Week 13: Cognitive Development

Question 1

Assumption that categories are well defined

Answer 1

1. provides necessary features for category membership
2. features must be jointly sufficient for membership

Question 2

Sources of Typicality

Answer 2

1. Frequency: items are more typical if they have features frequent in their category and vice versa (family resemblance theory)
2. Hierarchies: concrete categories nested into larger, abstract categories
   - objects can fall under multiple categories

Question 3

Basic level of categorization

Answer 3

• not too big not so small and is the most preferred
• preferred level consists of both level of diff in the world but also people’s knowledge and interest in categories
• subordinate and superordinate

Question 4

subordinate

Answer 4

overly specific

Question 5

superordinate

Answer 5

overly general

Question 6

Differentiation in the basic levels of categories

Answer 6

basic level categories of both the level of differentiated, which explains why they are more preferred

Question 7

Prototype approach/theory

Answer 7

• Theory: ppl have a summary representation of the category; a mental description meant to apply to the category as a whole
• set of weighted features (weighted by frequency in category)

Question 8

Exemplar approach/theory

Answer 8

• Theory: denial that a summary representation exists; instead, a concept is remembered by the many observations you have experienced; you compare new exemplars to your past observations
• Closer similarity: people often become fooled when new items similar to old items were presented but with slight adjustments

Question 9

Knowledge Approach/psychological essentialism

Answer 9

• we try to learn new concepts and connect them to past knowledge we already have
• psychological essentialism: members of a category have an unseen property that causes them to be in the category and to have properties associated w it
  a) objects believed to be in or out of category w no inbetween
  b) resistance to change of category membership or of properties connected to the essence
  c) for living things, the essence is passed on to the progeny (offspring/descendant)

Question 10

Cognitive development

Answer 10

development of THINKING across a lifespan

Question 11

piaget’s stage theory

Answer 11

development occurs through sequence of discontinuous stages
- sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Question 12

sociocultural theory

Answer 12

Lev Vygotsky; other ppl and surrounding attitudes, values, and beliefs influence child development

Question 13

information processing theories

Answer 13

David Klahr; describes cognitive processes that underlie thinking at any one age and cognitive growth over time

Question 14

Nature vs. nurture

Answer 14

w/o either there would b no child; it is complex

Question 15

Distinct stages: Quantitative changes

Answer 15

gradual, incremental change (e.g. height)

Question 16

Distinct stages: Qualitative changes

Answer 16

largely fundamental changes (e.g caterpillar grows into butterfly)

Question 17

Piaget proposed four discrete stages:

Answer 17

1) sensorimotor (0-2 yr): children discover reality of objects
2) preoperational reasoning (2-7 yrs): children represent objects thru drawing and language but cannot solve logical reasoning problems
3) concrete operational reasoning (7-12): children can think logically about concrete situations but not engage in systematic scientific reasoning
4) formal operational reasoning (12+): adolescents gain reason

Question 18

object permanence task/sensorimotor stage

Answer 18

distinctive of sensorimotor stage in which <9 months fail to search for an object removed from sight and if not allowed to search immediately for the object, act as if they do not know it still exists
- piaget claimed they did not understand objects existed when out of their sight

Question 19

conservation problems/preoperational stage

Answer 19

physical transformation of set objects change a perceptually salient (most noticeable) dimension but not the quantity that is being asked about
- during preoperational stage, children focus on a single dimension

Question 20

concrete operations stage

Answer 20

logical thinking w/o systematic scientific reasoning
6-12 yrs
logic only applied to objects seen or that are real

Question 21

formal operations stage

Answer 21

gaining reasoning powers; often occurs with exposure to formal education in scientific reasoning
- 11-12 yrs to lifetime
- can think logically + advanced reasoning

Question 22

criticisms of piaget

Answer 22

cognitive development is more continuous and should not be compounded into four separate stages

Question 23

phonemic awareness

Answer 23

awareness of component sounds within words

Question 24

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Answer 24

developmental disorder often emerging in first three years that persists throughout one’s life
- presence of profound diff in social interactions and communications + presence of repetitive/restricted interests, cognitions, and behaviours
symp: difficulty w simple behaviours (eye contact), advanced behaviours (group convo), processing difficulties in both visual and auditory senses, repetitive behaviours, language deficits

Question 25

phenotypic heterogeneity

Answer 25

high degree of variability in the genes underlying ASD

Question 26

social perception

Answer 26

initial stages of processing of info that culminates in the accurate analysis of the dispositions and intentions of others; essential to more sophisticated social behaviours (thinking about motives)

Question 27

social brain

Answer 27

set of neuroanatomical structures that allows us to understand actions and intentions of others
- amygdala, orbital frontal cortex (OFC), fusiform gyrus (FG), posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS)
a) amygdala: recognizes emotional state of others
b) OFC: “reward” feelings
c) FG: facial detection and recognition
d) Posterior STS: biological motion recognition

Question 28

How to detect social brain activity in people with ASD

Answer 28

• using fMRI (high spatial) and ERP (high temporal) complementary imaging methods
• children w ASD show low sensitivity to biological motion = reduced STS activity
• ppl w increased ASD risk but who do not develop symptoms often have increased STS activity - a compensatory mechanism that offsets genetic vulnerability

Question 29

Endophenotypes

Answer 29

Characteristics not immediately observable that still reflect a genetic liability for disease and a more basic component of a complex clinical presentation

Question 30

When do development disorders like ASD need to be diagnosed and why

Answer 30

• Must be diagnosed early in life
• Early deficits to attention to biological motion derail subsequent experiences of higher social information
• Lack of reliable predictors/biological tests have impacted the effective treatment of ASD ==> treatment often becomes delayed