Test 3 (Evolution and development)

Question 1

early thoughts about evolution and cognition

Answer 1

1. darwin believed emotion conserved
2. brodmann thought brain size most important
3. others studied evolution and how activity was environmentally dependent

Question 2

ethology

Answer 2

study of cognition and behavior as evolutionarily conserved trait

Question 3

early belief about brain morphology

Answer 3

Brodmann believed that sbolute size of brains was most important to determine complexity of behavior

Question 4

rejecting brodmann’s belief of brain complexity

Answer 4

STUDY: apes have bigger brains than humans
STUDY: archaeological evidence, equivalently advanced human societies had some size brain

Question 5

relative size as an indicator of complexity

Answer 5

1. relative size of brain mass to body mass = indicator of brain complexity
2. E: great apes have smaller relative brain size than humans
3. greater relative brain size increased when early humans developed more complex tools
4. greater relative size is shown to have greater cortical layers (6-layer cortex)

Question 6

why does relative size = more complexity?

Answer 6

leftover mass means leftover for other cognitive processes not just necessary for functioning (ability to cognitively advance)

Question 7

gyrification

Answer 7

greater relative size associated with more folding (sulvi and gyri)

Question 8

neuronal complexity

Answer 8

as relative size increases, so does complexity

Question 9

principle of proper mass

Answer 9

amount of mass is proportional to amount of info required for processing of that brain tissue

Question 10

evidence for proper mass principle

Answer 10

STUDY: songbirds with more songs in their repertoire have larger relative cortical region
STUDY: birds that have multiple places they store food have larger relative HC size

Question 11

foraging hypothesis

Answer 11

(to explain human superior cognition)
says that because humans have to forage for their food (as opposed to insects just available) they need more mental capacity

E: animals that need specifically ripe plants vs. any available have larger relative brain weight

Question 12

machiavellian hypothesis

Answer 12

(to explain human superior cognition)
navigating complex social hierarchies (1) require complex social thought and (2) are selected for because ability to deceive others and detect someone’s intentions to deceive

Question 13

STUDY of capacity to deceive

Answer 13

greater capacity to deceive = greater relative neocortical size

Question 14

STUDY: grooming clique size

Answer 14

when put in larger social group, larger relative neocortical size

Question 15

STUDY: cortical thickness

Answer 15

larger social group of macquas = greater cortical thickness

Question 16

pre-birth development

Answer 16

1. neuralation (neural tube becomes brain, cortex, spinal cord)
2. cell proliferation and migration (neurons produced, differentiated and migrated to spot)
3. early myelination (mainly in sensory and motor areas)

Question 17

post-both development

Answer 17

1. continued myelination (PFC developed last, regions develop in temporally specific manner)
2. synaptogenesis (increase in synaptic density)
   until adolescence
3. synaptic pruning (activity-dependent pruning)

Question 18

importance of enrichment within critical and sensory period

Answer 18

STUDY: rats in enriching vs. non-enriching environment, greater cognitive abilities and less pruning in enriching environment

STUDY: monocular deprivation in adults vs. young animals, when young leads to irreversible change

Question 19

Jean Piaget’s model for early development

Answer 19

1. (0-2 years) sensorimotor stage, motor behavior is based on trial and error
2. (2-7) preoperational stage, motor behavior, some symbolic understanding but lack ToM
3. (7-12) concrete operations stage, ToM, some symbolic and abstract underanding
4. (12 +) formal operations stage, able to think hypothetically and abstractly

Question 20

refuting Piaget

Answer 20

infants exhibit ability to understand abstract thought and early referential behavior
STUDY: increased looking when impossible event
STUDY: increased looking when behavior broke set rules
STUDY: increased looking when input from new category after habituation to category (aka repetition suppression)

**general refutation of lack of abilities in sensorimotor phase

Question 21

development of color

Answer 21

mature 4-5 months of age

Question 22

development of perception

Answer 22

binocular disparity of depth (4 months)
monocular dispoarty (6-7 months)

STUDY: kanisza square, increased PFC activity when perceived depth (7 months and on)

Question 23

infantile amnesia

Answer 23

no declarative memories from infancy

falsely thought: bc declarative memory equipment develop later

refuted: evidence of babies having declarative memories later remembered

t/f: little understanding of why we have infantile amnesia

Question 24

development of ToM

Answer 24

not till ages 3-4 (TPJ)

Question 25

social referencing

Answer 25

stand in for theory of mind, develops by 1 year STUDY: visual cliff paradigm, when mom had worried face baby didn't walk over "cliff" vs. if happy face

Question 26

own species effect

Answer 26

as young as 9 months babies exhibit effect to tell own species apart but not others (human faces vs. monkeys)

Question 27

development of qualitative skills

Answer 27

at least 5 months have some qualitative understanding STUDY: babies increased looking when mathematically impossible operation STUDY: preferentially view streams w more variation in numbers than other neural correlates: parietal cortex, IPS

Question 28

development of executive control

Answer 28

at the age of 4 little evidence of executive function, but delayed gratification task yielded some controversial evidence that early control = long-term academic outcomes (but could be confounded by trust of system)

Question 29

summary timeline of post-birth development

Answer 29

Within year 1 - by 4-5 months, perceive color - by 4 months, binocular disparity of depth - by 5 months, can add/ subtract - by 7 months, monocular disparity of depth - by 9 months, own species effect - by 12 months, social referencing abilities & ability to understand quantity Within year 2 Within year 3 - by year 3-4, ToM starts to develop