PSY 301 Final

Perception

The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information.

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating. 

what are the three fundamental processes of cognition

1.storing information 2. Categorizing stored information 3.Creating mental images of objects-re-presentations

what is a mental operation, according to Piaget

ability to perform logical reasoning and problem-solving using mental representations of concrete objects and events

Scheme

Sucking-looking-grasping-rooting

6 stages of sensorimotor intelligence

1: Reflex Stage, Stages 2: primary circular reactions. Stage 3-Secondary Circular Reactions, Stage 4-Coordination of Secondary Schemes, Stages 5 Tertiary Circular Reactions Stages 6-Final Stage

what is the object concept/object permanence

knowing that objects exist as separate entities, independent of our actions and perception

Preoperational thought

Time when child overcomes limitations in their thinking that stand in the way of true mental operations (adult like reasoning)

What age range is associated with preoperational thought

Preschool years (2-6 years)

Centration

A property that characterizes Preoperational thought.Inability to focus attention on more than one aspect of an object or event at a time

Conservation

realization that certain qualities of objects are conserved across changes in appearance

Egocentrism

Tendency to center on oneself, consider the world entirely from own point of view

What is Preoperational Thought characterized by

1.Lack of conversation 2.egocentrism

2 broad phases of preoperational period

1) 2-4 years-consistently preoperational 2)5-6  years -giving way to true operations

What period of cognitive development is associated with middle childhood:

Operational

Know what a concrete operation is –why is it “concrete

Because mental actions are directed toward concrete objects

What can kids do in the concrete operational period that they couldn’t do before:

Physical world is now more predictable, Thinking is more organized and flexible

What is two-sided thinking

Can think about objects from more than one perspective, Can hold two things in mind simultaneously 

What do concrete operational kids lack in their thinking

formal thinking

Understand the Sociocultural approach to cognitive development and who is credited with developing it:

Lev Vygotsky, cognitive development is embedded within a culture

Know the zone of proximal development

range of cognitive function a child is capable of

Scaffolding

 aid that allow child to succeed at more complex problems

What does co-construction refer to:

Both adults and children jointly determine the degree to which children can function Independently.

Know the two levels Vygotsky said cognitive functioning occurs on:

bottom: lowest level of performance (child’s ability independently). top: highest level of performance (what a child is capable of with help from an adult expert).

Know the Information Processing Theory, as discussed in class

1950’s and 60’s saw human thinking in terms of a computer metaphor.

What does the Information Processing Theory take for its metaphor of the mind:

hardware

Know the structure of the information processing system

Sensory Store (Sensory Memory), Short Term Store (Short Term Memory) Long Term Store (Long Term Memory)

Sensory Store

 Initial registration-briefly retains relatively large amounts of information

What is Short-Term Store (AKA working memory)

info is passed through the sensory store to the short term store -capacity is smaller but last longer (seconds) -holds info just long enough to work with it

What mental process moves information from the Short-Term Store to the Long-Term Store

encoding

What is the Long-Term Store? How much info can be held in it? For how long can information be held in it

If we apply some cognitive operation to the information in short  term store, the info is transferred to long term Store

What is software of the mind refer to

attention, rehearsal, encoding, elaborating, think about, retrieval

Automatic processes

requires little to no mental resources

Effortful Processes:

require the use of mental resources

How does the information processing theory explain cognitive development

quantitative changes in either the system’s

 two components to language discussed in class:

 1.Comprehension(understanding words) 2.Production(producing words).

know how language comprehension differs from language production in infancy:

Word acquisition 2x as fast for comprehension as for production

sequence of sound production

1 CRIES,3 COOING, 4. BABBLING, 5.JARGONING, 6.WORDS

what does “universality of babbling features” refer to?

infants across all cultures and languages producing similar sounds during the babbling stage of language

When is a sound a word

When a spoken sound has situational consistency in use

holophrase

Through 1st months of word production, infants usually select single word to convey whole event, A single word that expresses meaning of entire phrase

overextension

Using a word to refer not only to standard referents but to other referents as well

Underextensions

ARE MORE COMMON Limiting use of word to a subset of its standard referents

language explosion

vocal spurt

What is Telegraphic Speech

Simple two word (noun-verb) sentences that adhere to the grammatical standards of given language.

What is Mean Length Utterance

Used by researchers to quantify language development How many word are they using in single sentence?

What is Fast Mapping

The process used by preschoolers to quickly acquire new words into their vocabulary by mentally charting new words into categories.

What is Grammar

Structures, techniques, and rules that are used to communicate meaning

Know Berko’s 1958 “Wug” Experiment. What does it demonstrate

Showed preschoolers correctly apply grammatical rules in unfamiliar/novel situations.

When is it easiest for a child to become bilingual

early childhood

Know what research shows’ regarding bilingualism and whether it hinders early language development

1-2 year olds learning 2 languages simultaneously progress somewhat slowly 3-4 years proficient in both languages

What is Overregularization

when children apply learned grammatical rules broadly, sometimes leading to incorrect forms of irregular words

Understand the historical and current understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of being raised bilingual

bilingual children are usually less fluent in each language than monolingual children are in one BUT… Advantage: when combine number of words known in each language, surpass monolingual children.