Cognition Flashcards
Cognition
how our brains processes and reacts to information
The information processing model:
4 key components
- Thinking requires sensation, encoding and storage of stimuli
- Stimuli must be analyzed by the brain (rather than to be responded to automatically) to be useful in decision - making
- Decisions made in one situation can be extrapolated and adjusted to help solve new problems (also called situational modification)
- Problem solving is dependent not only on the person’s cognitive level, but also on the context and complexity of the problem
Cognitive Development
The development of one’s ability to think and solve problems across the lifespan.
Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
list the 4 stages
- Sensorimotor
- Preoperational
- Concrete Operational
- Formal Operational
Piagets Stages of Cognitive
SENSORIMOTOR
Starts at birth; Ends around 2 yrs of age
In this stage: A child learns to manipulate his or her environment in order to meet physical needs.
Has 2 different circular reactions:
- Primary circular reaction
- Secondary circular reaction
Key milestone: object permanence: the understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view (peak a boo) – entertaining to babies because they lack object permanence
Piagets Stages of Cognitive
PREOPERATIONAL
Lasts from 2 - 7 years old
characterized by:
symbolic thinking
egocentrism
contration
Piagets Stages of Cognitive
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL
Lasts from 7 - 11 years old
children understand conservation and consider the perspectives of others. Have not been able to develop the ability to think abstractly.
The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e. rules) but can only apply logic to physical objects.
Their thinking is more organized and rational.
They can solve problems in a logical fashion, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically.
Piagets Stages of Cognitive
FORMAL OPERATIONAL
11 years of age +
(Adolescents)
marked by the ability to think logically about abstract ideas.
Ability to reason about abstract concepts and problem solve.
child begins to manipulate ideas in its head
can do mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions.
Jean Piaget
insisted that there are qualitative differences between the way that children and adults thing, and therefore divided the lifespan into 4 stages of cognitive development.
Believed that infants learned mainly through instinctual interaction with the environment
Schema
can include a concept, a behavior, or a sequence of events
Piaget theorized that new information is processed via
adaptation
Adaptation to information comes about 2 complementary processes:
- Assimilation
2. Accommodation
Assimilation
The process of classifying new information into existing schemata. If new information does not fit neatly into existing schemata, then accommodation occurs.
Accommodation
The process by which existing schemata are modified to encompass this new information.
Piagets Stages of Cognitive
SENSORIMOTOR stage has 2 circular reaction. What are they?
Has 2 different circular reactions:
1. Primary circular reaction: repetition of a bod movement that originally occurred by chance (like sucking the thumb). Behavior is repeated because the child finds it soothing.
- Secondary circular reaction: when the manipulation is focused on something outside the body (repeatedly throwing toys from a high chair). Behavior is repeated because the child gets a response from the environment (such as a parent picking up the dropped toy).
