preston-byrd
Uploaded by
26 SLIDES
369 VIEWS
260LIKES

Exploring Cognitive Development in Psychology: A Comprehensive Course Overview**

DESCRIPTION

Welcome to Psychology 312H, where we delve into the intricacies of cognitive development from infancy to late adulthood. Directed by Michelle Martin-Rhee, this course examines key concepts such as the interplay between biological evolution and cognitive processes, as well as significant milestones in cognitive functioning across various life stages. Expect two exams, small assignments, and an essay while adhering to academic integrity. Engage actively, follow instructions, and explore the debates surrounding nature vs. nurture. Join us in understanding how cognitive abilities evolve and are influenced by genetic and environmental factors.

1 / 26

Download Presentation

Exploring Cognitive Development in Psychology: A Comprehensive Course Overview**

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Psychology 312HCourse Director: Michelle Martin-Rhee Fridays 1-4  Welcome!!

  2. Outline for today • Course outline • Intro to cognitive development • Some evolution • Some biology • Questions??

  3. Course content • Text / website • Articles • Outside material • 2 exams • 2 small assignments, 1 essay • I count grammar and spelling • E-mail is best: michelle.martin@uhn.on.ca

  4. How to pass my course • FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS • ASK QUESTIONS • Do not plagiarize

  5. Example: According to some researchers, cognition can largely be explained by underlying neurological processes (Nelson, 2001; Martin, 2004; Piaget, 1952; Johnson, 1765; Smith, 2003; Brown, 1999). DO NOT DO THIS!!

  6. How to pass my course • FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS • ASK QUESTIONS • Do not plagiarize • Do not use internet as primary source

  7. Example Writing essays is easy when you can just take thirty seconds to look up dyslexia (http:/www.ilovetostealothers’work.com). DO NOT DO THIS!!

  8. How to pass my course • FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS • ASK QUESTIONS • Do not plagiarize • Do not use internet as primary source • Do the work, hand it in on time, pay attention to green and red underlining in Word

  9. Fields of Psychology • Clinical • Clinical Developmental • Experimental • History • Theory • Developmental • Cognitive

  10. Fields of Psychology • Clinical • Clinical Developmental • Experimental • History • Theory • Developmental • Cognitive

  11. What we mean by Cognitive Development • Infancy (0-3) • Childhood (3-11) • Adolescence (12-19) • Early adulthood (20-35ish) • Middle adulthood (35ish-65ish) • Late adulthood (65+)

  12. What we mean by Cognitive Development • Infancy (0-3) • Childhood (3-11) • Adolescence (12-19) • Early adulthood (20-35ish) • Middle adulthood (35ish-65ish) • Late adulthood (65+)

  13. Definitions… • Cognition • Hidden thought processes (top-down and bottom-up) • Can’t see it directly • Development • Systematic continuities in the individual that occur between conception and death • Can be physical, mental, neurological • Structures and functions • Structures have a function, but functions affect structures • Cognitive development • Changes that occur over time to our thought processes

  14. Influences on Development • Development is somewhat regular • Lots of individual variation… • Effects of genes • E.g. personality traits • Possible developmental issues (e.g. autism, Down Syndrome) • Effects of environment • Culture • Religion • Home environment • Interaction of both • Humans as a dynamic system…

  15. Debates in developmental psychology • Nature vs. Nurture • Interactions and constraints • Stability vs. Plasticity • E.g. personality vs. social competencies • Nature of developmental change • Continuous or Discontinuous? • Qualitative or Quantitative? • Homogeneity of cognitive function • Modularity vs. domain-generality • Or general processes that control information to smaller sub-areas?

  16. Brief History of Human Evolution Art Advances in stone tools Fire Cities Earliest Homonid Fossils Earliest stone tools Brain expansion 4 3 2 1 Present Neanderthal Australopethicus Africanus Homo Erectus Homo Sapiens

  17. Evolution • R-selected vs. K-selected species • r-selected are smaller, live less time, have more offspring (mice) • K-selected are larger, live longer, have fewer offspring (humans) • Through evolution, our brains got bigger • Therefore our heads are bigger • We have to be born earlier • We are born very immature and require much care • Both before and after birth, there is a tremendous, rapid growth in brain size

  18. Neuronal Development • 3 stages • Proliferation • Migration • Differentiation

  19. Neuronal Development • 3 stages • Proliferation • Migration • Differentiation • Synaptogenesis and Synaptic pruning • Excessive synapse production…why? • Experience-expectant vs experience-dependant processes • Myelination • Critical periods • Canalization

  20. Features of the Cortex • Asymmetry • Left side typically larger than right in almost all species • Brain is actually torqued • Lateralization of function • Left vs. Right functions • Connected by corpus callosum • Plasticity of Cortex • Can we recover lost function after damage? • Adaptive value of plasticity and immaturity

  21. Summary for Today… • In this course, we will look at changes in children’s thinking over time • Lots of debate about genes vs environment, nature of developmental change, and in how we represent information in the brain • Evolution has given humans and non-human primates bigger brains, and hence we are born very immature; a lot of development occurs over the first years of life • An understanding of how the brain works can help us to understand some of the mechanisms of change in children’s cognition

More Related