Liam PS Week 3

Cognition and Decision Making

Sensorimotor Stage (Piaget) (3)

1. Birth-age 2

2. Infants experience the world through their senses and movements.

3. Develop object permanence (understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen).

Preoperational Stage (Piaget) (3)

1. Age 2-7

2. Children learn that objects and ideas can be represented through symbols such as words and images.

3. Thinking is still largely intuitive and lacks logical reasoning.

Concrete Operational Stage (Piaget) (3)

1. Age 7-11

2. Children begin to think logically about concrete events.

3. Develop an understanding of conservation (the idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance).

Formal Operational Stage (Piaget) (3)

1. Age 12+

2. Develop the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically.

3. Capable of advanced reasoning, problem-solving, and moral reasoning.

Heuristic (2)

1. Mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" used to make decisions more efficiently.

2. Usually helpful, but can sometimes lead to errors in judgment.

Representativeness Heuristic (2)

1. The tendency to judge the likelihood of an event based on how closely it matches our mental image or stereotype of that event.

2. Example: Thinking you're more likely to die from a shark attack than a vending machine falling on you because shark attacks fit a more memorable image.

Availability Heuristic (3)

1. The tendency to make judgments based on how easily examples come to mind.

2. Events that are easier to remember are often perceived as more common than they actually are.

3. Example: Believing shark attacks are very common because they receive a lot of media attention.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to seek out information that supports existing beliefs while ignoring or discounting contradictory evidence.

Fixation

The inability to view a problem from a new or different perspective.

Mental Set

The tendency to use solutions that worked in the past, even when they are not appropriate for the current situation.

Task Practice (Resource Model of Attention)

Practice reduces a task's resource demands, making multitasking easier.

Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory

Says working memory has 4 components: Phonological Loop, Visuospatial Sketchpad, Episodic Buffer, and Central Executive

Episodic Buffer (Baddeley’s Model of Working Memory) (2)

1. Acts as a temporary storage system.

2. Allows information in working memory to interact with information stored in long-term memory.

Schema (Piaget) (2)

1. A mental framework about how the world works.

2. Schemas shape our experiences and are continuously shaped by new experiences.

Accommodation (Piaget) (2)

1. Modifying an existing schema to account for a new experience.

2. Occurs when new information does not fit into existing schemas.