6: Developmental and Sociocultural Approaches to Cognitive Change; 7 - Information Processing Approach to Cognitive Change Flashcards
Vygoskly’s Sociocultural Perspective: Guided participation
more skilled person knows the needs of the child and guides them to accomplish more things than they could do alone
children learn from more skilled partners by observing them and asking questions → learn how to approach systems
Vygoskly’s Sociocultural Perspective: Zone of Proximal Development. How does it shift?
the gap between a child’s competence level (what they can do alone) and what they can do with assistance. Over time, the child internalizes the scaffolding and skills become within their range of competence → the zone of proximal development shifts
example: parents reading to their children and pointing at the content and asking questions → helps child understand challenging content beyond their expertise
scaffolding
when more competent person provides help that allows to bridge the gap between the child’s competence level and the needed task
what is the information processing system
3 mental stores: sensory, working, and long-term memory
information moves through these stores to manipulate and store information
information processing system: sensory memory
holds incoming sensory information in its original form
information fades from sensory memory quickly if it is not processed.
the first step of getting information in the mind
much of the information is discarded, but if we direct our attention to the information it will be passed to working memory
information processing system: working memory
short-term memory, holds and processes information that is being “worked on” in some way, like being manipulated, encoded, or retrieved
all thoughts and conscious mental activity occur through working memory
information processing system: long-term memory
unlimited store that holds information indefinitely
information is not manipulated or processed in long-term memory - stored until its retrieved to manipulate in the working memory
information processing in adolescence: decision making
cognitive advances allow adolescents to engage in more sophisticated thinking to participate in meaningful decision-making
adolescents are capable of making rational decisions that are in line with their goals
information processing in adolescence: risk taking
adolescents are likely to place more importance on the potential benefits of decisions than their risks
in presence of rewards, they show heightened activity in the brain that support reward processing, but less activity responsible for inhibitory control compared to adults
information processing in adolescence: brain development as evidence to risk taking
ability to make decisions lags (prefrontal cortex) behind their development of the limbic system, which is responsible for emotional arousal
the difference means that until the maturation of the prefrontal cortex catches up to the limbic, adolescents feel emotionally charged before they can self-regulate themselves and decision-making abilities
