Week 13 - Cognitive Development

Category

set of objects that can be treated as equivalent in some way, share many properties

Concepts

mental representations we form of categories

categories = well-defined

can give definition that specify what is in/out of category

parts of definition (2)

1. Necessary features for category membership
2. Features = jointly sufficient for membership

Borderline Items

items not clearly in or out of a category

Experiments showing borderline membership

ask subjects rate whether number of items are in different categories → found a continuum, no obvious break in membership judgements

Typicality

some items are ‘better’ members than others, predict how ppl interact with categories

Influences of typicality on cognition

* more often judged as category members
* faster speed of categorization
* learned before atypical ones
* easier learn category if provide typical examples
* understand references more easily
* tend say typical items before atypical ones

Family Resemblance Theory

item more likely to be typical if have features frequent in category and not have features in other categories

Category Hierarchies

concrete categories nested inside larger, abstract categories

basic level of categorization

neutral, preferred category for object, at right level of specificity.

not universal

what level of labelling is preferred

basic level of categorization

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Why prefer basic level categorization

more differentiated - category members = similar to each other but different from members of other categories

superordinate categories

members are NOT very similar to one another

subordinate categories

members are very similar to other categories

Theories of Concept Representation (2)

1. Prototype Theory
2. Exemplar Theory

Prototype Theory

have summary representation of category represented by set of weighted features, learn general description that apply to category as whole → classify item by see how well match weighted list of features

typical category members in prototype theory

have more highly weighted features that match well with conceptual representation

Exemplar Theory

concept of category = remembered examples of category, when see object → compare to exemplars in memory → compare similarity score → choose category with highest score

Learning about new concepts

faster at learning concepts that make sense, connect to previous knowledge

Knowledge approach to concepts

concepts tell us about real things in the world, knowledge of world is used in learning & thinking about concepts

Psychological Essentialism

tend believe that some categories have underlying property only in that category → causes its other features, most don’t have ‘essence’ but firmly held belief

Tenets of Psychological essentialism (3)

1. objects are either in/out of category (no inbetween)
2. resistance to change of category memberships/ properties connected to essence
3. for living things, essence passed on to children

Cognitive Development

development of thinking across the lifespan

Theories of cognitive development (3)

1. Stage Theory (piaget)
2. sociocultural theories
3. Information processing theories

Stage Theory

focus on whether children progress through qualitatively different stages of development

Piaget’s Discrete stages

leaps and bound, changes in type (not amount) of ability, must master 1 stage before moving on , develop schemata, physical environment = important

Schemata

mental frameworks/bodies of knowledge, organize & synthesize info abt person, place, thing

Assimilation

process new info about world into existing schemata

Accommodation

process of altering existing schemata bc of new info

equilibrium

process of reorganizing schemata

Sociocultural Theories

emphasize how other people & culture’s attitudes, values, beliefs of surrounding culture influence child’s development

Information processing Theories

examine mental processes that produce thinking at any one time & transition processes that lead to growth in that thinking

Example of Nature & nurture working together to shape development

Visual Development - depth perception rely on seeing patterned light & having normal brain activity in response during infancy, if no receive patterned light then depth perception = altered even after surgery

How do children’s genes affect nature of development?

more attractive, well-tempered babies = treated better → influence cognitive development

How do children shape own cognitive development?

choose own environment, choose attend more to some things and less to others

Quantitative Changes

gradual, incremental change

Qualitative Changes

large, fundamental change

are changes in children’s thinking qualitative or quantitative?

BOTH

Jean Piaget’s 4 discrete stages of children’s development

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth-2)
2. Preoperational Reasoning Stage (2-6/7)
3. Concrete Operational Reasoning Stage (6/7-1/12)
4. Formation Operational Reasoning Stage (11/12 - rest of life)Se

Sensorimotor stage

* thinking realized through perceptions of world & physical interaction with the world
* limited mental representations
* no object permanence

Substages of Sensorimotor (6)

1. Reflexes
2. Primary Circular Rxns - intentionally repeat actions to trigger response
3. Secondary Circular Rxns
4. Coordination of Rns - imitate others’ behavior, understand objects
5. Tertiary Circular Rxns - trial & error experimentation
6. Early Representational Thought - understand world thru mental operations

Preoperational Reasoning Stage

* show symbolic representation capabilities (drawing, language)
* focus on single dimension when require multiple dimensions → conservation problems

Skills during preperational stage

* operations - reversible mental processes
* symbolic representations - characteristics to inanimate objects
* egocentrism - see world from their perspective only, pass theory of mind tests by age 4
* FAIL conservation test - same properties even if change shape/arrangement

Concrete Operational Reasoning Stage

* can focus on multiple dimensions
* think logically in most situations
* can’t think in systematic scientific ways

Formation Operational Reasoning Stage

* reasoning power of mature adults
* doesn’t occur w/out exposure to formal education in scientific reasoning

Object permanence

objects don’t disappear when can’t see

A-not-B Error

move ball to new box, baby still look old box

Challenges to Piaget

* cognitive development is more continuous
* children show earlier knowledge of object permanence if shorter wait time
* developmental changes timing is influenced by children’s specific experiences

phonemic awareness

awareness of how components sound within word → crucial skill in learning how to read

why are there diff levels of math knowledge btwn children of diff $$ backgrounds?

higher income families engage in more numerical activities (chutes & ladders) → spatial, kinesthetic, verbal, time-based cues

Vgotsky’s Socio-cultural Theory

physical AND social environment = important to development, driven by language

Intersubjectivity

Join attention & Social Referencing

Autism

developmental condition that emerge in first 3 years & persist through life

Joint Attention

sharing attention at something with others

Social Referencing

take cues from others when in unfamiliar situations

Zone of proximal development

child try skills beyond what can do independently with guidance from adults

scaffolding

teaching child within zone of proximal development

Symptoms of Autism (2 categories)

1) presence of difficulties in social interactions & communication: eye contact, navigating give & take of group convo, difficulties with social info processing in visual & auditory sensory modalities

2) repetitive/restricted cognitions, behaviours

The Social Brain

set of interconnected neuroanatomical structures → process social info, enable recognize & evaluate mental states of others

Parts of the social brain (4)

Amygdala, orbital frontal cortex, fusiform gyrus, posterior superior temporal sulcus region

Amygdala

recognize emotional states of others, experiences & regulate own emotions

orbital frontal cortex

support ‘reward’ feeling from being around other people

fusiform gyrus

detects faces & support face recognition

posterior superior temporal sulcus region

recognize biological motion, help interpret & predict actions & intentions of others

social perception

initial stages in processing of info → accurate analysis of dispositions & intentions of others

ways to study activity in brain across lifestyle (2)

fMRI, ERP

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

magnets measure levels of oxygen in brain, detect brain regions with increase in blood flow when view/listen social stimuli, good spatial resolution, WHERE brain activity occurs

Event-related potentials (ERP)

direct measurements of firing of group of neurons in cortex → sensors on scalp while view/listen stimuli, good temporal resolution, WHEN brain activity occurs

most thoroughly investigated areas of the social brain in ASD (2)

superior temporal sulcus, fusiform gyrus

superior temporal sulcus

perception & interpretation of biological motion, orient young to sources of sustenance, support, learning

superior temporal sulcus in ppl with autism

decreased sensitivity to biological motion, decreased activity during biological motion perception

superior temporal sulcus in ppl with risk but no autism

increased activity → compensatory mechanism

fusiform gyrus

face perception, preferential attention to faces & able to recognize faces in first few days life

fusiform gyrus in ppl with autism

decreased attention to human faces, lower activity when viewing faces → slowed processing

what is important in treatment of ASD?

diagnose & treat early bc is developmental problem

why is it hard to diagnose ASD?

not many reliable predictors in 1st year of life, behaviors of infants = highly variable & unreliable, need to measure brain activity