4 - 3.4 Cognitive Development Across the Lifespan- AP Psychology

Unit 3: Development & Learning

  • Focus on cognitive development across the lifespan.

Jean Piaget

Stages of Cognitive Development

  • Explores Continuous vs. Discontinuous development.

Forming & Modifying Schemas

  • Schemas: frameworks for understanding the world.

  • Assimilation: Integrating new experiences into existing schemas.

  • Accommodation: Changing schemas to incorporate new experiences.

  • Intelligence: Defined as the ability to adapt to the environment through equilibration.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor (Infancy through Toddlerhood)

  • Key Concept: Object permanence.

  • Understanding the world through actions rather than words.

2. Preoperational (Toddlerhood to Early Childhood)

  • Characteristics: Use of mental symbols and pretend play.

  • Key Concepts: Animism, egocentrism, inability to grasp conservation and reversibility.

3. Concrete Operational (Early through Late Childhood)

  • Characteristics: Logical thought and understanding of conservation and reversibility.

  • Can solve logical problems but only in concrete situations.

4. Formal Operational (Late Childhood through Adulthood)

  • Characteristics: Abstract thinking and hypothetical reasoning.

Theory of Mind

  • Development of understanding others' perspectives and beliefs (Sally-Anne task).

Lev Vygotsky

  • Emphasizes sociocultural context in learning.

  • Children are social learners, learning through interaction and scaffolding.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

  • Difference between what children can do independently and what they can do with help.

Adulthood

Cognitive Capabilities

  • Crystallized Intelligence: Knowledge gained through experience.

  • Fluid Intelligence: Ability to solve new problems.

Dementia

  • Characterized by deterioration in memory and cognitive functions affecting daily living.

  • Causes include aging, strokes, excessive alcohol use, and diseases like Alzheimer's.