L08 Cognitive Development

Qualitative development

Abrupt changes in psychology as a person progresses from one stage to the next.

Quantitative development

Gradual changes in psychology as a person develops.

Nature vs Nurture

The debate between genetics and experience in influencing development. Nature and Nurture require each other: Modern perspective.

Maturation

Genetically determined biological processes that enable orderly growth.

Cross-sectional design

Studying development by comparing participants of different age groups at a point in time.

• Study development by comparing participants of different age groups to another at a point in time

• Ex. If you compare motor skills of 10yr olds today vs 20 yr olds today

• Helps us understand which abilities at different points in life span

• More accurate for participants closer in age

• Ex. Language acquisition in babies of 10 months vs 22 months

• Drawback: Cohort effect, effect or difference due to an age group sharing a common set of life experiences

Longitudinal design

Tracking individuals at different time points to observe developmental changes.

• Track individuals at different time points and look for differences across timepoints

• Ex. Take 20 yrs olds today, track same group over next few decades

• Ex. Track 6 month year olds to like 12 months

• Advantage: Allow confidence in people changing over time, answer first question (stages vs continual development)

• Drawback: Requires a lot of time and resources

• Drawback: Attention span of participants, or participants do a pre-mature withdraw (ex. death)

• Drawback: Only examines one generation

Sequential design

Tracking multiple age groups across multiple points in time to understand developmental changes.

• A combo of the two

• Tracking multiple age groups across multiple points of time

• Ex. Compare motor skills 10 yr to 20 yr olds today, then test same people again in 30 yrs 

• Allow different age groups to themselves and others over time

• Advantage: Ensures changes are due to developmental and not cohort effect

• Drawback: Costly, takes a long time

Conclusion: Methods work best when tracking across shorter segments of lifespan. Longer span, worse results.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Challenges in learning, facial structure, behavior, and physical stature caused by exposure to alcohol in the womb.

Teratogens

Environmental agents that interfere with typical development, such as chemicals or nuclear waste. Involves epigenetics.

Object permanence

Awareness that objects continue to exist even when temporarily out of sight. Has to do with frontal lobe, maturing slowest.

Social referencing

Relying on facial expressions of others to determine how to react in a situation.

Separation anxiety

Emerges between 6-8 months, indicating attachment to a caregiver.

Imprinting

Attachment established early in life to the first organism seen.

Ex. Taking care of baby duck would lead to the baby duck staying with you for life.

Attachment styles

Secure attachment, insecure-avoidant attachment, and insecure-ambivalent attachment.

• Secure-attachment: 60% of infants in North-America can be categorized this way

  • Children with a secure attachment relationship use caregiver as a secure base

  • When caregiver leaves, children shows minor distress

• Insecure-attachment: 

  • Child does not use caregiver as a secure base

  • Not reassured after separation between them and caregiver

  • Two kinds:

    • Insecure avoidant: 15% of kids in North America have this

      • Child will act distant from caregiver while caregiver present

      • Sometimes they search for caregiver when caregivers leaves

      • When caregiver returns, child ignores

      • All a mask and a facade, when caregiver leaves, child becomes stressed and heart rate rises

      • Prominent in cultures that emphasize independence (like America)

    • Insecure ambivalent: 10% of kids in North America have this

      • Kids do not explore, no matter, by themselves, stay by their caregiver always

      • When caregiver leaves, kid becomes very upset

      • Upon reunion, they act ambivalent (run to caregiver, then cry to be picked up, then kick and slap to get down)

      • Ambivalent is very bipolar

      • Most prominent in cultures that emphasize interdependence (China, Vietnam, Japan, Korea)

Operation

Ability to mentally manipulate schema.

Ex. Ability to imagine the consequences of an action before you perform an action.

Schema

Units of knowledge that represent our experiences and are used to guide how we interpret new information.

Assimilation

Using existing schema to interpret new experiences.

Accommodation

Updating existing schema to incorporate new experiences.

Piaget's Theory

Theory of cognitive development involving assimilation and accommodation for aligning new knowledge with understanding of the world.

Sensorimotor Stage

Differentiating self from objects and achieving object permanence.

Preoperational Period

Learning language and representing objects with images and words.

Classifies objects by a single feature; for example, groups blocks by color (rather than shape or size)

Do not have these abilities of mentally manipulating schema. Do not have conservation. Cannot understand the mass remaining the same. Lack of understanding comes from lack of prefrontal cortex development. Meaning kids cannot overcome impulse, they may break rules often. Rigid thinkers.

Concrete operational stage

Logical thinking about concrete objects and achieving conservation.

Formal operational stage

Logical thinking about abstract propositions.

Concern for the possible as well as the real.

Language acquisition device

Innate tool in the brain for learning language. Helps us learn our first language by picking up the language around us.

Kohlberg's Stages of Development

Progression of moral reasoning from preconventional to post-conventional stages.

• Preconventional stage

  • Before 9 yrs old

  • Tend to focus on self-interests

  • Avoid punishment and gain reward

• Conventional stage

  • 9-12 yrs old

  • Moral judgements are made based on caring for others and upholding social rules and laws

• Post-conventional stage

  • Where our moral judgements are based on ideals and broad moral principles

Egocentrism

Children in preoperational period. Difficulty perceiving situations from another point of view. Difficulty thinking about object or situation perceived by another person

Theory of mind

Understanding us and other people have minds. Our minds represent the world in different ways. These representations of the world can explain and predict how others will behave.

Frontal Lobe Development

The area that matures the slowest. Has to do with rational planning, decision making, working memory.

Symbolic Representation

The use of words, sounds, gestures, visual images, or objects to represent other things.

Symbolic Reasoning

Involves the cognitive processes associated with using symbolic representations to think, manipulate information, and solve problems. It goes beyond the mere association of symbols with their meanings.

Conservation

The idea that the physical properties of an object, such as mass, volume, and number, remain the same despite changes in the object’s shape or form.

Conservation Task

Two glasses of different heights. Same amount of liquid is poured into each. Children at preoperational stage cannot understand conservation of the liquid.

Role of Impulse Control and Prefrontal Cortex

Do not have these abilities of mentally manipulating schema. Do not have conservation. Cannot understand the mass remaining the same. Lack of understanding comes from lack of prefrontal cortex development. Meaning kids cannot overcome impulse, they may break rules often. Rigid thinkers.

Two main questions that have to do with developmental psychology.

• What kind of development happens in stages. What happens continuously?

• What are the effects of nature and nurture on development?