Unit 4-Cognition, Language and Intelligence Flashcards
Define Cognition
Cognition encompasses the higher mental processes of humans, including how people know and understand the world, processes information, make describe their knowledge and understanding of others.
Define thinking and its purpose
is the manipulation of mental representations of information and the purpose of answering questions, solving problems and reaching goals.
Define reasoning and its purpose
by which information is used to draw conclusions and make decisions
Two major forms of reasoning
Inductive reasoning- we infer a general rule from specific cases using observations, knowledge, experiences and beliefs to form conclusions.
Deductive reasoning- we draw inferences and implications from a set of assumptions and apply them to specific cases. If the assumption are true then conclusion must be true
Problem Solving
Problem solving involves thinking or the manipulation of representations in order to find a solution to a problem. it usually involves three stages :
-preparing for the creation of solutions ( understanding and diagnosing of problems)
-producing solutions to the problem (via processes like insight , trial and error or means-ends- analysis
-evaluating the solutions that have been generated ( to see how adequately the solutions are at solving the problem)
Creativity
is the combining of responses or ideas in novel ways. Creative people often have a wider range of interests and are more independent and more interested in philosophical or abstract problems than less creative individuals
Language
is the systematic meaningful arrangement of symbols. The use of language clearly represents as important cognitive ability central to communication. There is a crucial link between thought and language. Language is closely tied to the very way in which we think about and understand the world
Cognitive Development
Children grow and their cognitive capacities develop: they learn to recognise faces and voices, their perceptual and motor skills develop in complexity and competency, they begin to talk and respond to the speech of others.
Jean Piaget
the most influential psychologist (1896-1980) a Swiss who viewed cognitive development as a maturational process. Piaget’s (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment.
Piaget’s theory suggests that children progress through a series of four different stages of cognitive development. These stages encompass numerous aspects of mental development including that of reasoning, language, morals, and memory. He believed that kids take an active role in this cognitive development, building knowledge as they interact with the world.
Continuation to Piaget
As children develop they acquire Cognitive Structures , mental representations or rules that are used for understanding and dealing with the world for thinking about and solving problems. The two principle types of cognitive structures are schemata and concepts.
Schemata (schema)
are mental representations or sets of rules that define a particular category of behaviour- how the behaviour is executed and under what conditions.
Concepts
are rules that describe properties of environmental events and objects include what the objects and what happens when they are manipulated or touched
Discontinuity
Sources of discontinuity: There are distinct stages of cognitive development, with the following properties.–Qualitative change: Children of different ages (and at different stages) think in different ways.
–Broad applicability: The type of thinking at each stage pervades topic and content areas
.–Brief transitions: Transitions to higher stages of thinking are not necessarily continuous
.–Invariant sequence: The sequences of stages are stable for all people through all time. Stages are not skipped.
Sources of continuity
Sources of continuity:–Assimilation: People translate incoming information into a form they can understand.
–Accommodation: People adapt current knowledge structures in response to new experience. The process by which old schemata are changed by new experiences . Accommodation produces either new schemata or changes existing ones.
–Equilibration: People balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding the process by which new information is modified to fit existing schemata.
Piaget’s Four Periods of Cognitive Development
1.Sensorimotor- Birth to a year
2.Pre-operational - 2-7
3.Concrete operational 7-11
4.Formal operational - 12+
Sensorimotor
Understands world through senses and actions.
Children are learning and thinking through their senses and the manipulation of objects in the world around them.
Piaget’s Assumptions of Children
*Children construct their own knowledge in response to their experiences.
*Children learn many things on their own without the intervention of older children or adults.
*Children are intrinsically motivated to learn and do not need rewards from adults to motivate learning.
Major features of Sensorimotor
Object Permanence
Deferred Imitation
Rudimentary Symbolic Thinking
Object Permanence
Is knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden. It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e. a schema) of the object.
For example, if you place a toy under a blanket, the child who has achieved object permanence knows it is there and can actively seek it. At the beginning of this stage the child behaves as if the toy had simply disappeared.
Rudimentary Symbolic Thinking
The child’s ability to imitate the actions he or she has observed others perform. It is used by children as way of learning.
E.g. Having seen his dad shaving, on the next occasion imitates the behaviour.
Six sub-stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor
Primary Circulation Reaction
Secondary Circular Reaction
Coordination of Secondary Schema
Tertiary Circulation Reaction
Internalization of Schemas (beginning of thought)
Sensorimotor (reflexes)
Reflexes (0-1 month)
During this sub-stage, the child understands the environment purely through inborn reflexes such as sucking and looking.
They are active and energetic.
They also use their reflexes to gain control.
Babies are not passive respondents.
They involve simple pure reflexes, they have no control over their responses.
Sensorimotor ( primary circular reactions)
Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months)
Primary Circular Reaction takes place and babies acquire adaptation.
In this sub-stage, the infant learns to coordinate sensation with the type of schemer or structure.
For example, a child may suck his or her thumb by accident and then later intentionally repeat the action. These actions are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable
Sensorimotor ( secondary circular reactions)
Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months)
Here, the infant is more object-oriented because they begin to become more aware of their environment.
They are self preoccupied with themselves.
They become more focused on the world and begin to intentionally repeat an action in order to trigger a response in the environment.
For example, a child will purposefully pick up a toy in order to put it in his or her mouth.
Sensorimotor ( Coordination of secondary circular motion)
Eight to twelve months
Coordination of Schema & Behaviour (vision and touch, hand and eye)
Gold directed behavoiur
They explore more and deliberately go towards objects that attracts them E.g.
Cause and effect relationship
Means (tantrums) and ends (I get what I want)
Note: At this stage they have no problem solving skills
Sensorimotor ( tertiary circular reactions)
Twelve to eighteen months
Start of Curiosity
Interest in novelty
Property of objects E.g. My car, My doll, My daddy
Specific Planning into imagination and Fantasy E.g. Using a box as a car
Purpose in exploration E.g. Cutting of doll hair or pulling off wheels from a truck
Initiate actions to do E.g. Dancing during a song of music by themselves
The Touching Stage -Experiment with novel (new rather than old stimulus)
Object Permanence Developed – looking for objects in places they have seen it before.
Sensorimotor (Internalization of Schemas)
Eighteen to twenty four months
The start of Symbolic thinking – beginning to understand symbols
Play Stage increases E.g. An invincible friend
Reality is imposed into objects E.g. Talking to a banana as a phone
Role Play is engaged E.g. You be the patient, they be the doctor
The beginning of Thought (mental Combination)
Symbolic Thoughts begins
Symbolic Mental Representation of events
No trial and error
Object Permanence fully developed
Preoperational Stage
In this stage children are using symbols to represent the previous stage findings. Language, memory and the use of objects in make-believe are acquired. Understands world through language and mental images
Major features of Preoperational Stage (2-7)
Symbolic Representation -increased ability to think symbolically and logically
Egocentrism ( children see their environment only from their own point of view)
Cannot yet master conservation problems
Development of Language ability
Play (pretend or Symbolic)
Centration
Symbolic Representations
Children use symbols to represent words, images and ideas. Symbolic representation is called signifiers(resembles either the movement the object makes or the movement the child makes when interacting with the object)
There are three ways in which children show Symbolic Representation:
Deferred Imitations
Symbolic Plane
Language
