midterm Goff Flashcards
(79 cards)
Cognition
- the process or faculties by which knowledge is acquired and manipulated
- Cognition cannot be measured directly but must be inferred by observing behaviors. Cognition is a reflection of the mind.
- includes both conscious and unconscious processes
- involves all types of mental activities, including higher order processes and basic processes
- reflects knowledge and develops
Development (ontogeny)
- Changes in structure or function over time. Structure refers to some substrate of the organism (e.g., mental knowledge that underlies intelligence)
- CHANGE OVER TIME
- generally predictable
- CAN’T BE SEPARATED FROM ENVIRONMENT
function
to actions related to a structure and can include actions external to the structure being studied.
- can include actions external to the studied structure or experience external to the structure
- can also be internal
E. Developmental function
The species-typical form that cognition takes over time.
F. Individual differences
: Differences in patterns of intellectual aptitudes among people of a given age.
Structure
some substrate of the organism (e.g., mental knowledge the underlies intelligence).
-includes mental constructs or mental organization
Adaptive nature of cognitive immaturity
- Early or immature forms of development can serve important functions and help children to adapt to their environment.
- Limited cognitive abilities in infancy may be adaptive for their environment.
Six truths of cognitive development
- Cognitive development proceeds as a result of dynamic and reciprocal transaction of internal and external factors.
- >two philosophical camps: nativism and empiricism
- >most psychologists argue both nature and nurture play a substantial role in cognitive development and involve a bidirectional relationship of the two - cognitive development is constructed within the social context
- > need to consider the broader social and cultural context to understand cognitive development
- >culture influences how one thinks - Cognitive development involves both stability and plasticity over time.
- F. Cognitive development involves changes in both domain-general and domain specific abilities
Nativism
argues that human intellectual abilities are innate
Empiricism
argues that nature provides only species-general learning mechanisms, with cognition arising as a result of experience.
Stability
the degree to which children maintain their same relative rank order over time in comparison with their peers in some aspect of cognition.
Plasticity
the extent to which children can be shaped by experience
Domain-general abilities:
a child’s thinking is influenced by a single set of factors, with these factors affecting all aspects of cognition.
Domain-specific abilities:
cognitive development occurs as a result of development of certain parts of the brain responsible for specific abilities
Neuron
specialized nerve cell that allows transmission of neural signals
a) Axon
a long fiber that carries messages away from the cell body to other cells.
b) Dendrites
receive messages from other cells and transfer them to the cell body.
Axon
a long fiber that carries messages away from the cell body to other cells.
Dendrites
receive messages from other cells and transfer them to the cell body.
Synapses
small spaces between neurons
Neurotransmitters
chemical messengers that send the message released from the axon of the sending neuron into the synaptic gap. The message is the “read” by adjacent neurons
Myelin
- a fatty substance produced by supportive brain cells called glial cell which cover fully formed axons.
- Myelinated nerve fibers fire more rapidly, have lower thresholds of sensitivity to stimulation, and have greater functional specificity
Myelination
- increases throughout childhood and adolescence
- increases throughout childhood and adolescence
White matter,
reflecting mainly myelinated axons mostly beneath the surface of the brain