Transcript Developmental Psychology - AP Psychology Community

Developmental Psychology
What is Cognitive Development?
• A subset of psychology
that focuses on how our
intelligence changes
over time.
Cognitive Development
• Evaluate theories of
cognitive development
• Discuss how social and
environmental
variables may affect
cognitive development
Evaluate theories of cognitive
development
The Cognitive Perspective of Cognitive
Development
Cognitive Development
• It was thought that
kids were just stupid
versions of adults.
• Then came along
Jean Piaget
• Kids learn
differently than
adults
Schemas
• Children view the
world through
schemas (as do adults
for the most part).
• Schemas are ways we
interpret the world
around us.
• It is basically what
you picture in your
head when you think
of anything.
Right now in your head,
picture a model.
These 3
probably fit into
your concept
(schema) of a
model.
But does this
one?
If I teach my 3 year
that an animal with 4
legs and a tail is a
dog….
Assimilation
• Incorporating new
experiences into
existing schemas.
What schema would you assimilate this
into?
Or this?
What
would he
call this?
Assimilation in High School
• When you first meet
somebody, you will
assimilate them into
a schema that you
already have.
If you see two guys dressed like this,
what schema would you assimilate them
into?
•Would you always be right?
Accommodation
• Changing an
existing
schema to
adopt to new
information.
If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture their
schema of the Bronx they may talk about the ghetto areas.
But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be forced to
accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate their new information.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive
Development
• Piaget based his theory on
observations and openended interviews.
• This clinical method
enabled Piaget to gain
insight into the children's
judgment and explanations
of events
• He presented children with
a number of tasks designed
to discover the level of
logical reasoning
underpinning their thinking
Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor
Stage
• Experience the
world through our
senses.
• Do NOT have object
permanence.
• 0-2
Click Mom to see a baby with no
object permanence.
Preoperational Stage
Click the boy
to see kids
with
egocentrism.
• 2-7
• Have object
permanence
• Begin to use language to
represent objects and
ideas
• Egocentric: cannot look
at the world through
anyone’s eyes but their
own.
• Do NOT understand
concepts of
conservation.
Conservation
• Conservation refers
to the idea that a
quantity remains the
same despite
changes in
appearance and is
part of logical
thinking.
Click the boy to see kids
trying to grasp
conservation.
Concrete Operational Stage
• Can demonstrate
concept of
conservation.
• Learn to think
logically
Click the penguin to see kids try to grasp concrete logic.
Formal Operational Stage
• What would the world
look like with no light?
• Picture god
• What way do you best
learn?
• Abstract reasoning
• Manipulate objects
in our minds without
seeing them
• Hypothesis testing
• Trial and Error
• Metacognition
• Not every adult gets
to this stage
Criticisms of Piaget
• Some say he
underestimates the
abilities of children.
• InformationProcessing Model says
children to not learn in
stages but rather a
gradual continuous
growth.
• Studies show that our
attention span grows
gradually over time.
Criticisms of Piaget
• using a small and nonrepresentative sample
• lack of scientific rigor and
cross-sectional design
which makes it difficult to
make conclusions about
changes over time (a
longitudinal design would
be better to do this)
• asking questions that are
too complex for children.
Socio-cultural Perspective of Cognitive
Development
Vygotsky’s sociocultural approach to
cognitive development
• Vygotsky was a Russian
psychologist. Like Piaget
he thought that
children’s thinking is
different from adults’.
Vygotsky
• Children grow up in a
specific historical, social,
and cultural context and
their knowledge and
intelligence develop within
the framework of that
culture’s characteristics
(e.g. history, artifacts,
language, science).
Vygotsky
• The historical and cultural
characteristics of each
society influence the way
people come to act upon
and think about the world.
• Vygotsky talks about
“cultural tools” that
individuals must learn to
handle in order to function
in that culture.
• For example, today an
important cultural tool in
the West could be the
computer.
The Key to Vygotsky’s Theory is….
• Vygotsky emphasizes
language and instruction
as the most important
factors in intellectual and
personal development.
• a contrast to Piaget’s view
of children,, who must
discover everything by
themselves through
concrete or mental
“operations”.
We need help from our surroundings
to cognitively develop….
• If children receive
instructions from other,
more skilled individuals
they can understand and
accomplish things that
they would not be able to
achieve alone.
Zone of Proximal Development
• the gap that exists for an
individual child between
what he or she is able to
do alone (zone of
competence) and what he
or she can achieve with
help from someone who
has more knowledge.
• A skilled instructor can
lead the child through the
zone.
Biology and Cognitive Development
Brain development and neuroplasticity
• Developmental
cognitive neuroscience
is an area of research
that studies the
relationship between
brain development and
cognitive competence.
Neural networks
• Neural networks change
as a result of learning,
experience, and age.
• Each human brain has a
unique neural
architecture due to
differences in individual
experience.
• The neural connections
(dendritic branching) in
the brain grow in size
and complexity after
birth and myelination
(covering the neuron
with myelin – white
matter) is accelerated.
• Synaptic growth is most
significant in childhood
and adolescence.
• Interaction with loving
and responsive caregivers
contributes to healthy
brain development.
• Various factors such as
early social deprivation,
inadequate nutrition, or
living in a polluted
environment may
interfere with normal
brain development.
Brain development and cognitive
functioning
• The brain doubles in
size from birth to young
adulthood.
• Fissures become more
complex!!!!
• especially in the areas
that process cognitive
and emotional
information
• Developmental
neuroscientists use brain
imaging (e.g. PET and
MRI) to study the
relationships between
brain development and
cognitive processes in
infants and young
children.
Harry Chugani and his PET Scans
• Brains burn glucose
when we think
• used PET scans to
investigate glucose
metabolism in the
brains of newborn
human babies.
Chugani and his PET Scans
• There was little activity in
the cerebral cortex
(executive function)
• There was activity in the
brain stem and the
thalamus (inborn reflexes
such as grasping)
Chugani and his PET Scans
• There was activity in the
limbic system (amygdala,
hippocampus and
hypothalamus).
• These areas are associated
with emotional processing,
memory, and bonding
• Lack of stimulation in these
areas in early life can lead
to abnormal behavior and
attachment difficulties.
Chugani and his PET Scans
• The research found that
the lower levels of the
brain are developed
first (measured as
activity) and over time
glucose consumption
can be registered in
higher levels of the
brain.
Chugani and his Romanian Orphans
• found that Romanian
children who had spent
time in institutions before
being adopted showed
deficits in cognitive tasks
dependent on prefrontal
function such as attention
and planning.
Giedd
• performed MRI scans in
a longitudinal study of
healthy children.
• 95% of the brain
structure is formed
when the child is
around five or six years
old.
Giedd
• but areas in the
prefrontal cortex (PFC)
start growing again in
adolescence.
• What do you think that
means?
Giedd
• The PFC is the last part
of the brain to mature.
• It is responsible for
cognitive processes
such as planning,
impulse control,
direction of attention,
and decision making.