DEP3103 Exam 3 Study Guide Chapter 7 Information processing approach o These theorists view the mind as a complex symbol manipulating system through which information from the environment flows often using the metaphor of a computer o Computer metaphors for human mental functioning Mind is a complex symbol mapping system Encoding recoding decoding First info is encoded taken in by the system and retained in symbolic form Then recoded revising its symbolic structure into a more effective representation Then decoded interpreting its meaning by comparing and combining it with other info in the system o Useful for researchers Simulations Same mental operations can be programmed into a computer and see how the computer responds to things Track physical movements and patterns Another way to study how children and adults think Clear and precise System store model o 3 stores sensory register working STM working memory is basically the same as short term memory it is the number of items that can be briefly held in mind while also engaging in some effort to monitor or manipulate those items o As info flows through system we use mental strategies to operate on LTM and transform it Implications for development o Several aspects of the cognitive system improve with age o Changes in 3 broad areas Basic capacity Especially WM capacity Speed of processing Executive functioning Applying basic procedures and higher level strategies in the service of goal oriented behavior Remember timeline of synaptic pruning and o Both genetic and environmental influences myelination Neo piagetian perspective o Accepts piaget s stages o Suggests increases in WM capacity as mechanism of change attributes change within each stage to increases in the efficiency with which children use their limited working memory capacity resulting from Brain development Neural growth synaptic pruning and myelination Practice with schemes and automatization Schemes are child s mental strategies With repeated use the child s schemes become automatic o This releases working memory for other activities permitting scheme combination and construction accommodation Formation of central conceptual structures Once the schemes become automatic and brain development further increments processing speed enough space in working memory is available to consolidate schemes into an improved representational form As a result children generate central conceptual structures o Networks of concepts and relations that permit more advanced thought in wide range of situations Sigler s model of strategy choice o Uses natural selection to help us understand cognitive change o Evolutionary perspective includes Variation when given problem generate variety of strategies Selection gradually select those leading to better outcomes in terms of accuracy and speed some strategies become more frequent and survive Leads to adaptive problem solving techniques Speech gesture mismatch o When gestures and what is said doesn t match for instance when solving an addition problem child points to everything in the equation that can solve problem but cant explain it This suggests that the child knows more than she can say o Children who produce speech gesture mismatches seem to be in Their behavior indicates they are considering 2 contradictory transitional state strategies This is a sign of readiness to learn o Parents and teachers can use children s gesture to provide instruction at most opportune moment instruction and training after speech gesture mismatch Match Mismatch When child s answer still may be wrong but pointing to wrong things and saying wrong things is consistent Closer to getting it than kids who match Development of attention o Sustained attention When children spend more time focused on complex stimuli such as toys and videos and display greater slowing of HR while engaged Increases sharply between 2 3 years due to Frontal lobe growth More complex play goals Adult scaffolding o Selective o Adaptable As sustained attention increases children become better at focusing on only those aspects of a situation that are relevant to their goals Older children are better at flexibly adapting their attention to task requirements switching mental sets within a task Children also adapt their attention to changes in their own learning o Gains in two components of executive function inhibition and attentional strategies play vital roles Accuracy increases with age Cognitive control and inhibition o Cognitive control Ability to favor a weaker but more appropriate response over a dominant pre potent response This frees working memory resources for task at hand o Cognitive inhibition Ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli Some debate over validity necessity of psychological inhibition o Improves from infancy on Gains on complex tasks from middle childhood to adolescence Can be enhanced by experiences such as high quality preschool education Development of attentional strategies o Emerge and refined during four phases Production deficiency Preschoolers rarely engage in attentional strategies In other words they usually fail to produce strategies when they could be helpful Control deficiency Young elementary school children sometimes produce strategies but not consistently They have difficulty controlling or executing strategies successfully Utilization deficiency Slightly later children execute strategies consistently but their performance either does not improve or improves less than that of older children Effective strategy use By the mid elementary school years children use strategies consistently and performance improves Planning ADHD o It involves thinking out a sequence of acts ahead of time and allocating attention accordingly to reach a goal o Begins in infancy o Improves with age frontal lobe development Preschoolers sometimes generate and follow simple plans School age children better planners o Tools teaching practice help children learn to plan o Relies on working memory and attention o Characteristics inattention impulsivity excessive activity o Origins Highly heritable Abnormal brain neurotransmitter functioning Includes reduced electrical and blood flow activity and structural abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex and other areas involved in attention inhibition of behavior and other aspects of motor control Environmental factors is also associated with ADHD o Treatment Stimulant medication most common Behavior modeling and reinforcement Models and reinforce
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