Midterm #3

Emotions

an immediate, specific negative or positive response to environmental events or internal thoughts

Moods

diffuse, long-lasting emotional states that do not have an identifiable object or trigger

Feelings

the subjective experience of the emotion

ex. “I feel scared” “I feel disgusted”

Affect

the outward expression (observable) of emotion

• negative affect = covering ur mouth, disgusted face, etc

components of emotions

Emotion involves:

1. Bodily arousal (physiological component) - BP going up after watching spider video

2. A subjective conscious experience (cognitive component) - what i’m thinking (smtg is happening in ur mind: “this is disgusting”)

3. Characteristic overt expressions (behavioural component) - covering your mouth while watching spider video

Physiological Component of Emotion (pathways)

• Bodily arousal - fight or flight response

• fast pathway = stimulus → thalamus → amygdala → external response

  • “omg a spider fell on me”

• slow pathway = stimulus → thalamus → cortex → amygdala → external response

  • “oh its a toy spider”

Cognitive component of emotions

• Subjective Feelings

• emotion is a highly personal, subjective experience

  • depends on cognitive appraisals/interpretations

• what one person is scared of, the other might find funny

ex. public speaking - with all ur friends in the room versus all ur profs

Behavioural Component of emotions

• nonverbal expressiveness (rolling ur eyes, etc)

• expressions for emotions, body language 😊😔👋

Cognitive theories of emotion

What’s the order? - do u see it and then feel emotion and then body shows reaction or other way around??

0. common sense approach (not actually a theory)

1. james-lange theory

2. Cannon-Bard theory

3. Schachter-singer theory

Common sense approach

• one of the cognitive theories for emotion

• stimulus → conscious subjective feeling → autonomic arousal

ex. ghost → scared → HR increases

James-Lange theory

• one of the cognitive theories for emotion

• The perception of autonomic arousal results in conscious perception of emotion

• stimulus → distinct arousal & behaviour → subjective feeling

  • whats happening with our bodies physiological and what were doing tells our brains what we’re feeling

• Different distinct patterns of autonomic activation lead to the experience of different emotions

Criticisms of James-lange theory (walter canon)

1. Physiological arousal can occur without subsequent emotion

• run up the stairs → heart rate goes up → but no emotion

2. Some physiological changes are too slow to precede conscious experience of emotion

• pants fall down → embarrassment occurs before blushing happens

3. experience of fear, joy, surprise, anger exhibit similar patterns of autonomic arousal

• they are not the same

Canon-bard theory

• one of the cognitive theories for emotion

• subcortical brain activity SIMULTANEOUSLY sends signals to the cortex (results in ‘feelings’) and the ANS (arousal)

• stimulus → thalamus → common arousal/fear

  • happens at same time, not specific to an emotion

Schachter-Singer two-factor theory

• one of the cognitive theories for emotion

• Emotion depends on:

1. Common pattern of autonomic arousal AND

2. Cognitive interpretation of that arousal based on the environment

stimulus → common arousal → cognitive interpretation → subjective feeling OR fear

ex. support → Capilano Bridge Study

Capilano Bridge Study

• Independent variable: physiological arousal

  • condition 1: unstable suspension bridge → more arousal

  • condition 2: stable low bridge → less

• Attractive female research assistant will approach men who look between ages 18-35 on condition 1 or 2

• research assistant would show an image and ask what’s the story in the image → and then ask the dude if they want her phone number to her lab in case they have any questions about the study afterwards that come to mind

  • found that guys on tall bridge were more likely to call - could be due to men walking on tall bridge are more likely to take the risk and call

• study was done again with approached on tall bridge VS approached 10 minutes after crossing tall bridge

Criticism to Schachter-Singer two-factor theory

• there’re clearly different physiological states associated with different emotions

Which cognitive theory is correct?

• James-Langer? NOPE

  • although some emotions can be physiologically distinguished, not all are distinct

    • fear and sadness has similar physiological reactions

• Canon-bard? NOPE

  • although the thalamus plays a part in emotion, they left out the contributions of the hypothalamus and amygdala

  • although some emotions display similar physiological responses, there is not one common response

• Schachter-Singer? NOPE

  • although some emotions display similar physiological responses, there is not one common response

  • some emotions are experienced without arousal

The interplay between bodily activity and mental activity are both the causes and consequences of emotional experience

Primary emotions

Another one could be: PRIDE (body language & face)

• study found that ppl who are born blind and are generally blind show this emotion

Secondary emotions

Emotions & Evolution

Darwin noticed that a lot of expressions seem to be similar between animals and humans at one point

• ppl originally believed we had these expressions cuz of god but darwin said we share a lot of these expressions and facial features (musculature) with many other animals

Almost all researchers now agree that emotions are adaptive responses that arise from mechanisms shaped by natural selection → we evolved over time to have these facial expressions and features

• these help us survive in some way

The universality hypothesis

• emotional expressions have the same meaning for everyone

• support:

  • blind people, they’ve never seen another person’s emotional expressions and yet when they feel happy or sad, they generate the same expression

  • babies generate these expressions - how do they know? is this a process of learning?

• problem of doing studies on this in other countries: ppl travel to other countries, watch TV, etc they could’ve learned it → so they studied an indigenous tribe in new guinea that have never had any contact with anybody before

  • answer is yes they generate same emotional expressions

How do facial expressions help us survive? (evolution)

ex. when we make a disgust face we take in less oxygen (nose scrunch, lips tighten) - protects u from inhaling smtg that might make u sick

• when smtg scares u, our eyes widen (able to scan environment and look for escape route), breath in (about to start running/fighting)

emotions & communication

a way for one animal to communicate to another how it is feeling and how it is prepared to act - without verbal language

• helps determine a hierarchy

ex. aggression/dominance

• dogs will do staredown and growl when they first meet → typically wont fight but one will back down

ex. smiling (happiness)

• smiling has been found to increase the likelihood of affiliation and to reduce the likelihood of aggression between interaction partners and is thought to be a signal of “benign intent” → when smn is smiling you know they aren’t going to hurt u etc

ex. sad

• study shows that ppl are more likely to go up to smn when they sad vs when they are neutral, angry, or fearful

Guilt/Embarrassment & Social bonds

a nonverbal apology that elicits forgiveness in others, thereby repairing and maintaining relationships

• embarrassment represents submission to an affiliation with the social group

  • lips press tgt and corners turn up slightly, head moves down and to the side

• expression tells u “im sorry, I did smtg wrong” and makes u more willing to forgive

Display rules

rules that govern how and when people exhibit their emotions

• dictate when emotional expression is suitable in specific situations

• learned through socialization

• cultural variations in expression and recognition of emotions

• individual differences too (depending on personality, more or less likely to display emotions)

example of stereotypes: germans have fairly cold and expressionless faces

ex of rules:

• no laughing at funerals

• no happy faces at a funeral

→ can differ by culture

ex. when ppl laugh they cover their mouths, others don’t

Cultural differences in Display of emotions

• study with white & japanese man, both are shown disgusting video, both make disgusting face

  • but when authority is infront of them, japanese man doesn’t make face

• research showed that japanese ppl looked at eyes to determine emotion while white americans looked at mouths

a picture where guy is smiling while others behind him are smiling VS one where the ppl behind him are sad

• japanese ppl will focus on ppl in background → say man did smtg to ppl in backgrounf

• americans will focus on central figure → say man’s happy

individualistic cultures vs collectivist

Gender differences in display rules

• from culture to culture, display rules tend to be different for men and women

compared to men, women tend to:

1. display emotions more readily, frequently, intensely, and easily

• especially when it comes to crying or laughing

• men display more anger

2. report more intense emotions

3. be better at articulating their emotions

Why are there gender differences in display rules?

Is this due to biology (evolution) or socialization?

• some say biology - women are responsible for caring for the children, much more likely to band tgt when under times of stress and so displaying laughter and crying

• some say socialization - there’s empirical evidence that parents socialize their children to display gender appropriate expressions of emotions

  • ex. “block-head” game - jenga but loser is called blockhead

  • fathers were more responsive to boy’s anger and laughter at another’s expense and girls’ sadness or anxiety

  • mother’s responses did not differ by gender

Emotion Regulation (+ forms)

How individuals control which emotions they have, when they have them, and how such emotions are experienced and expressed.

the forms:

• Situation Selection

• Situation Modification

• Attentional Deployment

• Cognitive Change

• Response Modulation

Situation Selection

• one of the forms of emotion regulation

• before an emotion has been elicited

• refers to approaching or avoiding certain people, places, or objects in order to regulate emotions

ex. “after friday’s midterm I’m going to go karaoke” ← regulating positive emotions

Situation Modification

• one of the forms of emotion regulation

• in the moment an emotion is being elicited

• modifying external, physical environments in order to change a potentially emotion-eliciting situation

ex. getting flowers for wife before asking to skip family event to go golfing with buddies

Attentional Deployment (+ types)

• one of the forms of emotion regulation

• in the moment an emotion is being elicited

• directing attention within a given situation in order to influence one’s emotions

  • distraction

    • diverting one’s attention away from one’s emotions (TV at dentist)

  • concentration

    • focusing on activities that absorb cognitive resources (going to workout when feeling down)

    • focusing on emotions to amplify them (focus on feeling sad to be more sad - actors)

  • Rumination (typically for negative feelings) + (not intentional)

    • attention is directed towards feelings & their consequences (not being able to stop thinking about a breakup)

Cognitive Change (+types)

• one of the forms of emotion regulation

• in the moment an emotion is being elicited

• Cognitively transforming the situation so as to alter its emotional impact

  • positive reappraisal → looking for the silver lining

  • downward social comparison → comparing one’s situation with that of a less fortunate person, thereby altering one’s construal(thoughts) and decreasing negative emotion

Response Modulation (+ types)

• one of the forms of emotion regulation

• after you alr have an emotion

• occurs late in emotion generative process, after response tendencies have been initiated

modulation of behavioural responses:

• suppression of emotional responses (doesn’t work on sadness)

• initiation/exaggeration of emotional expression (purposely laughing louder)

modulation of physiological responses:

• exercise

• biofeedback (learning how to modulate breathing, etc)

• drugs & alcohol

• mediation & yoga

Motivation + theories

a process that influences the direction, persistence, & vigour of goal-directed behaviour

Theories of motivation:

• instinct theory & evolutionary psychology

• drive theory

• incentive theories

• psychodynamic theories

• humanistic theories

Instinct theory (+ problems)

• one of the theories of motivation

• darwin’s theory of evolution inspired early psychological views that instincts motivate much of our behaviour

• instinct → an inherited predisposition to behave in a specific and predictable way when exposed to a particular stimulus

  • genetic

  • universal within species

  • not learning dependent

  • survival value → helps us survive

problems:

• lots of circular reasoning (humans are greedy because its an instinct, its an instinct because all humans are greedy)

• diff instinct theorists come up with diff instincts for humans

Modern evolutionary psychologists suggest that the adaptive significance of behaviour is a key to understanding motivation → ex. why do we need social bonds? helps us survive

Drive Theories (homeostasis)

• one of the theories of motivation

Homeostasis → a state of internal physiological equilibrium that the body strives to maintain

Drive theory suggests that physiological disruptions to homeostasis produce drives, states of internal tension that motivate an organism to behave in ways that reduce this tension

• drives provide a source of energy that pushes an organism into action

  • hunger, dehydration, sleep deprivation, etc

• DOESN’T explain why we feel the need to eat sm at a buffet

Incentive theories

• one of the theories of motivation

• Modern incentive theory emphasizes the “pull” of external stimuli and how stimuli with high incentive value can motivate behaviour, even in the absence of biological need

ex. trying rlly hard in course to get A+ avg

Psychoanalytic theories

• one of the theories of motivation

Much of our behaviour results from a never-ending battle between unconscious impulses (many sexual & aggressive) struggling for release and psychological defences used to keep them under control

→ sometimes the way we behave is unclear to us

discredited by research

Expectancy (x value) theory

• one of the theories of motivation

• Goal-directed behaviour is jointly determined by two factors:

1. the strength of the person’s expectation that particular behaviours will lead to a goal → if i behave this way, this is what will result

2. the value the individual places on that goal

motivation = expectation X incentive value

Humanistic Theories (self-determination theory)

• one of the theories of motivation

Self-determination theory → focuses on three fundamental psychological needs:

1. Competence → need to master new challenges and skills (we feel good when we master/learn new things)

2. Autonomy → the freedom of choice and action without outside interference

3. Relatedness → the desire to form meaningful bonds with others

problems with hierarchy → why would soldiers allow themselves to be tortured, extreme dieting, etc

• one was added ontop of self-actualization → self-transcendence (how can I better society?)

Motives to Achieve

Need for achievement - a relatively stable personality trait that represents the desire to accomplish tasks and attain standards of excellence

1. Motive for success “thrill of victory”

• mastering skills &/or outperforming others (want to be able to say i’m the best)

2. motive to avoid failure

• indicated by anxiety in achievement situations (i feel negative things will happen to me)

research suggests that having one is better than having both, because the anxiety can make u perform worse

Types of motivation goals + research study

When faced with a setbakc, why do some giveup while others try harder? → It depends on the type of goals set

1. Performance Goals → goals that result in being judged favourably and avoiding criticism (wanting straight As)

2. Mastery (learning( Goals → goals that result in increased competence and skills and finding intrinsic pleasure in the task at hand (practice soccer games)

Why do some children choose one or the other? → research study

• the kids who got praised for intelligence = almost 70% chose performance goals → they’d rather have easier puzzle questions so that they could do well again

  • almost 40% of these kids lied about their scores

• kids who got praised for effort = less than 10% chose performance goals

  • about 12-13% lied about their scores

^ in third trail, ones that were praised for effort got higher scores while ones praised for intelligence got lower

Fixed VS Growth Mindsets (Motivations & Goals)

Fixed:

• believes intelligence is fixed

• responds to setbacks by giving up

• avoids challenges

• sees effort as pointless

Growth:

• believes intelligence can grow

• sees effort as crucial to success

• welcomes challenges

• responds to setbacks by working harder

Motivation & expectations

People are more motivated to achieve when they expect success then when they predict failure

• somewhat of a self-fulfilling prophecy (i’ll never understand this psych stuff → doesn’t study enough → person gives up trying → prophecy fulfilled)

Factors as to what motivated us to eat

Biological factors

Environmental Factors

Social Factors

Emotional Factors

Cultural/Cognitive Factors

Biological factors as to what motivates us to eat

1. The growlies? → eating because of our stomachs

2. Hypothalamus

3. Hunger Hormones

4. Genetics

Hypothalamus (one of the biological factors of eating motivations)

• lateral hypothalamus

  • if you lesion area then rat will stop eating

  • if you stimulate it, rat won’t stop eating

• Ventromedial Hypothalamus (Satieity Center - i’ve eaten enough it’s time to stop)

  • if you lesion → won’t stop eating

  • if stimulate → stop eating earlier then normally would

Stomach (one of the biological factors of eating motivations)

study:

• researcher had one of their graduate students swallow a balloon (inflate it) and then measure how often there is a stomach contraction (stomach growling)

  • asked student to press a button every time you feel hungry

  • seems as though hunger pangs is linked to stomach contractions

• correlations NOT causation - even when stomach nerve is cut, ppl still feel hungry

Hunger Hormones (one of the biological factors of eating motivations)

Grehlin - a hormone produce in the stomach sends “hunger” signals to the hypothalamus (appetite increaser)

Leptin - a hormone released by fat cells to inhibit hunger (appetite decreaser)

genetics (one of the biological factors of eating motivations)

• appears to account for about 40-70 percent of the variation in body mass among women and men

  • evidence from twin studies (separated at birth)

• more than 200 genes have been identified as possible contributors to human obesity

Environmental Factors as to what motivates us to eat

1. Portion sizes

2. Proximity & Visibility

3. Variety

Portion sizes (Environmental Factor as to what motivates us to eat) + studies

Unit bias - tendency to view a unit of food as an appropriate amount (we tend to eat a whole banana no matter size)

bottomless bowl study (tube connected to bowl) → those drinking from bottomless bowls drank 73% more than those drinking from regular bowls

container size studies → person with smaller plate thinks they ate more food than person will larger plate because of how filled up it looks

popcorn study → ppl will eat most of whatever size container they get even if it is stale popcorn

Proximity & Visibility (Environmental Factor as to what motivates us to eat)

study with a bag of candies ← different distances and bags are opaque or transparent

• found most candies were eaten when bag is close & transparent

• least when bag was farther and opaque

→ interview w/ ppl in office found that when its farther it gives u a couple of seconds to think about whether u rlly need the candies

Variety (Environmental Factor as to what motivates us to eat)

study found that ppl will eat more M&Ms when theres multiple colours then when there is only 2 colours (43%)

• also found ppl eat more when randomly scattered then when grouped by their diff colours (69%)

Social Factor as to what motivates us to eat

eating with other ppl

study shows

• when u eat with one other person instead of by urself, u eat 28% more

• 3 ppl → 41% more

• 4 ppl → 53% more

• etc etc

bigger group = more eating

when eating with other ppl:

• we take cues from others

• we’re more relaxed, so it’s more enjoyable

• we have longer meals

• we’re distracted from monitoring consumption

• depends on whether we’re eating w/ unfamiliar VS familiar others

Emotional Factor as to what motivates us to eat

Mood

• when sad ppl eat less healthy food, more unhealthy food

• when happy ppl eat less unhealthy food, and more healthy food

Obesity

It’s not a lifestyle choice of “just eat less & move more” ← causes stigma

1. it’s a chronic disease (medical condition)

2. it is driven by genes, not choice or willpower

3. it impacts physical & mental health

4. it is treatable

5. weight bias, stigma, & discrimination harm everyone

Why is obesity increasing? (multiple points)

1. The increased abundance of fast food and processed foods → we’ve evolved to hold onto our calories since there’ll be times it’s hard to find food but now all of sudden we have sm fast food

2. The widespread consumption of high-sugar, high-calorie drinks.→ WHO says we should have max 25 grams of sugar in a day (pop has 30-40grams - past we didn’t have this)

3. Sharp decline of exercise and activity levels → technological advances made us less active (remotes, roomba, etc)

4. Increased portion sizes of food and drink → fast food meals past vs now

5. Abundance of highly varied foods → predictable & routine diets result in decreases in intake (we can get whatever produce we want any time of the year)

Cultural/Cognitive Factors as to what motivates us to eat

• Culture and the “Ideal” Body → whats seen as ideal or attractive has changed (muscles weren’t attractive back then - low level jobs - but is attractive now)

• Perceptions of the Self/Ideal → theres a difference between what women think men find attractive and what men actually find attractive

biological influences on development (biological level of analysis)

Biological:

• Genes → how do our genes impact who we are? health outcomes? codes for intelligence, personality, etc

• nutrition → in womb, is mother eating right nutrients etc? after birth is child eating well?

• infectious diseases → are they vaccinated? exposed to any?

• environmental factors → pollution, drugs, negligence, abuse?

psychological influences on development (psychological level of analysis)

Psychological ← all impacts how they grow up and develop

• temperament

• personality

• gender

• cognitive ability

Social influences on development (social lvl of analysis)

Social

• family environment

• media

• school environment

• peers (will have greater influence as they get older)

cultural factor on development (cultural level of analysis)

Cultural

• maternity leave (mom) , paternity leave (dad)

Attachment

close, emotional bonds of affection that develop between infants and their caregivers (usually with moms)

• most cultures, moms are the ones that get maternity leave

Separation anxiety

• emotional distress exhibited by the infant when they are separated from people they have formed an attachment to

• will usually start seeing it at 6-8 months → peaks at 14-18 months and declines after

Baby Chimp studies

Why are babies attached to their mothers?

Monkey studies:

• purposely separated infant chimpanzees from their mom

→ if you ask moms “is your baby attached to you because you feed the baby?” they typically say no “its because I respond & love baby”

• chimpanzees were raised by two surrogate moms (one made of wire and other is made of soft cloth + heating device)

  • half was fed by wire and other was fed by cloth

• researchers looked at who chimps ran to when scared

  • if attached because of reinforcement from feeding theyd go to own moms

  • but they all went to warm cloth mothers

Evolutionary theory as to why babies & parents are attached to eachother

John Bowlby was interested in monkey studies → suggest these babies go to softer mother (no conditioning)

believed attachment can be explained by evolutionary theory

• proposed that there must be a biological basis for attachment (its in our genes for parents & babies to be attached to eachother)

• survival of baby → infant smiles, coos, cries

  • when baby smiles/cries/etc is to get parents attention (i’m hungry, feed me, etc) → child’s bonded to caregiver because it’s essential to their survival

• reproductive fitness of parents → parents care for, protect, and raise child to reproductive age so they can pass on their genes

  • parents care about child because they need to make sure that their genes continue on

Darwin’s Evolutionary theory

has 2 important pieces to it:

1. survival

• genes can have mutations (diff versions) ← variability = environment will be better suited for some members of a species compared to others

ex. dark moths VS white moths

• white moths survive because buildings were white (england)

• but after industrial revolution (pollution & fog) dark ones survived more

• natural selection → survival of the fittest

2. Reproductive fitness - passing on genes to successive generations

→ peacocks are bright but they still survive

• need to be able to reproduce and make sure next gen survives

grandma hypothesis → as women get older they have less and less energy to take care of their young, at some point it’s better to stop having children and help take care of it (from elephants ← herds keep grandmas around to help take care of babies)

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation (what did they look at?)

Study where they looked at how babies reacted to being left alone, left w/ stranger, and being reunited with caregiver

Observed four aspects of the child’s behaviour:

1. Amount of exploration (ex. playing with new toys) the child engages in throughout

2. child’s reactions to departure of its caregiver

3. stranger anxiety (when the baby is alone with the stranger)

4. child’s reunion behaviour with its caregiver

found patterns of attachment

Secure attachment

Children with secure attachment style will demonstrate these behaviours:

• separates from mom & explores (while mom is still in room)

• seeks comfort and is easily consoled when threatened or scared (when stranger comes in, baby goes back to mom)

• Does not avoid contact when mom approaches

• When reunited with mom, easily soothed if upset

• prefers mom to stranger

Insecure (anxious-ambivalent) attachment

children with this will show this: → may result from parents who are having a hard time themselves & can’t respond appropriately/consistently when necessary

• little exploration & wary of stranger

• very upset at separation from mom

• not comforted when mom returns or attempts to soothe child

• may show anger towards mother at reunion

Insecure (avoidant) attachment

child shows these:

• avoids contact with mother especially after absence

• doesn’t seek contact from mom

• doesn’t resist contact from mom

• shows no preference for mom or stranger

Insecure (disorganized/disoriented) attachment

child shows this:

• dazed behaviour, confusion, apprehension

• child may show contradictory behaviour patterns (i.e. moving towards mom but looking away)

Patterns of attachment (types)

• secure attachment

• insecure attachment (anxious-ambivalent)

• insecure attachment (avoidant)

• insecure attachment (disorganized/disoriented)

Criticisms of Ainsworth’s strange situation

• Not a consistent indicator of attachment

  • may change over time (could do it again after a few months and show diff style)

  • may change if home environment changes (mom goes back to work, may see changes)

• can be different with different caregivers (secure with one, insecure w other)

• alternative measures of attachment → retrospective accounts (important to measure attachment in different ways) ← maybe ask babies when older “were they there for u?”

Long-term consequences of attachment

• researchers did longitudinal study: followed a group of children over time

• strange situation at 12 & 18 months

• follow-up at 2, 6, 7, 8, 13, 19, 26 years

• studied behaviour at home, in school, at summer camp ( invited kids who did strange situation to summer camp) ← research assistants watched and coded behaviour

what they found:

• kids w/ secure

  • more self confident

  • better social skills

  • more positive emotions

  • more friendships

  • more complex play

• kids w/ insecure

  • isolated from peers

  • passive

  • hyper

  • aggressive

Attachment & Love in Adulthood

kids w/ secure attachment as adults:

• easy to feel close to others

• describe relationship as trusting

• rarely worry about being abandoned

• fewest divorces

kids w/ insecure anxious-ambivalent as adults:

• report more relationships that are volatile & marked with jealousy

• preoccupied with love & worries about rejection

kids w/ avoidant as adults:

• hard to get close to others

• relationship lacks intimacy & trust

Why are there long-term consequences in later life relationships (attachment)?

Attachment processes provide the basis for adult expectations regarding social relationships→ were my caregivers trustworthy and dependable?

• if ur parents are responsive to you when you’re young in that first year, you do tend to continue to be fairly responsive

Attachment & culture

• there are differences in diff cultures/countries

• attachment can be impacted by culture

• japan → more insecure-anxious

• north america → insecure avoidant

Attachment & temperament

• attachment can be impacted by temperament of baby

temperament → a babies characteristic mood, activity level, sensitivity, and emotional reactivity

• how responsive/consistent a parent is also depends on how responsive/consistent a baby is

  • easy VS difficult

  • slow to warm-up to ppl

  • behavioural inhibition

Cognitive Development

How we acquire the ability to learn, think, communicate and remember over time

The Active Learner (Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Theory)

• Piaget believed that children are not passive observers but actively explore the world around them

• believed children’s development is marked by stages of change in thinking followed by periods which their understanding of world stabilizes

• Cognitive development is the result of both interaction with environment and maturation → as brain is changing u need to interact with environment as well

• proposed that cog change is marked by equilibration: maintaining a balance between our experience of the world and our thoughts about it

Assimilation

interpreting new experiences in terms of existing mental structures (schema) without changing those structures

• putting new event into existing mental structures

ex. thinking puppies have four legs, are fuzzy, are tall → sees cat and calls it puppy

Accommodation

forming new or changing existing mental structures (schema) in order to explain new experiences

• changing/making mental structures to put in new event

ex. thinking puppies have four legs, are fuzzy, are tall → sees cat and then:

• adds “barks” and “can’t climb” onto puppy schema

• and makes new cat schema

Schema

an organized cluster of knowledge about a particular object, concept, or event

ex. mammals → milk, warm-blooded, live birth, etc

Stages of Cognitive development (piaget)

1. Sensorimotor stage (0-2y)

2. Preoperational stage (2-7)

3. Concrete operational (7-11y)

4. Formal operational stage (12+)

Sensorimotor stage (0-2) (piaget)

• one of the stages of cognitive development

• motor → getting around, moving

• sensory → using your senses to learn about the world

during stage you’ll see:

• appearance of symbolic thought (saying teddy bear, and image of teddy bear appears in child’s mind)

• object permanence slowly develops → over time, child starts to recognize when it can’t see something, that the thing is still there (moving waterbottle behind desk)

• deferred imitation slowly develops (hand gestures for itsy bitsy spider) → not having it means they can’t remember it (do it) without seeing it happening infront of them

Preoperational stage (2-7) (piaget)

• one of the stages of cognitive development

• their mental imagery improves, but there’s also still a number of shortcomings during this stage

Difficulties with:

• conservation → understanding that the physical properties of volume/mass is conserved (changing shape of playdoh doesn’t change volume of playdoh)

  • tend to centrate → focus on one aspect of that physical property (ex. height → taller = bigger)

• reversibility → if pour liquid from short cup into tall cup, they don’t understand that it could be poured back into short cup again and still be the same

  • ex. break a lego set → “its broken and can’t be fixed now”

• hierarchical classification

and they display:

• Egocentrism → only see things from their perspective (do u have a sister? yes. Does ur sister have a sister? no.)

  • animism → think inanimate objects as real live things

  • a developing theory of mind → other ppl dont see the way they see things from your perspective

Theory of mind

• the ability to reason about what other people might believe, think, or feel

Piaget’s Three Mountain Problem

• doll on one side, child on other

• “what does doll see?” → child doesn’t understand that the doll would have the opposite perspective

Concrete Operational stage (7-11y) (piaget)

• one of the stages of cognitive development

  • de-centration/conservation → understand if you pour liquids back and forth its the same volume

  • understand reversibility

  • decline in egocentrism

  • understand hierarchical

    • ex. before this stage if asked “are there more daisies then buttercups?” they say yes but if there are more daisies than flowers? they say yes

→ kids can now perform operations like multiplication and division

Formal operational stage (12+) (piaget)

• one of the stages of cognitive development

• they become more:

  • abstract

  • systematic

  • logical

  • reflective

• at this stage, development continues but not in nature of the thinking, just in complexity

• you can start asking them about justice & love

Criticisms of Piaget’s theory

1. Underestimation of cognitive development → piaget underestimated how quickly kids developed

• some of the ages he mentions for each stage, it’s actually earlier (research shows)

2. Individual differences in development → not every kid will go through each stage at the same time, some go faster/slower

• mixing → there’s often this continuous blending of stages (before finishing one, you can start other)

3. Environmental influences on timetable

• different cultures may develop slower/faster ← depends on what’s normal for that culture

Kohlberg’s stage theory

theory of moral development

• depending on how children would answer questions like Heinz’ problem, Kohlberg would slot them into different stages

the different stages:

1. Pre-conventional stage

2. Conventional

3. Post-Conventional

in graph → lots of pre-conventional early on but goes down a lot from there

Pre-conventional stage

• one of the stages of kohlberg’s stage theory

• believes right & wrong based on reward/punishment

ex. looking both ways before crossing street or else parents will punish

Conventional stage

• one of the stages of kohlberg’s stage theory

• Social approval → being good citizen or parental approval of being a good child

• Rules necessary for society

ex. looking both ways before crossing street to keep everyone safe

Post-Conventional

• societal rules are fallible, not absolute

• more thoughts about justice & equity

ex. looking both ways before crossing the street, but if its 2am and no one is driving, who cares?

Criticisms of Kohlberg

1. Stage theory issues → you don’t go thru each stage one by one, there’s more blending (can start next one before finishing one)

2. Moderate correlation with moral behaviour → what you should do VS what ppl do ← doesn’t account for other factors (reading about smn else and saying what he should do VS you actually being in that situation)

3. Cultural Bias → other cultures might not have same reasoning

4. Gender Bias → lot of it is based on boys, females tend to be a bit more relationship focused (they may respond differently)

5. Causal direction (moral reasoning → emotions?) → in certain cases we FEEL whats right or wrong before we even think about it (incest iclicker)

Teratogens (+ what organ is most vulnerable)

• an obstacle to fetal development

• environmental (external) factors that can exert a negative impact on prenatal development

  • viruses/illnesses (if mother has HIV/AIDS that can be passed to child)

  • chemicals

  • medicines & drugs (alcohol, etc)

→ dark blue bars is where most sensitive to teratogens

• the brain is most vulnerable to teratogens due to its long period of maturation relative to most other organs

Crack Cocaine studies (teratogens)

• 219 pregnant mothers from same hospital

  • 118 non-exposed & 101 cocaine exposed

  • all from low SES backgrounds

• Cocaine use (IV) verified via:

  • self-report of cocaine use

  • urine test before and after baby delivered

  • babies’ meconium tested

IQ scores of all babies at age 4 were the same (82) → 82 is pretty low, researchers found it may be due to low SES (parents aren’t around much, less brain stimulation)