with age.

39
Q

What do Adoption studies of IQ show?

A
  • Eliminates the problem of passive genotype environment
    interactions
  • Strong correlation in IQ between adopted children and their
    parents from birth to adolescence, then it declines
40
Q

What do Transracial adoption studies show?

A
  • Black children raised by white families have higher IQs than the
    average IQ for whites
  • Indicates that overall differences of IQ between races result
    from cultural and social differences, not genetics
41
Q

What is the zone of proximal development in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of intelligence?

A

Zone of proximal development - the gap between how confidently a person preforms a task by themselves vs how they might do if an adult or more competent peer were to help them.
- Scaffolding

42
Q

What is Rogoff’s theory of guided participation?

A

Similar to scaffolding but emphasizes cultural values more

explicitly

43
Q

What is Cultural psychology?

A

Analyzes how people use cognitive skills in daily activities

44
Q

What are the types of intelligence in the theory of multiple intelligence?

A 
Linguistic
Logical mathematical
Spatial
Musical
Existential
Bodily kinesthetics
Naturalist
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
45
Q

What are the arguments towards Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence?

A
  • No reliable tests for his theory
  • What is the difference between intelligence and talent?
  • Extending the boundaries of intelligence too far
46
Q

What are the processes of overproduction (or exuberance) and synaptic pruning
that take place in the brain during adolescence?

A
  • At beginning of puberty, new burst of overproduction. Rapid increase in production of synaptic connections. Happens in the frontal lobes, involved in higher functioning
  • Next follows synaptic pruning. Between ages 12 and 20. Lose 7% to 10% of gray matter. “Use it or lose it”
47
Q

How do myelination and changes in the cerebellum enable new cognitive capacities in adolescence?

A

Myelination: Leads to better executive functioning during adolescence. Makes brain functioning less flexible.

Growth of cerebellum: Grows in adolescence and early adulthood. Last structure of the brain to stop growing.

48
Q

What parts of the brain are involved in adolescent brain development?

A

the frontal lobes and the cerebellum

49
Q

How do gray and white matter change through emerging adulthood and beyond, and what are the neurological changes that make emerging adulthood a stage of high
potential and high risk?

A
  • Gray matter decreases and white matter increases through the 20s and into the 30s
  • New connections between the prefrontal cortex and lower
    brain. Indicate growing emotional self control, more advanced
    cognitive functioning. May play a role in the development of schizophrenia, anxiety,
    and depression.
50
Q

What is gray matter made of?

A

outer layer of brain comprised mostly of neurons and unmyelinated axons

51
Q

What is white matter made of?

A

consists of mylinated axons

52
Q

what are the changes in cognition during adolescence?

A
  • become better at thinking about what is possible (not limited to what is real)
  • become better at thinking about abstract thoughts
  • become better at thinking about thinking
  • multidimensional thought
  • relative thought rather than absolute
53
Q

What’s the difference between child thought & adolescent thought?

A

child - what is possible is what is real, still capable of fantasy/imagination
adolescent - what is real is a subset of what is possible, able to generate possibilities & compare the way things are with the way things could be under different circumstances

54
Q

What is deductive reasoning?

A

a type of logical reasoning in which one draws a logically necessary conclusion from a general set of premises or givens
- results in an answer

55
Q

What is hypothetical thinking?

A
  • “if-then” thinking
  • see beyond what is directly observable and apply logical reasoning to anticipate what might be possible
  • thinking hypothetically allows us to see both sides of an argument and take a perspective of another person which helps formulate & argue one’s own viewpoint
  • anticipate future consequences of decisions
56
Q

What is abstract thinking that develops during adolescence?

A

Ability to think in more advanced ways about interpersonal relationships, politics, faith, philosophy, religion, and morality - topics that involve abstract concepts such as friendship, faith, democracy, fairness and honesty. The growth of social thinking is directly related to the person’s ability to think abstractly.

57
Q

What is metacognition?

A
  • thining about thinking
  • involves monitoring your own cognition during the thinking process
  • allows adolescents to monitor their learning
  • leads to increased introspection & self-consciousness, permitting self-examination and exploration which are important for identity
58
Q

What is thinking in multiple dimensions?

A

The capability to think about things in multiple dimensions, considering all factors. Understanding people’s personalities are not one-sided and that social situation can have different interpretations.
Understand and use sarcasm, irony, metaphors.

59
Q

What is the Piagetian View of Adolescent thinking?

A

Cognitive-developmental view of intellectual development: cognitive development proceeds through a fixed sequence of qualitatively distinct stages, adolescent thinking is different from children thinking, and during adolescence, individuals develop a specific type of thinking.

60
Q

What is the Information Processing View of Adolescent thinking?

A

A perspective on cognition that derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of the growth-specific components of thinking (such as memory).

61
Q

What are autobiographical memory and reminiscence bump?

A

autobiographical memory - the recall of personally meaningful past events
reminiscence bump - the fact that experiences from adolescence are generally remembered more than any other stage of life ( when chemicals are released highly at the same time the event is experienced it is remembered easier)

62
Q

Is cognitive development complete by age 15?

A

Age 15 - basic cognitive abilities are as proficient as adults

  • working memory, attention and logical reasoning increase through childhood & adolescence and level off around 15
  • still developing more sophisticated cognitive thinking skills such as creative thinking, planning ahead, judging relative cost or risky decision making - until around mid-20s
63
Q

What’s are FMRI and DTI?

A

Functional magnetic resonance imaging - a technique used for producing images of the brain, often while the subject is performing a mental task. Allows us to see how patterns of activity differ for different tasks and can compare between ages

Diffusion tensor imaging - a technique used to produce images of the brain that shows connections among different regions. Allows to compare patterns of interconnections among people at different ages.

2 techniques allow to take images of the brain and compare the anatomy & activity

64
Q

What is the brain structure & function?

A

Structure - physical form and organization of the brain

Function - patterns of brain activity

65
Q

What are EEG and ERP?

A

Electroencephalography - measures electrical activity at different locations on the scalp

Event-related potentials - changes in electrical activity in areas of the brain in response

66
Q

Are there differences between the male and female brain?

A
  • differences very small
  • unlikely to explain differences in behaviour and through processing
  • male brain is generally 10% larger
67
Q

How does the brain work?

A

It functions by transmitting electrical signals across circuits composed of interconnected cells call neurons (nerve cells)

  • Neurons have 3 parts:
    1. cell body
    2. axon - longish projection which terminates in many small tips
    3. dendrites - thousands of tiny antennae-like branches which themselves split off into smaller and smaller spines
  • Neurons have approx 10,000 connections (gray matter)

Adolescent Psychology (7 decks)

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