Karteikarten
Cognitive Foundations
Karten in diesem Stapel (45)
- 1Cognitive developmentChanges over time in how people think, how they solve problems, and how their capacities for memory and attention change.
- 2Jean PiagetInfluential Swiss developmental psychologist, best known for his theories of cognitive and moral development.
- 3StageA period in which abilities are organized in a coherent, interrelated way.
- 4Mental structureThe organization of cognitive abilities into a single pattern, such that thinking in all aspects of life is a reflection of that structure.
- 5Cognitive developmental approachApproach to understand cognition that emphasizes the changes that take place at different stages.
- 6MaturationProcess by which abilities develop through genetically based development with limited influence from the environment.
- 7SchemesA mental structure for organizing and interpreting information.
- 8AssimilationThe cognitive process that occurs when new information is altered to fit an existing scheme.
- 9AccommodationThe cognitive process that occurs when a scheme is changed to adapt to new information.
- 10Sensorimotor stageCognitive stage in 1st 2 years of life that involves learning how to coordinate the activities of the sense with motor activities.
- 11Pre operational stageCognitive stages from ages 2 to 7 during which the child becomes capable of representing the world symbolically - for example, through the use of language - but is still very limited in ability to use mental operations.
- 12Concrete operationsCognitive stage from ages 7 to 11 in which children learn to use mental operations but are limited to applying them to concrete, observable situations rather than hypothetical situations.
- 13Mental operationsCognitive activity involving manipulating and reasoning about objects.
- 14Formal operationsCognitive stage from age 11 on up in which people learn to think systematically about possibilities and hypotheses.
- 15Pendulum problemPiaget's classic test of formal operations, in which persons are asked to figure out what determines the speed at which a pendulum swings from side to side.
- 16Hypothetical deductive reasoningPiaget's term for the process by which the formal operational thinker systematically tests possible solutions to a problem and arrives at an answer that can be defended and explained.
- 17Abstract thinkingThinking in terms of symbols, ideas, and concepts.
- 18Complex thinkingThinking that takes into account multiple connections and interpretations, such as use in metaphor, satire, and sarcasm.
- 19MetacognitionThe capacity for "thinking about thinking" that allows adolescents and adults to reason about their thought processes and monitor them.
- 20Individual differencesApproach to research that focuses on how individuals differ within a group, for example, in performance on IQ tests.
- 21Post formal thinkingType of thinking beyond formal operations, involving greater awareness of the complexity of real life situations, such as in the use of pragmatism and reflective judgement.
- 22PragmatismType of thinking that involves adapting logical thinking to the practical constraints of real life situations.
- 23Dialectical thoughtType of thinking that develops in emerging adulthood, involving a growing awareness that most problems do not have a single solution and that problems must often be addressed with crucial pieces of information missing.
- 24Reflective judgementThe capacity to evaluate the accuracy and logical coherence of evidence and arguments.
- 25Multiple thinkingCognitive approach entailing recognition that there is more than one legitimate view of things and that it can be difficult to justify one position as the true or accurate one.
- 26relativismCognitive ability to recognize the legitimacy of competing points of view but also compare the relative merits of competing views.
- 27commitmentCognitive status in which persons commit themselves to certain points of view they believe to be the most valid while at the same time being open to reevaluating their views if new evidence is presented to them.
- 28info-processing approachAn approach to understanding cognition that seeks to delineate the steps involved in the thinking process and how each step is connected to the next.
- 29discontinuousA view of development as taking place in stages that are distinct from one another rather than as one gradual, continuous process.
- 30continuousA view that development as a gradual, steady process rather than as taking place in distinct stages.
- 31componential approachDescription of the info-processing approach to cognition, indicating that it involves breaking down the thinking process into its various components.
- 32selective attentionThe ability to focus on relevant info while screening out info that is irrelevant.
- 33divided attentionThe ability to focus on more than one task at a time.
- 34short term memoryMemory for info that is the current focus of attention.
- 35long term memoryMemory for info that is committed to longer term storage, so that it can be drawn upon after a period when attention has not been focused on it.
- 36working memoryAn aspect of short term memory that refers to where info is stored as it is comprehended and analyzed.
- 37mnemonic devicesMemory strategies.
- 38automacityDegree of cognitive effort a person needs to devote to processing a given set of info.
- 39reductionismBreaking up a phenomenon into separate parts to such an extent that the meaning and coherence of the phenomenon as a whole becomes lost.
- 40critical thinkingThinking that involves not merely memorizing info but analyzing it, making judgements about what it means, relating other info, and considering ways in which it might be valid or invalid.
- 41behavioral decision theoryTheory of decision making that describes the decision-making process as including 1) identifying the range of possible choices 2) identifying the consequences that would result from each choice 3) evaluating the desirability of each consequence 4) assessing the likelihood of each consequence and 5) integrating this info.
- 42organizational coreTerm applied especially to cognitive development, meaning that cognitive development affects all areas of thinking, no matter what the topic.
- 43social cognitionHow people think about other people, social relationships, and social institutions.
- 44perspective takingThe ability to understand the thoughts and feelings of others.
- 45mutual perspective takingStage of perspective taking, often found in early adolescence, in which persons understand that their perspective taking interactions with others are mutual, in the sense that each side realizes that the other can take their perspective.