Ch 9 - Cogn. Info-processing

Multistore model

A model of information processing that compares the mind to a computer, with information flowing through three memory stores: the sensory store, short-term store (STS), and long-term store (LTS).

Sensory store (sensory register)

The memory store that briefly registers sensory information from the environment before it is lost or transferred for further processing.

Short-term store (STS) / working memory

A limited-capacity memory store that temporarily holds and works with information while a person thinks, learns, or completes a task.

Long-term store (LTS)

The memory store that holds information for long periods, potentially throughout a person's life.

Executive function

The mental processes used to plan, monitor, and control thinking and behaviour. In children, executive function helps regulate attention, ignore distractions, and switch flexibly between strategies.

Attention

The process of focusing mental resources on particular information while processing the environment or completing a task.

Inhibitory control

The ability to suppress an automatic response or ignore irrelevant information so that attention and behaviour remain focused on a goal.

Set-shifting

The ability to flexibly switch attention, rules, or strategies when a task or situation changes.

Frontal lobe

The area of the brain involved in planning, decision-making, and controlling behaviour, including important aspects of executive function.

Memory span

The amount of information a person can hold in short-term memory at one time, often measured by asking them to repeat a sequence of items.

Span of apprehension

The amount of information a person can take in during a brief presentation. It is used to assess the capacity of short-term information processing.

Domain specificity

The idea that cognitive abilities or knowledge can be specialized for particular areas or domains, rather than applying equally across all types of information.

Strategic memory

The deliberate use of strategies to improve memory, such as rehearsing information or organizing it into meaningful categories.

• processes involved as one consciously attempts to retain or retrieve information

Mnemonics (memory strategies)

Techniques used to improve remembering and retrieval of information, such as rehearsal, semantic organization, and elaboration.

Strategies

Goal-directed operations used to improve performance on a task, such as using a particular method to remember information or solve a problem.

Rehearsal

A memory strategy involving the repetition of information to help maintain it in short-term memory and improve later recall.

Semantic organization

A memory strategy that groups information according to meaning or category to make it easier to remember. For example, grouping apples, bananas, and oranges as fruits.

Elaboration

A memory strategy that connects new information to existing knowledge or adds meaningful details, making the information easier to remember.

• strategy for remembering that involves adding something to (or creating meaningful links between) the bits of information we are trying to retain.

Production deficiency

When children know or can use a memory strategy but do not produce it spontaneously. They may use it successfully when an adult tells them to.

Utilization deficiency

When children use a strategy but gain little or no improvement in performance from using it. They may not yet know how to apply the strategy effectively.

Transfer utilization deficiency

When a strategy that helps with one task does not provide the same benefit when transferred to another task. A child may know a strategy but struggle to apply it effectively in a different situation.

• when the mental effort needed to execute a strategy leaves no remaining cognitive resources to transfer the strategy to a new task

Adaptive strategy choice model

Siegler’s model proposing that children use multiple strategies and select among them depending on the task and situation. Strategy choice is influenced by factors such as effectiveness, cognitive effort, and children's understanding of their own thinking.

Implicit cognition

Thinking or processing information without conscious awareness of the process.

Explicit cognition

Thinking or processing information with conscious awareness of the process.

Metacognition

Knowledge and awareness of one's own thinking processes. It develops during childhood as children become better at understanding how they think and learn.

Attention span

The length of time a person can maintain attention on an activity or stimulus. Children's attention spans generally increase with age, partly alongside brain development.

Reticular formation

A network of structures in the brainstem involved in regulating arousal and alertness, helping a person remain awake and responsive to the environment.

Selective attention

The ability to focus on relevant information while ignoring irrelevant stimuli or distractions. Children generally become better at selecting task-relevant information as they develop.

Inhibition

The ability to suppress an inappropriate response or resist distraction in order to focus on relevant information or follow a goal.

Fuzzy-trace theory

A theory proposing that people encode and remember information in two forms: its general meaning (gist) and its precise details (verbatim information). The two forms can influence memory and reasoning differently.

Gist

The general meaning or main idea of information, without necessarily retaining its exact wording or details.

Script

A mental representation of the typical sequence of actions in a familiar event or routine. For example, a restaurant script may include being seated, ordering food, eating, and paying.

Event memory

Memory for events and experiences, influenced by personal, social, and cultural circumstances.

Autobiographical memory

Memory for events and experiences from one's own life. It develops rapidly during the preschool years, supported by parents who discuss past experiences and help children build detailed personal narratives.

memory for important experiences or events that have happened to the individual.

Infantile amnesia

The inability of older children and adults to remember most experiences from the first few years of life.

Source monitoring

The process of identifying where a memory or piece of information came from, such as whether it was personally experienced, heard from someone else, or imagined.

• determining whether the source of one’s memories was internal (experienced) or external (imagined).

Retrieval

The process of accessing and bringing stored information back into awareness.

Free recall

Remembering information without being given specific clues or prompts. For example, listing everything remembered from a story without receiving hints.

• recollection that is not prompted by specific cues or prompts

Cued recall

Remembering information with the help of clues or prompts. For example, being asked where a story took place to help remember its details.

Suggestibility

The tendency for memory to be influenced or altered by suggestions or misleading information. Young children are generally more susceptible to suggestion than older children and may develop false memories after repeated suggestions.

Reasoning

A type of problem solving that involves making an inference from available information or knowledge.

Analogical reasoning

The ability to use knowledge about one set of elements or relationships to infer something about a different set. For example, understanding how a familiar tool works and applying the same principle to an unfamiliar tool.

Relational similarity

The similarity between relationships or structures in different situations, rather than simply the similarity between individual objects. Recognizing relational similarity improves as children's working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility develop.

Cardinality

The principle that the last number counted represents the total number of items in a set. For example, counting five blocks means there are five blocks in total.

Connectionism

An approach to cognitive development that uses computational models to simulate how the brain processes information and learns. These models contain networks of processing units, roughly comparable to neurons, connected in ways similar to synapses