Chapter 4: Theories of Cognitive DevelopmentI. Aspects of Cognitive DevelopmentA. Working memory1) Functional Definitionsa) Withholding information in one’s mindb) Involved in active processingc) Aka short-term memory2) Capacitya) 4-5 y.o. – 4 itemsb) 9-10 y.o. – 6 itemsc) Adults – 7 + 2 items3) Cross-cultural studiesa) Chinese children recall more digits than American children(i) Digit names are shorter in Chinese than Englishb) Bilingual digit span (Welsh/English)(i) Capacity larger in language with faster speech rate4) Expertise Effectsa) Adults vs. 10 y.o. chess experts(i) Digit span test: adults scored better(ii) Chess board configurations: children scored better5) Cultural Effectsa) Free recall task with recently viewed pictures(i) Mayan children in rural Guatemala scored worse than U.S. childrenb) Free recall task with a diorama of a village(i) Mayan children scored better than U.S. childrenB. Executive Function1) Cognitive Controla) Working memory (formation of strategies)b) Cognitive flexibility(i) Ability to shift between mindsets(ii) 3 y.o. are not very cognitively flexible(iii) Cognitive flexibility increases by age 5(iv)Bilingual advantage present in cognitive flexibilityc) Inhibition of responses(i) Self-control predicts future performance- More impulsive 4 y.o. scored worse on SATs than less impulsive 4 y.o. at age 18- ~40 years of age, more impulsive 4 y.o. showed less responding in prefrontal cortex(ii) Learning impulsive behavior- Children can learn that waiting pays off (or doesn’t, depending on experimental condition)- If children find caregiver reliable, they are more likely to wait longer for a reward(iii) Training self-control- Positive effects of experience Those with lowest executive function gain the most Promote school readiness “Freeze Dance” exerciseC. Theory of Mind1) Functional Definitionsa) Understanding of how the mind worksb) Recognition that others can hold views that differ from one’s ownc) Assessed via false belief tasks(i) “Sally-Anne Test”(ii) 3 y.o. – not yet developed theory of mind(iii) 4 y.o. – developed theory of mind(iv)Cause of change- Ability to represent the contents of others’ mind- Other cognitive abilities required by false belief tasks Underlying brain structures Attention Working memory LanguageII. Piaget’s TheoryA. View of Children’s Nature1) Constructivisma) Ideology that children construct knowledge for themselves in response to experiences2) Assumptionsa) Children are active mentally and physically from birth onward(i) Aka. “active child” learningb) Children learn many important lessons on their own, not from instruction from othersc) Children are intrinsically motivated to learn and do not need external rewards3) Influences on Developmenta) Biological maturation(i) Inescapable(ii) Important to have an optimal environment to develop properlyb) Social Experience(i) Exploration of environment depends on learning from othersc) Activity, or Action on the Environment(i) “active child”B. Central Developmental Issues1) Axioms of Piaget’s Theorya) Organization of current knowledge into coherent systems(i) Schemas - set of physical actions, mental operations, concepts or theories usedto organize & acquire info about the worldb) Development(i) Development is an adaptation to reality(ii) Internal learning as an adaptationc) Adaptation(i) Occurs through scientific problem solvingd) Construction(i) Active construction of realitye) Cognitive development(i) Organismic(ii) Dependent on biological maturation2) Mechanisms of Changea) Maturationb) Learning (assimilation/accommodation)3) Nature and Nurturea) Adaptation(i) Tendency to respond to the demands of the environment in pursuit of goalsb) Organization(i) Tendency to integrate observations into preexisting knowledge4) Sources of Continuitya) Assimilation(i) Process of incorporating information into a pre-existing schemab) Accommodation(i) Process of adjusting schemas to fit new knowledge or creating a new schema entirelyc) Equilibration(i) Process of balancing assimilation and accommodation5) Sources of Discontinuitya) Properties of stage theory(i) Qualitative change- Qualitative difference in mental judgment and processing directly caused by cognitive development(ii) Broad applicability- Categorizes children’s thinking across diverse topics and contexts- Maps out cognitive development from birth through adolescence(iii) Brief transitions- Period of intermediary between two stages(iv)Invariant sequence- Stages are never skippedb) Summary of Stages of Cognitive Development(i) Thinking and behavior reflect a particular underlying structure(ii) Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)- Focused on gathering information about their surrounding world in the present(iii) Preoperational stage (2-7 years)- Beginning of conceptual development(iv)Concrete operational stage (7-12 years)- Able to logically reason about concrete phenomena(v) Formal operational stage (12+ years)- Development of abstract, construct thinkingC. The Sensorimotor Stage (0 – 2 years)1) Learning through senses and actions2) Object permanencea) Knowledge that objects continue to exist even when not visibleb) Develops around 10 months3) A-not-B errora) Tendency to search for a hidden object where it was last hidden as opposed to where it currently isb) Disappears around 12 months4) Deferred imitationa) Present in infants age 18-24 months5) Sub stagesa) Primary(i) Infant notes effect of actions on own bodyb) Secondary(i) Infant notes effect on own body or world(ii) Infant notes specific cause-effect relation between action and outcomec) Tertiary(i) Infant deliberately varies actions and targetsD. The Preoperational Stage (2 – 7 years)1) Development of Symbolic Representationsa) Use of one object to symbolize anotherb) Children integrate more social representational norms into their ideas as development continues2) Egocentrisma) Inability to perceive surroundings or situations from a viewpoint other than one’s ownb) Spatial egocentrism(i) Egocentrism in terms of visual perceptionc) Caveats(i) Speech volume- Young children can adjust volume of speech to allow others to hear them(ii) Language choice- Bilingual children tend to speak correct language to corresponding parent3) Centrationa) Focus on a single point of interest and ignoring all other relevant features4) Conservation concepta) Understanding that shape does not necessarily change quantityb) Success at