Cognitive development

Cognition

Refers to higher mental processes including thinking, attention, memory, decision-making, language, creativity, and problem-solving.

Jean Piaget

Theorized stages of cognitive development through observing his baby

Jean Piaget

Theorized stages of cognitive development and popularized the concept of schema.

Schema

Mental representations of ideas, objects, and stimuli that help form our cognition.

Two formation of schema

adaptation and equilibration

Adaptation

The process of building mental representations through assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation

the process of fitting new information into existing mental frameworks

Accommodation

the process of changing existing information to fit a new one

Accommodation

Successful adaptation

Equilibration

The process whereby a person has adjusted their schema to fit new understanding

Jean Piaget’s Stages of cognitive development

1. Sensorimotor Stage
2. Preoperational Stage
3. Concrete Operational Stage
4. Formal Operational Stage

Sensorimotor Stage

Infants learn their relationship with the world; they can now sense it, and they can move it

Sensorimotor Stage

infants can discover that they can manipulate (move) objects in their environment

Sensorimotor Stage

infants still cannot form mental representations of the objects around them

about what month/age does Object permanence develops?

4-7 months of age

Object permanence

The understanding that objects exist even when they are not in sight.

Preoperational Stage

The stage of cognitive development from 2-6 years where children can form mental representations

Preoperational Stage

Language can now be communicated via words

Preoperational Stage

Play is central to the child’s activity during this stage

Make-believe plays

children take the role of others in their behavior

Logical thinking

starting to develop (not that developed)

Magical thinking

the belief that one’s ideas or beliefs, no matter how irrational, can influence real phenomena

Egocentrism

the difficulty seeing the viewpoint of others

Centration

the capacity to only focus on one salient aspect of information at a time

Animism

they believe that certain things can behave like human beings

Concrete Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development from 7-11 years where children can manipulate information presented to them

Conservation

The ability of a child to recognize that features of a stimulus remain the same despite changing a feature of that stimulus

Seriation

The ability to arrange objects in an ordered sequence

Formal Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development from adolescence to adulthood where individuals can think abstractly and form hypotheses.

Hypothetico-deductive reasoning

The ability of a person to form theories (what-ifs) to questions posed to them

Hypothetico-deductive reasoning

Adults can now experiment with certain ideas and thoughts

Hypothetico-deductive reasoning

They can also evaluate and critique the validity of one’s thoughts. Can now think about thinking (metacognition)

metacognition

think about thinking
-       Reflective thinking (other term)

too much metacognition produces

anxiety

Lev Vygotsky

Emphasized the role of culture in shaping mental capacities

Zone of proximal development

The difference between what a child can do on his own and what can be accomplished with assistance

Scaffolding

The process of cognitive development is best developed through this

Scaffolding

Assisting or guiding in learning behaviors that we cannot do on our own

B.F. Skinner

Believes that language develops when children imitate the vocabulary of their parents
- We learn language through reinforcement and punishment

Noam Chomsky

believed that learning language is an innate skill.

Language Acquisition Device

Chomsky calls our innate ability to learn language as this

Imaginary audience

The tendency of adolescents to think others are watching their lives.

Personal Fable

The tendency of adolescents to think their lives and stories are special and unique.

Crystallized intelligence

Previously learned knowledge in school and facts that increase across the lifespan.

Fluid intelligence

The ability to solve novel problems, think abstractly, and generate ideas that peaks in early adulthood and gradually declines.

Wisdom

The capacity to have insight and proper judgment on practical matters about life and its problems.

Creativity

The capacity to produce novel works, thoughts, or objects and is central to problem-solving.

Algorithm

A step-by-step problem-solving strategy that guarantees a solution to a problem.

Heuristic

A rule-of-thumb method of generating solutions to testing problems used in real-life situations.

Mental set

a tendency to solve problems and respond to it in a given way; we think inside the box

Functional fixedness

individual cannot find new use for an object

Divergent thinking

thinking of unique and innovative solutions to problems; More related to creativity

Convergent thinking

requires the use of one’s existing knowledge and trimming down the options to arrive at the best possible solution

Intelligence

The capacity to learn from experience and adapt to the environment.

David Wechsler

“Intelligence is the global capacity of a person to act purposefully, to think rationally, and to deal effectively with his environment”

Robert Stenberg

“Intelligence is the mental activity directed toward purposive adaptation, selection, and shaping of real-world environments relevant to one’s life”

James Flynn

“The ability to think abstractly, and to learn readily from experience”

Charles Spearman

Proposed the two-factor theory of intelligence
g - overall intellectual capacities
s - domain-specific intelligence

two-factor theory of intelligence

intelligence can be presented by a score and became the basis of IQ test

L.L Thurstone

Believed intelligence is made up of separate abilities and identified seven primary mental abilities.

seven primary mental abilities according tp L.L Thurstone

verbal comprehension, word fluency, number calculation, spatial reasoning, associative memory, perceptual speed, and general reasoning

Raymond Cattel

Introduced the concepts of crystallized and fluid intelligence.

Robert Stenberg

Proposed the triarchic theory of intelligence with analytical, creative, and practical intelligence.

Robert Stenberg’s Triarchic theory of intelligence

1. Analytical/componential intelligence

2. Creative/experiential intelligence

3. Practical/contextual intelligence

Analytical/componential intelligence

People think critically and usually excel in academic tasks/ book smart

Creative/experiential intelligence

Ability to synthesize information and provide novel insights and new ideas; They are the inventors and creative minds

Practical/contextual intelligence

Street smart, and are able to solve real life problems with solutions that take into account the demands of the environment

Psychological Test

An objective, standardized measure of behavior.

Reliability

The consistency of a test in measuring what it is supposed to measure.

Validity

The ability of a test to accurately measure what it is supposed to measure.

Alfred Binet

Developed the first standardized IQ test (1905), the Binet-Simon Scale.

Binet-Simon Scale

developed together with Theodore Simon, contained 56 items and it is used to separate normal children from those needing special assistance

Lewis Terman

Popularized IQ tests and revised Binet's scale in 1916 to create the Stanford-Binet Test.

Stanford-Binet Test.

The most famous IQ tests in the history of psychology and It measures g, represented by IQ

David Wechsler

Provides one of the most comprehensive definitions of intelligence

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He developed the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale

one of the most widely used and one of the most comprehensive IQ tests today

Giftedness

A condition in which an individual typically demonstrates high achievement and aptitude in specific areas of functioning.

Savant syndrome

A condition where a person has exceptional abilities in one area despite overall intellectual decline.

Splinter Skills

obsessive preoccupation with flags, numbers, trivia, maps, historical figures, etc

Intellectual disability

A condition marked by deficits in intellectual functioning and impairments in adaptive functioning.

Intellectual disability characteristics

1. Deficits in intellectual functioning

2. Impairments in adaptive functioning

Howard Gardner

Proposed the theory of multiple intelligences, suggesting that individuals have different strengths and weaknesses in various forms of intelligence.