3310 midterm review

• Nativism


  The view that certain skills and characteristics are innate or inborn
• Empiricism


  The view that knowledge comes primarily from sensory experience
• Key terms


  • nativism
  • empiricism
  • constraints
  • discontinuous vs continuous
  • plastic
  • age graded
  • history graded
  • non-normative influences
• Cognition


  The process of obtaining knowledge
• Development


  Change over time
• Biology says that we are built to learn
• Change in structure and function over time = Development
• Reciprocal relationship


  In Piagetian theory
• Issues in cognitive development

  • Nature vs Nurture (nativism vs empiricism)
  • Representational
  • Architectural
  • Chronotopic
• Stages of development


  • Discontinuous vs Continuous (Stage vs Gradual)
  • Qualitative change vs Quantitative change
• Life-span Perspective


  Development is lifelong, multidimensional and multidirectional
• Plastic


  Means development can change, but not beyond certain constraints
• Influences on development


  • Age-graded
  • History
  • Non-normative
• Research Methods


  Basic approach to gathering information, used to predict, design, collect, analyze, and interpret information
• Research methods


  • Systematic observation
  • Naturalistic
  • Structured
  • Experimental and quasi-experimental designs
  • Self-reports
  • Clinical interviews
  • Structured interviews, questionnaires, tests
  • Clinical or case study
  • Ethnography
• 20th Century Cognitive theories

  • Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget
  • Socio-cultural: Lev Vygotsky
  • Information Processing theory
• Biological Theories


  • Maturationsim: G Stanley hall & Arnold Gesell
  • Ethology: Konrad Lorenz
• Psychoanalytical Theories


  • Psychosexual: Freud
  • Psychosocial: Erikson
• Behavioural and Social learning Theories

  • Behaviourism: Classical conditioning, John Watson - Operant Conditioning, BF Skinner
  • Social Learning; Albert Bandura
• Systems Theories


  • Ecological systems: Urie Bronfenbrenner
• Biological Theories


  • Attachment: John Bowlby
• Jean Piaget


  Swiss man first to complete account of cognitive development, adapted to the environment, was a stage theorist who thought skills were domain general (vs Domain Specific), thought cognitive development was to be able to reason logically about hypotheticals, said kids build their own understanding of the world based on what they actively experience and interactions (not passive learning), studied his kids and said kids' understanding is in schemas, assimilation (same schema) and accommodation (change or create schema) to reach equilibration, process remains stable across development, structure of knowledge changes
• Piaget's Cognitive Development Stages

  • Sensorimotor (birth until 2yo)
  • Preoperational (age 2-7)
  • Concrete Operations (age 7-11)
  • Formal Operations (age 11 and up)
• Sensorimotor stage


  The infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world, focus on the here and now, lack of object permanence until 8-12 months, lack of deferred imitation until 18-24 months
• Preoperational stage


  Marked by ability to construct mental representation of experience, hampered by egocentrism and inability to perform mental operations, the child uses mental representations of objects and is able to use symbolic thought and language shown in symbolic play, lack conservation, changes in perspective
• Concrete Operations stage


  The child uses logical operation or principles when solving problems, can perform mental operations, but only for actual physical events, can do logical tasks like seriation and classification
• Formal Operations stage


  Can understand hypotheticals and reasoning beyond the here and now
• Pros and Cons of Piaget's theory

  • Pros: Feels right, ecological validity, addresses interesting and relevant topics, recognition of central role of cognition, exceptional breadth, age range for achievements

  Cons: Too little emphasis on social interaction and development, doesn't incorporate individual differences or atypical development, transition mechanisms, underestimates skill of how to explain inconsistencies
• Lev Vygotsky


  Socio-cultural theory, agrees children are active learners but their knowledge is socially constructed, cultural values and customs dictate what is important to learn, central role of language, language mediates cognition, language is culturally created, central role of play, egocentric (private) speech, development is primarily driven by language, social context and adult guidance, zone of proximal development, children learn from more expert members of society, parents and teachers structure environments for learning and then gradually remove it (scaffolding)
• Information Processing Theory


  Uses the model of the computer to describe how the brain works, hardware is the physical stuff in the brain, software is the programs and thoughts the brain uses, focuses on how information is perceived, stored in memory, and then used in everyday life, with children it looks at stimulus, decoding, storing in working memory, sending to long-term memory, and retrieval
• Sub-theory approaches within Information Processing Theory

  • Cognitive evolution
  • Connectionist model
  • Developmental cognitive neuroscience approaches
  • Psychometric theory
  • Neuroconstructivism
• Genes


  Don't have the codes to change your structure, gene expression is influenced by environment
• Encellment


  Development of genes is restrained by your maximum amount possible (like girls' eggs)
• Enbrainment


  Everyone's is different based on the connections they have with their restrictions on thought
• Embodiment


  The brain is stuck in your body that is in a physical and social environment
• Ensocialment


  Experiences are a restraint on your possible thoughts
• Interactions between constraints affect the overall outcome
• Biological perspective thought development was predetermined
• Reading is different from language because you need direct instruction
• Literacy


  A complex set of attitudes, skills, feelings and behaviours about the written language