Learning objectives Unit Three Chapter 7 Cognitive Development Information Processing Perspective 1 What is store theory Define and describe the three main compo nents working short term memory the central executive and long term memory Store model focuses on general units of cognitive functioning as suming that we hold or store information in three parts of the men tal system for processing 3 parts the sensory register the short term memory store the long term memory store sensory register a broad panorama of sights and sounds are repre sented directly but stored momentarily Look around and close your eyes the images you see eventually disappear unless you use men tal strategies to preserve them Attending to some info more care fully helps increase the chances it will make it to the next step of the info processing system short term memory store working memory we retain attended to info briefly so we can actively work on it to reach our goals short term memory how many pieces of info can you hold on to at once for a few seconds central executive directs the flow of information implementing the basic procedures just mentioned and also engaging in more sophisti cated activities that enable complex flexible thinking long term memory the more information that we process in working memory and the more effectively that we process it the more likely it will transfer to this final stage Our capacity for long term memory is unlimited and sometimes retrieval of information at this stage can be difficult 2 What are mental strategies as info flows through the system we use mental strategies to operate on and transform deliberate mental operations we use to increase the likelihood of re taining information in working memory and transferring to longterm memory base 3 The store model says what two broad aspects of the cognitive sys tem increase with age capacity memory span and processing speed and strategy use both increase with age 4 Define memory span How does it change with development working memory span is usually about 2 items shorter than short term memory span Children s performance on working memory span tests are usually a good indicator of their capacity to learn children who score poorly on these tests are unlikely able to follow complex instructions lost their place in tasks with multiple instruc tions and abandoned work before finishing gains in processing speed help increase ones working memory ca pacity This efficient processing supports the storage of information 5 What is a connectionist model What does is achieve uses computers to devise artificial neural network models to simulate workings of neurons and their connections input units encode tasks Hidden Units represent information Output units generate a response 6 What is Case s Neo Piagetian Theory Describe the three factors that contribute to cognitive change accepts Piaget s stages attributes changes and shifts to efficient working memory capacity each stage has distinct cognitive structure Infant sense and physi cal actions early childhood internal representation late childhood simple transformations of representations adolescence complex transformations of representations 3 factors that contribute to cognitive change Brain development neurological changes improve the efficiency of thought leading to readiness for each stage At any given time there is an upper limit to processing speed practice with schemes schemes are mental strategies Within each stage through repeated use the child schemes become automatic allowing the generation of new schemes Practicing themes assimila tion leads to automization which releases working memory for other activities permitting scheme combination and construction accom modation formation of central conceptual structures once these schemes be come automatic and brain development further increments process ing speed anough space in working memory is made to consolidate and put them in representational form Generate central conceptual structures networks of concepts and relations that permit them to think about a wide range of situations in more advanced ways 7 What is Siegler s Model of Strategy Choice uses an evolutionary metaphor natural selection to help us under stand cognitive change when given challenging problems children generate a variety of strategies testing the usefulness of each With experience some strategies are selected and become more fre quent while some become less frequent and die off uses the microgenetic method presenting children with problems over a long period of time He found that these children experiment with diverse strategies on many types of problems These changes occur in short periods of time other methods miss 8 What are speech gesture mismatches box on p 285 speech gesture mismatches children who produce speech gesture mismatches are in a transitional state which is a sign they are ready to learn Indicates a shift in strategy to solve a problem Hand move ments indicate they know more than they can say closer to getting it 9 What is attention Describe the development of attention determines which information will be considered in any task sustained goal directed attention selective focusing on one aspect Adaptable depends on their own learning increases sharply between 2 and 3 1 2 years Frontal lobe growth more complex play goals and adult scaffolding 10 Define and describe cognitive inhibition the ability to control internal and external distracting stimuli internal thoughts external distractions improves from infancy on gains on complex tasks from middle child hood to adolescence 11 Development of attentional strategies occurs in four phases Name and describe the four phases production deficiency preschoolers rarely engage in attentional strategies In other words they usually fail to produce strategies when they are helpful control deficiency young elementary school children sometimes pro duce strategies but not consistently They have difficulty controlling or executing strategies effectively utilization deficiency slightly later children execute strategies con sistently but their performance either does not improve or improves less than that of other children effective strategy use by mid elementary school years children use strategies consistently and performance improves 12 What is planning involves thinking out a sequence of acts ahead of time and allocating attention accordingly to reach a goal 13 What are rehearsal and organization of memory
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