Cognitive Change: Information Processing Approach (Lecture Notes PDF)

Cognitive Change: Information Processing Approach Chapter 7 Week 5, Lecture 2, February 7, 2024 1 In what ways do sociocultural theories differ from Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development? Cognitive Development in Adulthood Postformal Reasoning 3 Information processing system Attention Incoming in...

Cognitive Change: Information Processing Approach Chapter 7 Week 5, Lecture 2, February 7, 2024 1 In what ways do sociocultural theories differ from Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development? Cognitive Development in Adulthood Postformal Reasoning 3 Information processing system Attention Incoming information Sensory Memory Forgetting Working Memory Long-term Memory Information processing system Attention Incoming information Sensory Memory Forgetting Working Memory Long-term Memory Information processing system Central Executive -Regulate attention -combines info Attention Incoming information Sensory Memory Working Memory Forgetting Response Encoding Retrieval Long-term Memory Executive Functions: Cognitive Activities that involve working memory, inhibitory control, attention, cognitive flexibility, that allows us to understand information, solve problems & make decisions Information processing system Central Executive -Regulate attention -combines info Attention Incoming information Sensory Memory Working Memory Forgetting Response Encoding Retrieval Long-term Memory Executive Functions: Cognitive Activities that involve working memory, inhibitory control, attention, cognitive flexibility, that allows us to understand information, solve problems & make decisions Information Processing: Attention Attention in Infants: Habituation and preferential looking time tasks Gains in attention by 10 weeks and increases over time Richards et al., 2010 8 Information Processing: Attention Selective Attention: ability to systematically deploy one’s attention, focusing on relevant information and ignoring distractors Sort by Shape Young children often struggle with selective attention. Dimensional card sort task 9 Information Processing: Attention Selective Attention: ability to systematically deploy one’s attention, focusing on relevant information and ignoring distractors Sort by colour Young children often struggle with selective attention. 10 Information Processing System Central Executive -Regulate attention -combines info Attention Incoming information Sensory Memory Working Memory Forgetting Response Encoding Retrieval Long-term Memory Executive Functions: Cognitive Activities that involve working memory, inhibitory control, attention, cognitive flexibility, that allows us to understand information, solve problems & make decisions Working Memory and Executive Function in Children Working memory (WM) tasks: hold information in memory while simultaneously manipulating it Adult outperform children on WM tasks 12 Age-related changes in brain activity during working memory tasks Top Front Back Front Back Looking from down Kwon et al., 2002 Working Memory & Executive Function in Children Memory Strategies: cognitive activities that make us more likely to remember Rehearsal, organization, elaboration Across childhood children learn more strategies and get better at selecting them, modifying them, and using them more effectively. Knowledge: knowledge structures become more elaborate and organized across childhood 14 Central Executive in Childhood responsible for Coordinating performance on two separate tasks or operations Quickly switching between tasks Selective attending to specific information and ignoring irrelevant information (inhibitory control) Retrieving information from long-term memory Measure of interference effect/inhibitory control How can knowledge about information processing system inform education? Does schooling improve central executive and underlying brain systems? 55 5-to-6-year-old children 21 children attended first grade Completed the Hearts and Flowers EF Task Completed an fMRI scan Brod et al., 2017 Children exposed to formal education showed improvements on EF task 100 Congruent Incongruent Mixed Mean Accuracy 95 90 85 80 75 70 Pre- Post- Pre- First grade Post- Pre- Post- Kindergarten Brod et al., 2017 Formal Education contributes to age-related increases in EF and their underlying neural systems. Brod et al., 2017 Information processing system Central Executive -Regulate attention -combines info Attention Incoming information Sensory Memory Working Memory Forgetting Response Encoding Retrieval Long-term Memory Long-Term Memory in Children Semantic Memory: memory for facts Episodic Memory: memory for events and information acquired during those events Memory for Information: Recognition Memory: ability to recognize a stimulus one has encountered before Recall Memory: ability to generate a memory of a stimulus encountered before without seeing it again 21 Long-Term Memory in Children Memory for Scripts: Scripts: descriptions of what occurs in a particular situation Autobiographical Memory: Memory of personally meaningful events that took place at a specific time and place in one’s past. 22 Sleep & Memory Sleep plays an important role for learning Information Processing & Brain Development in Adolescents Changes in brain underlie improvements in information processing and executive function Decreases in gray matter, increases in white matter 24 Cerebellum