Deductive Reasoning
going from a general premise to a specific conclusion
Atmosphere Effect
if the quantifiers are the same, people are more likely to say the conclusion is valid
Inductive Reasoning
going from specific cases to come up with a general rule to explain
Confirmation Bias
we have a tendency to look for information that confirms our beliefs
Spatial Thinking
thinking/problem solving when trying to solve spatial problems
Mental maps
create an image in your head to help solve a problem
Artificial Intelligence
problem solving by computers
Algorithm
step by step approach that's guaranteed to give the right answer to a problem if followed correctly
Heuristic
short-cut/rule of thumb, the right answer is not guaranteed
Expert Systems
Computer programs designed to help people solve problems, very narrowed minded, written with billions of "If, Then" statements, doesn't necessarily follow human thinking, but shows the best approach
ill-defined
there does NOT exist a clear cut way for evaluating a solution for being correct
Well-defined
there does exist a clear cut way for evaluating a solution for being correct
contingency
behavior causes things to change in the environment
Watson and Ramey
tested babies, randomly assigned them to 3 different conditions with mobiles, tested them for 14 days, 10 min a day
Jean Piaget
theory/framework for cognitive development
Cognitive structures
composed of schemas and concepts = RULES
Schemas
rules for behavior, how to do things/behaviors, when to do behaviors
Concepts
rules about objects/the environment, what does the object do, how does it relate to other objects, what happens when you touch the object
Assimilation
links schemas to concepts, certain objects elicit certain behaviors
Accommodation
fine tuning schemas for particular concepts
Sensorimotor period (0-2 years)
as things in the environment change, a baby's cognitive activity is increased
Passive expectation
baby looks at where object disappeared and expects it to reappear, but not long before baby loses interest
object permanence
object exists even if baby can't see it
Perseveration
if you hid ball under the blanket 3-4 times but then under the pillow, the baby will look under the blanket
Pre-operational Period (2-6 years)
Language ability booms, ability to categorize things increases, symbols
Symbols
use blocks to build a train, linked to categorization
Signifiers
use of a physical action to represent something, motor action/behavior that represents something
Signs
more abstract ? language, agreeing to abstract language labels
Conservation
Kids don't understand conservation of numbers, mass, volume whereas adults do
Gelmon
tried to correct this misinterpretation in her experiment ? had two plates of mice
Dellarosa
experimented with word problems
Period of Concrete Operations (7-11 years)
Can show conservation, able to do logical analysis, show empathy, cause and effect, and symbolic
Period of Formal Operations (12+)
Adult level of formal reasoning, knowledge might not be there but your ability is ? gain information with age, can come up with a multiple of theories/explanations
Cognitive Disequilibrium
motivating force to get a kid to develop more schemas/concepts, occurs from feedback and watching social interactions
Information Processing Approach to Cognitive Development
Kids are novices with respect to processing information, adults are the experts ? do better at memory tests than kids
STM storage
linked to age
� 18 months�1 number or word
� 3.5 years�3 items
� 4.5 years�4 items
� 12/13 years�5-9 items (same as adult)
Maturation
brain is developing, more neural connections are being formed, you get it for free ? everyone matures
Metacognition
your knowledge about what you know, your memory, and your thinking abilities, thinking about thinking