Chapter 7 - Information Processing - PSY 2340
Which of the following are true of infants' advances in processing information, as compared to how it was envisioned by earlier theorists? (Choose every correct answer.) It is more gradual. It is more stage-like. It is much richer. It occurs earlier than previously envisioned.
It is more gradual. It is much richer. It occurs earlier than previously envisioned.
implicit memory
Memory without conscious recollection—memory of skills and routine procedures that are performed automatically.
short-term memory
Retention of information for up to 15 to 30 seconds, without rehearsal of the information. Using rehearsal, individuals can keep the information in their memory longer. When you remember the word you just read, you are using this type of memory.
artificial intelligence (AI)
Scientific field that focuses on creating machines capable of performing activities that require intelligence when they are done by people.
Psychological processes driven by emotion are referred to as ______ executive function.
hot
Which type of memory is demonstrated earliest in infants? implicit memory explicit memory focused memory associative memory
implicit memory
Regarding the development of a child's theory of mind, changes tend to occur in all of the following mental areas except ______. insight desire emotion perception
insight
Age-related deficits in prospective memory occur more often in ______ tasks than in ______ tasks. event-based; time-based physical; mental time-based; event-based mental; physical
time-based; event-based
metamemory
Knowledge about memory. Individuals' knowledge about memory, is an especially important form of metacognition. Metamemory includes general knowledge about memory, such as knowing that recognition tests (for example, multiple-choice questions) are easier than recall tests (for example, essay questions). It also encompasses knowledge about one's own memory, such as knowing whether you have studied enough for an upcoming test.
thinking
Manipulating and transforming information in memory, in order to reason, reflect, think critically, evaluate ideas and solve problems, and make decisions.
schemas
Mental frameworks that organize concepts and information. These mental frameworks influence the way people encode, make inferences about, and retrieve information. Often when we retrieve information, we fill in gaps.
metacognition
Cognition about cognition, or "knowing about knowing." In addition, Siegler argues that children's information processing is characterized by self-modification. That is, children learn to apply what they have learned in previous circumstances to adapt their responses to a new situation. Part of this self-modification draws on metacognition. One example of metacognition is what children know about the best ways to remember what they have read. Do they know that they will be better able to remember what they have read if they can relate it to their own lives in some way? Thus, in Siegler's application of information processing to development, children play an active role in their own cognitive development.
executive attention
Cognitive process involving planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances. This type of attention falls under the umbrella of executive function.
divided attention
Concentrating on more than one activity at the same time. If you are listening to music or the television while you are reading this, you are engaging in divided attention.
______ are cognitive groupings of similar objects, events, people, or ideas. Symbols Concepts Schemas Equilibration
Concepts
imagery
Creating mental images to improve memorization. Using imagery to remember verbal information works better for older children than for younger children.
prospective memory
Remembering to do something in the future such as remembering to take your medicine or remembering to do an errand. Some researchers have found a decline in prospective memory with age. However, a number of studies show that the cause of the decline is complex and involves factors such as the nature of the task, whether performance on the task is being assessed, and the quality of memory monitoring. For example, age-related deficits occur more often in time-based tasks (such as remembering to call someone next Friday) than in event-based tasks (remembering to tell your friend to read a particular book the next time you see her). Recent research also indicates that prospective memory is reduced in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer disease.
episodic memory
Retention of information about the where and when of life's happenings. For example, what color were the walls in your bedroom when you were a child? What did you eat for breakfast this morning? What were you doing when you heard that the World Trade Center had been destroyed on 9/11/2001? Younger adults have better episodic memory than older adults have, both for real and imagined events. One study found that episodic memory performance predicted which individuals would develop dementia 10 years prior to clinical diagnosis of the disease. In another study, a mindfulness training program was effective in improving episodic memory recall in older adults.
Jake went to the store and selected a new truck to give his Mom for her birthday. Jake's older brother explained that their Mom does not like trucks like he does and instructed him to select a piece of jewelry. Jake's older brother is demonstrating ______. confusion dislike preference awareness
awareness
Which of the following refers to psychological processes involving conscious control driven by logical thinking and critical analysis? mindful critical thinking deep critical thinking hot executive function cool executive function
cool executive function
Rahil tries to remember his neighbors' names by putting them in ABC order. This is a more engaging extensive mental strategy for processing, called ______. strategies repetition elaboration imagery
elaboration
When someone is engaging in more extensive processing of information for the benefit of memory, that person is most likely using ______ as a memory strategy. repetition elaboration distortion rehearsal
elaboration
Rosalinda is able to ignore information that is not important and recognize the information that is important. This is an example of which of the following cognitive skills? automaticity metacognition strategy construction encoding
encoding
Remembering what you did on the first day of high school is an example of ______ memory. implicit episodic source semantic
episodic
The retention of information about life's happenings is known as ______ memory. episodic semantic explicit implicit
episodic
Which of the following is the most important cognitive change that occurs during adolescence? operational function concrete thinking postformal thought executive control
executive control
Which of the following aspects of executive function are most important for young children's cognitive development and school success? (Choose every correct answer.) flexibility self-control metacognition working memory
flexibility self-control working memory
In early childhood, executive function involves which of the following developmental advances? (Select all that apply) goal-setting immediate gratification seeking cognitive inhibition cognitive flexibility
goal-setting cognitive inhibition cognitive flexibility
The main goal of developmental robotics is to ______. learn more about humans and their development increase the ability of humans to perform complex mathematical computations create assistive living devices for humans teach humans to streamline certain activities in order to increase productivity
learn more about humans and their development
Aging in which part of the brain may produce a decline in working memory? amygdala hypothalamus medulla prefrontal cortex
prefrontal cortex
Increases in which of the following are reasons that memory span changes with age? (Select all that apply) processing speed implicit memory sensory memory rehearsal of information
processing speed rehearsal of information
Which of the following is not a necessary requirement of joint attention? reciprocal interaction one person directing another's attention reinforcement for attending to an event an ability to track another's behavior
reinforcement for attending to an event
Working memory is closely linked to ______ memory. long-term short-term sensory register deficient
short-term
Which of the following refers to the concept that changes in cognitive functioning may be linked more to distance from death or cognition-related pathology than to distance from birth? terminal decline use it or lose it engagement model cohort effect
terminal decline
Which theory views children as thinkers who can predict, explain, and understand themselves and others? psychoanalytic theory Erikson's psychosocial theory theory of mind Bandura's social cognitive theory
theory of mind
concepts
Cognitive groupings of similar objects, events, people, or ideas. Along with attention, memory, and imitation, concepts are key aspects of infants' cognitive development. Concepts are cognitive groupings of similar objects, events, people, or ideas. Without concepts, you would see each object and event as unique, and you would not be able to make any generalizations. Do infants have concepts? Yes, they do, although we do not know just how early concept formation begins. Using habituation experiments like those described earlier in the chapter, some researchers have found that infants as young as 3 to 4 months of age can group together objects with similar appearances, such as animals. Jean Mandler (2010) argues that these early categorizations are best described as perceptual categorization. That is, the categorizations are based on similar perceptual features of objects, such as size, color, and movement, as well as parts of objects, such as legs for animals. Mandler (2004) concludes that it is not until about 7 to 9 months of age that infants form conceptual categories rather than just making perceptual discriminations between different categories. In one study of 9- to 11-month-olds, infants classified birds as animals and airplanes as vehicles even though the objects were perceptually similar—airplanes and birds with their wings spread. Further advances in categorization occur during the second year of life. Many infants' "first concepts are broad and global in nature, such as 'animal' or 'indoor thing.' Gradually, over the first two years these broad concepts become more differentiated into concepts such as 'land animal,' then 'dog,' or to 'furniture,' then 'chair'". Learning to put things into the correct categories—knowing what makes something one kind of thing rather than another kind of thing, such as what makes a bird a bird, or a fish a fish—is an important aspect of learning.
explicit memory (declarative memory)
Conscious memory of facts and experiences. When people think about memory, they are usually referring to this type of memory. Most researchers find that babies do not show this type of memory until the second half of the first year. Then this type of memory improves substantially during the second year of life.
working memory
A mental "workbench" where individuals manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken language. It is like a passive storehouse with shelves to store information until it is moved to long-term memory. This type of memory involves bringing information to mind and mentally working with or updating it, as when you link one idea to another and relate what you are reading now to something you read earlier. Recent research confirms that working memory is a foundational cognitive activity, with the frontoparietal brain network playing a key role in its development. Working memory develops slowly. Even by 8 years of age, children can only hold in memory half the items that adults can remember. Working memory is linked to many aspects of children's development. For example, children who have better working memory are more advanced in language comprehension, math skills, problem solving, and reasoning than their counterparts with less effective working memory. Recent research indicates that children with ADHD have working memory deficits.
semantic memory
A person's knowledge about the world, including fields of expertise, general academic knowledge, and "everyday knowledge" about meanings of words, names of famous individuals, important places, and common things. This type of memory is a person's knowledge about the world. It includes a person's fields of expertise (such as knowledge of chess for a skilled chess player); general academic knowledge of the sort learned in school (such as knowledge of geometry); and "everyday knowledge" about meanings of words, famous individuals, important places, and common things (such as who Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa were). The ability to retrieve very specific information (such as names) usually declines in older adults. For the most part, episodic memory declines more than semantic memory in older adults.
long-term memory
A relatively permanent and unlimited type of memory. When you remember the types of games you enjoyed playing as a child, details of your first date, or characteristics of the life-span perspective, you are drawing on your long-term memory.
tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon
A type of effortful retrieval associated with a person's feeling that he or she knows something (say, a word or a name) but cannot quite pull it out of memory. Although many aspects of semantic memory are reasonably well preserved in late adulthood, a common memory problem for older adults is the tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon, in which individuals can't quite retrieve familiar information but have the feeling that they should be able to retrieve it. Researchers have found that older adults are more likely than younger adults to experience TOT states.
______ consists of the precise details of the information; whereas Blank______ refers to the central ideas of the information. A fuzzy trace; gist A verbatim memory trace; gist Gist; fuzzy trace Gist; verbatim memory trace
A verbatim memory trace; gist
executive function
An umbrella-like concept that encompasses a number of higher-level cognitive processes linked to the development of the brain's prefrontal cortex. It involves managing one's thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and to exercise self-control. In early childhood, executive function especially involves developmental advances in cognitive inhibition (such as inhibiting a strong tendency that is incorrect), cognitive flexibility (such as shifting attention to another item or topic), goal-setting (such as sharing a toy or mastering a skill like catching a ball), and delay of gratification (the ability to forego an immediate pleasure or reward for a more desirable one later). During early childhood, the relatively stimulus-driven toddler is transformed into a child capable of flexible, goal-directed problem solving that characterizes executive function. How might executive function change in middle and late childhood and be linked to children's success in school? Adele Diamond and Kathleen Lee highlighted the following dimensions of executive function that they conclude are the most important for 4- to 11-year-old children's cognitive development and school success: ∙ Self-control/inhibition. Children need to develop self-control that will allow them to concentrate and persist on learning tasks, to inhibit their tendencies to repeat incorrect responses, and to resist the impulse to do something now that they would regret later. ∙ Working memory. Children need an effective working memory to efficiently process the masses of information they will encounter as they go through school and beyond. In a recent study that examined different components of executive function, inhibition and working memory were linked to children's mindfulness. ∙ Flexibility. Children need to be flexible in their thinking to consider different strategies and perspectives. Some researchers have found that executive function is a better predictor of school readiness than general IQ. A number of diverse activities have been found to increase children's executive function, such as computerized training that uses games to improve working memory; aerobic exercise; scaffolding of self-regulation; mindfulness training; and some types of school curricula (the Montessori curriculum, for example). In a recent series of meta-analyses to discover which interventions are most likely to increase children's executive function, it was concluded that (a) for typically developing children, mindfulness training was effective; and (b) for non-typically developing children (including those with neurodevelopmental or behavioral problems), strategy teaching involving self-regulation and biofeedback-enhanced relaxation were the most effective. Two categories of executive function are cool executive function, psychological processes involving conscious control driven by logical thinking and critical analysis; and hot executive function, psychological processes driven by emotion, with emotion regulation an especially important process. In a recent study of 12- to 17-year-olds, cool executive function increased with age, while hot executive function peaked at 14 to 15 years of age and then declined.
Which of the following statements accurately describe the development of children's theory of mind from toddlerhood into early childhood? (Select all that apply.) Children begin to recognize and verbalize positive and negative emotions. Children begin to understand that what others see may not be the same as what they see. Children do not develop a theory of mind until 4 or 5 years of age, when they acquire adequate verbal skills to communicate their emotions. Children begin to recognize and acknowledge that their desires can differ from another child's desires.
Children begin to recognize and verbalize positive and negative emotions. Children begin to understand that what others see may not be the same as what they see. Children begin to recognize and acknowledge that their desires can differ from another child's des
elaboration
Engagement in more extensive processing of information, benefiting memory. Thinking of examples, especially those related to yourself, is an effective way to elaborate information. Thinking about personal associations with information makes the information more meaningful and helps children to remember it. For example, if the word win is on a list of words a child is asked to remember, the child might think of the last time she won a bicycle race. The use of elaboration changes developmentally. Adolescents are more likely than children to use elaboration spontaneously. Elementary school children can be taught to use elaboration strategies on a learning task, but they will be less likely than adolescents to use the strategies on other learning tasks in the future. Nonetheless, verbal elaboration can be an effective strategy even for young elementary school children.
selective attention
Focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant. Focusing on one voice among many in a crowded room or a noisy restaurant is an example of this type of attention.
joint attention
Focus by individuals on the same object or event; requires an ability to track another's behavior, one individual to direct another's attention, and reciprocal interaction. Early in infancy, joint attention usually involves a caregiver pointing or using words to direct an infant's attention. Emerging forms of joint attention may occur as early as midway through the first year, but it is not until toward the end of the first year that joint attention skills are frequently observed. Research indicates that joint attention especially improves between 9 and 12 months of age. In a study conducted by Rechele Brooks and Andrew Meltzoff, at 10 to 11 months of age infants first began engaging in "gaze following," looking where another person has just looked. And by their first birthday, infants have begun to direct adults' attention to objects that capture their interest. Joint attention plays important roles in many aspects of infant development and considerably increases infants' ability to learn from other people. Nowhere is this more apparent than in observations of interchanges between caregivers and infants as infants are learning language. For example, a parent might point to a toy and say "ball." When caregivers and infants frequently engage in joint attention, infants say their first word earlier and develop a larger vocabulary. In a recent study, both joint attention and sustained attention at 9 months predicted vocabulary size at 12 and 15 months, but sustained attention was a stronger predictor of vocabulary size. Researchers also have found that joint attention is linked to better sustained attention, memory, self-regulation, and executive function. When joint attention is impaired, the deficit often is linked developmental problems. For example, a recent study found that impaired joint attention at 12 months of age is linked to subsequent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and language delay in 3-year-old children.
memory
Retention of information over time. Researchers study how information is initially placed in or encoded into memory, how it is retained or stored after being encoded, and how it is found or retrieved for a certain purpose later. Encoding, storage, and retrieval are the basic processes required for memory. Failures can occur in any of these processes. Some part of an event might not be encoded, the mental representation of the event might not be stored, or even if the memory exists, the information may not be retrievable.
Microgenetic method (Siegler)
Seeks to discover not just what children know but the cognitive processes involved in how they acquired the knowledge.
Which of the following is true regarding the research into whether mindfulness training improves older adults' cognitive functioning? Research has conclusively established that mindfulness training improves cognitive functioning for all age groups. The effect of mindfulness training on cognitive function in older adults is yet to be studied. No studies have found a link between mindfulness training and improved cognitive function in older adults. Some but not all studies have shown that mindfulness training improves older adults' cognitive functioning.
Some but not all studies have shown that mindfulness training improves older adults' cognitive functioning.
fuzzy-trace theory dual-process model
States that decision making is influenced by two systems—"verbatim" analytical (literal and precise) and gist-based intuition (simple, bottom-line meaning)—which operate in parallel; in this model, gist-based intuition benefits adolescent decision making more than analytical thinking does. In risky situations it is important for an adolescent to quickly get the gist, or meaning, of what is happening and glean that the situation is a dangerous context, which can cue personal values that will protect the adolescent from making a risky decision. Basing judgments and decisions on simple gist is viewed as more beneficial than analytical thinking to adolescents' decision making. In this view, adolescents don't benefit from engaging in reflective, detailed, higher-level cognitive analysis about a decision, especially in high-risk, real-world experiential contexts where they would get bogged down in trivial detail. In such contexts, adolescents need to rely on their awareness that some circumstances are simply so dangerous that they must be avoided at all costs. However, some experts on adolescent cognition argue that in many cases adolescents benefit from both analytical and experiential cognitive systems.
fuzzy trace theory
States that memory is best understood by considering two types of memory representations: (1) verbatim memory trace and (2) gist. Verbatim memory trace consists of the precise details of the information, whereas gist refers to the central idea of the information. When gist is used, fuzzy traces are built up. Although individuals of all ages extract gist, young children tend to store and retrieve verbatim traces. At some point during the early elementary school years, children begin to use gist more and, according to the theory, its use contributes to the improved memory and reasoning of older children because fuzzy traces are more enduring and less likely to be forgotten than verbatim traces.
Which of the following statements is false about lifestyle and cognitive functioning? Exercise has been associated with improved cognitive functioning. Age-related cognitive declines have been associated with mood disorders. Stress has not been associated with cognitive decline. Anxiety has been associated with a decline in memory functioning.
Stress has not been associated with cognitive decline.
sustained attention
The ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time. This type of attention, also called vigilance, involves being on high alert for opportunity or danger as well as paying attention for a length of time.
attention
The focusing of mental resources. Attention improves cognitive processing for many tasks. At any one time, though, people can pay attention to only a limited amount of information. Individuals can allocate their attention in different ways. Psychologists have labeled these types of allocation as selective attention, divided attention, sustained attention, and executive attention.
encoding
The process by which information gets into memory. Changes in children's cognitive skills depend on increased skill at encoding relevant information and ignoring irrelevant information. For example, to a 4-year-old, an s in cursive writing has a shape very different from an s that is printed. But a 10-year-old has learned to encode the relevant fact that both are the letter s and to ignore the irrelevant differences in shape.
Strategies
The use of mental activities to improve the processing of information. Rehearsing information and organizing are two typical strategies that older children (and adults) use to remember information more effectively. Rehearsal (repetition) works better for short-term memory. Strategies such as organization, elaborating on the information to be remembered, and making it personally relevant can make long-term memory more effective. Imagery and elaboration are two other effective strategies. Preschool children usually do not use strategies such as rehearsal and organization to remember.
schema theory
Theory stating that people mold memories to fit information that already exists in their minds. We have schemas for all sorts of information. If a teacher tells your class a story about two men and two women who were involved in a train crash in France, students won't remember every detail of the story and will reconstruct the story with their own particular stamp on it. One student might reconstruct the story by saying that the people died in a plane crash, another might describe three men and three women, another might say the crash was in Germany, and so on. Such reconstruction and distortion are nowhere more apparent than in clashing testimony given by eyewitnesses at trials. In sum, this theory accurately predicts that people don't store and retrieve bits of data in computer-like fashion. We reconstruct the past rather than take an exact photograph of it, and the mind can distort an event as it encodes and stores impressions of it.
According to the research, which of the following were true of preschoolers who were able to delay gratification? (Select all that apply) They made more money as adults. They coped with stress better as adolescents. They exhibited less cognitive flexibility. They became more academically successful. They had very little cognitive inhibition as adults.
They made more money as adults. They coped with stress better as adolescents. They became more academically successful
critical thinking
Thinking reflectively and productively, and evaluating the evidence. Executive function also involves being able to think critically. This type of thinking involves grasping the deeper meaning of ideas, keeping an open mind about different approaches and perspectives, and deciding for oneself what to believe or do. Thinking critically includes asking not only what happened, but how and why; examining supposed "facts" to determine whether there is evidence to support them; evaluating what other people say rather than immediately accepting it as true; and asking questions and speculating beyond what is known to create new ideas and acquire new information. In the view of experts such as Jacqueline and Martin Brooks, few schools teach students to think critically. Schools spend much more time getting students to give a single correct answer than encouraging them to come up with new ideas and rethink conclusions. Too often teachers ask students to recite, define, describe, state, and list rather than to analyze, infer, connect, synthesize, criticize, create, evaluate, think, and rethink. As a result, many schools graduate students who think superficially, staying on the surface of problems rather than becoming deeply engaged in meaningful thinking. According to Ellen Langer, mindfulness—being alert, mentally present, and cognitively flexible while going through life's everyday activities and tasks—is an important aspect of thinking critically. Mindful children and adults maintain an active awareness of the circumstances in their lives and are motivated to find the best solutions to challenges they confront. Mindful individuals create new ideas, are open to new information, and operate from multiple perspectives. By contrast, mindless individuals are entrapped in old ideas, engage in automatic behavior, and operate from a single perspective. Among the factors that provide a basis for improvement in critical thinking during adolescence are the following: ∙ Increased speed, automaticity, and capacity of information processing, which free cognitive resources for other purposes; ∙ Greater breadth of content knowledge in a variety of domains; ∙ Increased ability to construct new combinations of knowledge; ∙ A greater range and more spontaneous use of strategies and procedures for obtaining and applying knowledge, such as planning, considering the alternatives, and cognitive monitoring.
Advances in executive function skills in preschool are linked with which of the following? (Select all that apply) academic achievement subsequent literacy and math skills school readiness general IQ attention deficit disorder
academic achievement subsequent literacy and math skills school readiness
In research done by Stephanie Carlson, under which of the following conditions did children become more flexible in their thinking? after being placed in a room alone with an alluring marshmallow after being giving a series of standardized tests after being taught the rules to several different board games after hearing about a topsy-turvy imaginary world
after hearing about a topsy-turvy imaginary world
Research has shown that ______________ of interests (such as trucks, trains, books, or reading) on particular items is influenced strongly by gender.
categories
The field of science that studies the links between development, the brain, and cognitive functioning is called developmental ______. biopsychology neurology clinical psychology cognitive neuroscience
cognitive neuroscience
Speed of repetition is a powerful predictor of ______ span. memory age brain life
memory
During elementary school years children use gist, and its use contributes to the improved ______ of older children. memory and reasoning reasoning and strategies memory and monitoring monitoring and knowledge
memory and reasoning
Miguel is a baby who has demonstrated that he can put all the red blocks in one pile and all the blue blocks in a different pile. What area of categorization has Miguel demonstrated? perceptual categorization recall categorization conceptual categorization cognitive categorization
perceptual categorization
Educational experiences have been ______ with better performance on memory tasks. inconclusively correlated causally linked positively correlated negatively correlated
positively correlated
Older adults tend to develop deficiencies in which of the following areas of attention? (Select all that apply) selective attention aspects of driving crystallized intelligence complex vigilance tasks
selective attention aspects of driving complex vigilance tasks
Conceptualization of metacognition includes which of the following? (Select all that apply) self-regulation emotional intelligence evaluation planning
self-regulation evaluation planning
Recalling who the U.S. president is and remembering the capital of Japan are components of ______ memory. implicit episodic semantic autobiographical
semantic
According to research, which of the following have been associated with the development of executive function in children? sensitive parenting high levels of parental education high socioeconomic status harsh parenting
sensitive parenting high levels of parental education high socioeconomic status
Research using the memory-span task suggests that ______-term memory increases during early childhood. short long action sensory
short
Which of the following best characterizes theory of mind? a study of the links between development, the brain, and cognitive functioning thoughts about how one's own mental processes work and the mental processes of others the idea that gist-based intuition serves young children and adolescents better than analytical thinking the ability to be alert, mentally present, and cognitively flexible in life's everyday activities
thoughts about how one's own mental processes work and the mental processes of others
In which two areas of attention do older adults have more difficulty in comparison to younger adults? (Select all that apply) divided attention vigilance executive attention selective attention
vigilance selective attention
When are older adults more likely to remember the source of information? when it is important to them when it is less relevant to them when they have received training when they are rested
when it is important to them
Three important factors associated with cohort effects on cognitive functioning are ______, ______, and ______. work health media education
work health education
strategy construction
Creation of new procedures for processing information. For example, children become more proficient readers when they develop the strategy of stopping periodically to take stock of what they have read so far.
expertise
Having extensive, highly organized knowledge and understanding of a particular domain. Because it takes so long to attain, expertise shows up more often among middle-aged or older adults than among younger adults. Individuals may be experts in areas as diverse as physics, art, or knowledge of wine. Whatever their area of expertise, within that domain experts tend to process information differently from the way novices do. Here are some of the characteristics that distinguish experts from novices: ∙ Experts are more likely to rely on their accumulated experience to solve problems. ∙ Experts often process information automatically and analyze it more efficiently when solving a problem in their domain than novices do. ∙ Experts have better strategies and shortcuts for solving problems in their domain than novices do. ∙ Experts are more creative and flexible in solving problems in their domain than novices are.
Baddeley's working memory model
In this model, working memory is like a mental workbench where a great deal of information processing is carried out. Working memory consists of three main components. The phonological loop and visuospatial working memory serve as assistants, helping the central executive do its work. Input from sensory memory goes to the phonological loop, where information about speech is stored and rehearsal takes place, and visuospatial working memory, where visual and spatial information, including imagery, are stored. Working memory is a limited-capacity system, and information is stored there for only a brief time. Working memory interacts with long-term memory, using information from long-term memory in its work and transmitting information to long-term memory for longer storage.
Memory and Aging
Most, but not all, aspects of memory decline during late adulthood. The decline occurs primarily in explicit, episodic, and working memory, not in semantic memory or implicit memory. A decline in perceptual speed is associated with memory decline. Successful aging does not mean eliminating memory decline altogether, but it does mean reducing or slowing the decline and adapting to it. Older adults can use certain strategies to reduce memory decline. Researchers have found that strategies involving elaboration and self-referential processing are effective in improving the memory of older adults, actually helping older adults' memory more than younger adults' memory. And in another study, using compensation strategies (for example, managing appointments by routinely writing them on a calendar) was associated with higher levels of independence in everyday function in cognitively normal older adults as well as older adults with mild cognitive impairment. Also, a recent study confirmed that when older adults engaged in higher levels of physical activity their memory improved.
automaticity
The ability to process information with little or no effort. Practice allows children to encode increasing amounts of information automatically. For example, once children have learned to read well, they do not think about each letter in a word as a letter; instead, they encode whole words. Once a task is automatic, it does not require conscious effort. As a result, as information processing becomes more automatic, we can complete tasks more quickly and handle more than one task at a time. If you did not encode words automatically but instead read this page by focusing your attention on each letter in each word, imagine how long it would take you to read it.
source memory
The ability to remember where something was learned. The contexts of source memory might be the physical setting, emotions experienced, or the identity of the speaker. Failures of source memory increase with age during the adult years. Such failures can be embarrassing, as when an older adult forgets who told a joke and retells it to the source. However, researchers have found that when information is more relevant to older adults, age differences in source memory are less robust. Further, a recent study found that older adults with better source memory were characterized by healthy cardiovascular markers and psychological traits (higher achievement, less depression, for example) while lower source memory was predicted by relevant life experiences such as being retired and drinking heavily. And a recent study indicated that older adults with good retrieval strategies had no deficits in source memory.
theory of mind
Thoughts about how one's own mental processes work and the mental processes of others. Even young children are curious about the nature of the human mind. They have a theory of mind, which refers to awareness of one's own mental processes and the mental processes of others. Studies of theory of mind view the child as "a thinker who is trying to explain, predict, and understand people's thoughts, feelings, and utterances." One of the landmark developments in understanding others' desires is recognizing that someone else may have desires that differ from one's own. Eighteen-month-olds understand that their own food preferences may not match the preferences of others—they will give an adult the food to which she says "Yummy!" even if the food is something that the infants detest. As they get older, they can verbalize that they themselves do not like something but an adult might like it. Between the ages of 3 and 5, children come to understand that the mind can represent objects and events accurately or inaccurately. The realization that people can have false beliefs—beliefs that are not true—develops in a majority of children by the time they are 5 years old. One individual difference in understanding the mind involves autism. Autism can usually be diagnosed by the age of 3 years and sometimes earlier. Children with autism show a number of behaviors different from other children their age, including deficits in theory of mind, social interaction, and communication. A recent study found that theory of mind predicted the severity of autism in children.
Which of the following best characterizes the concept of terminal decline? At a certain point, there can be no increases in cognition. Cognitive functioning can be increased by improvements in health and exercise. Changes in cognitive activity patterns might result in disuse and atrophy of cognitive skills. Time to death is a good predictor of cognitive decline.
Time to death is a good predictor of cognitive decline.
True or false: Research has shown that categorization is influenced strongly by gender. True False
True
