ch. 2 vocab - psy 234

autobiographical memory

the recall of personal meaningful events

• early memories stabilize sometime during early adolescence

behavioral decision theory

an approach to understanding adolescent risk taking, in which behaviors are seen as the outcome of systematic decision-making processes

• identifying alternative choices

• identifying possible consequences of each choice

• evaluating costs and benefits of each consequence

• assessing likelihood of each consequence

• combining all this information to make a decision

cognitive-developmental view

a perspective based on the work of Piaget that takes a qualitative stage-theory approach

• includes four stages

• sensorimotor period

• preoperational period

• concrete operations

• formal operations

concrete operations

the third stage of cognitive development, spanning the period roughly between age 6 and early adolescence -children learn to use mental operations but are limited to applying them to concrete, observational situations rather than hypothetical situations

divided attention

the process of paying attention to two or more different things at the same time

executive function

conscious control of thoughts, emotions, and actions to accomplish goals or solve problems

formal operations

the fourth stage of cognitive development, spanning the period from early adolescence through adulthood -abstract, logical thinking

functional connectivity

the extent to which the neural activity in separate brain areas is correlated with each other

imaginary audience

the belief, often brought on by the heightened self-consciousness of early adolescence, that everyone is watching and evaluating one's behavior

information processing perspective

a perspective on cognition that derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of specific components of the thinking process

limbic system

an area of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotional experience, social information, and reward and punishment

long-term memory

the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences

metacognition

the process of thinking about thinking itself -monitoring one's own cognitive activity during thinking -being able to assess how well one is learning new material -increased introspection: thinking about own emotions -increased self-consciousness: thinking about how others thing about us

myelination

the process through which the brain circuits are insulated with myelin, which improves the efficiency of information processing -continues well into adulthood

neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons

personal fable

adolescents' belief that they are unique and therefore not subject to the rules that govern other people's behavior -can cause the dangerous belief that nothing bad can happen to them because they are special

plasticity

the capacity of the brain to change in response to experience

• enable us to learn and strengthen our abilities

• bigger impact of drug use/ environmental toxins/ trauma

positive risk-taking

risk taking that promotes healthy psychological development

prefrontal cortex

the region of the brain most important for sophisticated thinking abilities such as planning, thinking ahead, weighing risks and rewards, and controlling impulses

preoperational period

the second stage of cognitive development, spanning roughly ages 2-5

• child becomes capable of representing the world symbolically (language, play) but still limited in ability to use mental operations

reminiscence bump

the fact that experiences from adolescence are generally recalled more than experiences from other stages of life

• possibly reflecting better encoding or more emotion

response inhibition

the suppression of a behavior that is inappropriate or no longer required

selective attention

the process by which we focus on one thing while tuning out another

sensation seeking

the pursuit of experiences that are novel or exciting

sensorimotor period

the first stage of cognitive development, spanning the period between birth and age 2

• learning how to coordinate the activities of the senses with motor activities

social cognition

the aspect of cognition that concerns thinking about other people, about interpersonal relations, and about social institutions

social conventions

the norms that govern everyday behavior in social situations

• conventions begin to be seen as arbitrary

• willingness to question their parents' rules/ teachers' authority

synapse

the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron

synaptic pruning

the process through which unnecessary connections between neurons are eliminated, improving the efficiency of information processing

theory of mind

the ability to understand that other people have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be difference from one's own

• leads to improvement in communication

• may also lead to rebellion or lying

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory