Chapter 7 Information Processing Theory

thinking

The manipulating and transforming of information in memory is called

decision making

increases from childhood to adolescence when they can take a variety of perspectives, anticipate consequences, and consider the credibility of sources -lots of teens thinking is limited by fact that prefrontal cortex still developing

blend explanation

information from original event and post information can blend can lead to distorted eye witness reports

executive attention

involves action planning, allocating attention to goals, error detection and compensation, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances

older folks as eyewitnesses

less accurate than YA, more susceptibility to misinformation

implicit memory and aging

less likely to be adversely afflicted than explicit memory -early onset Azh first affects explicit memory then later on affects implicit

speed of info processing

limitation on information processing is the speed at which it takes place (everyday tasks constrained bc not enough time in a 24-hr day cycle) -speed influences what we can do with that information -can assess speed of processing by using reaction time task: ex. push a button everytime see a stimulus (light) or matching numbers to symbols on a computer screen -speed of processing important in infants: 5 m/o who were efficient in info processing had higher cognitive functions in preschool years

cognitive neuroscience and aging

links brain, development, and cognitive functioning -relies on brain imaging techniques fMRI, PET, DTI -aging in prefrontal cortex may decline WM, if not regularly using WM, neural connections in prefrontal lobe may atrophy -older adults may use delateralization (both hemispheres of brain for one task to compensate for age-related declines in memory, attention, and lang -hippocampus declines but lesser degree than frontal lobes -older adults more activity in frontal and parietal lobes on simple tasks as attentional demands increase, older adults less effective functioning -cortical thickness in frontal and parietal network predicts executive function -older person w more exercise had higher volume in frontal and temporal lobes -scaffolding: use of complementary neural circuits to protect cognitive functioning of aging brain

working memory

lots of info processing carried out here (more active than STM) limited capacity and info only stored here for brief periods of time -linked to child's reading comp and problem solving

false memories

malleable memory can be easily manipulated -led to ton of mid-80s hysteria over satanic ritual abuse. Based on "recovered" or "repressed" memory of childhood abuse that was uncovered from therapeutic practices

deferred imitation

the ability to remember and copy the behavior of models who are not present, shows that older infants can remember information over a long period of time -infants LTM gradually increases over first 2 years of life

attention

focusing on mental resources, attention improves cognitive processing, people can only pay attention to a limited amount at one time

selective attention

focusing on relevant information and ignoring irrelevant information

development in children theory of mind 2-3 y/o

from 2-3 y/o children understand 3 mental states, although very limited 1. perceptions: 2 y/o recognize that peers see what is in front of their own eyes, not the toddlers 2. emotions: can distinguish (+)(-) emotions 3. desires: toddlers recognize if they want smtn they have to go get it. Recognize people have different desires. 18 m/o understand differences in food pref

advances in executive function in preschool

high academic achievement and predicted mathematical gains in kindergarten -low income families in Ghana, executive function at 5 years predicted higher literacy and math skills across next 2 years -delay in executive decreases school readiness, new onset and worsening of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and depression at 6-12 y/o

exercises to improve children attention

(1) European countries (Hungary) use eye contact game and stop and go game. Eye contact: the teacher sits in the center and every child must catch teacher's eye before being permitted to leave. Stop-go: children must listen to specific signal (drum or beat) before stopping the activity (2) study showed 5 days of computer exercises improved attention in 4-6 y/o

several factors influence accuracy of child's memory

(1) child's susceptibility to suggestion (preschool children more susceptible) (2) individuals differ in susceptibility: children with less parental support, less self-concept, and insecure attachments can be more susceptible (3) interviewing techniques can distort children to recall salient events, false claims persist for ab 3 mo

teaching strategies adults can use to help children retain information

(1) repeat with variation and link early and often (2) embed memory-relevant language into teaching to improve achievement

information processing theory and steps

-(Piaget and Vygotsky) rejected Skinner's behavioralism (which focuses on links between a stimuli and behavior) information processing theory focuses on how people think -stimulus, attention, memory, thinking, response -effective information processing involves attention, memory, and thinking

studies about joint attention

-by 1st bday, babies can redirect parent's attention to objects that catch the baby's attention -extent to which babies engaged in joint movement at 9 m/o was linked to LTM -problems with joint attention as early as 8 months was linked to autism by 7 years old

changes in speed of processing statistics

-10 y/o 1.8x slower than YA on tasks like reaction time -12 y/o 1.5x slower than YA " " -15 y/o processing speed as fast as adults -study with 8-13 y/o showed speed processes increased with age and changes in speed processing preceded with increases in working memory capacity -9-14 y/o faster processing linked with increase in oral reading fluency -42-97 y/o, greater decline in processing speed linked with higher mortality rates

development in children theory of mind 4-5 y/o

-4-5 y/o understand mental representations may not be accurate, see people have false beliefs. study: 2.5 y/o got 80% incorrect answers 3 yrs + 8 m/o got 50% wrong

driving risks in older adults and speed of information processing

-50% of accidents in people over 50 occurred at intersections, only 23% of accidents occurred at intersections for people under 50 -intersections with yellow lights posed difficulty for older adults, adults less likely to crash if given advanced warning of 1.5 seconds before light about to change from green to yellow -older adults with cognitive impairments and slower processing speed is linked with unsafe driving acts

multitasking statistics

-50% people answer phone call while driving -13% read or write text while driving -high levels of media multitasking in adolescence can lead to poorer memory, increase in impulsivity, and decrease in volume of cerebral cortex

infancy memory

-6-8 m/o babies cannot recall picture of parents in their mind-memory very limited -as early as 2.5 m/o have very good perceptual-motor memory -young infants conscious memory very fragile and short lived (increases around second year of life) -6 m/o can only remember info from 24 hours prior while 20 m/o can retain info from 12 months prior -conscious memories increase during second year of life due to maturation in hippocampus (working memory) and the surrounding cerebral cortex especially the frontal lobes around 6-12 m/o -one study suggests children ages 2-6 m/o can remember information until around 1.5-2 m/o but some argue that is just implicit memory

childhood and adolescence attention

-6-8 y/o cannot sit longer than 15-20 mins, increases as they get older -child's sustained and executive attention increases during preschool years (preschool greatest increase in vigilance) -TV and video games can cause attention problems

explicit and implicit memory

-LTM includes implicit and explicit memory -explicit memory: explicit memory is (1) episodic and (2) semantic memory -conscious memory (declarative) -autobiographical memory is personal recollection of events and facts -episodic memory performance determined which individuals would develop dementia, mindfulness training can improve episodic memory implicit memory is procedural memory

sustained attention

-VIGILANCE, ability to maintain attention to a stimulus for a prolonged period of time -babies who have sustained attention at 10 months=better self-regulation at 18 months

aging and explicit memory

-YA have better episodic memory -older adults take longer to retrieve semantic memory but they ultimately do it. Semantic memory increases throughout 50s and slow declines in 60s -common memory problem for older adults is the tip of the tongue phenomenon -gap between episodic and semantic memory widens during middle and late adulthood

source memory

-ability to remember where one learned something (physical setting, emotional content, identity of speaker) failure of source memory increases with age -when info more relevant, age difference in memory less robust -better source memory characterized by health cardiovascular markers and psychological traits (high source memory higher achievement and lower depression...lower source memory retired and heavy drinking)

Metacognition in Adolescence and Adulthood

-adol increased capacity to monitor/manage cognitive resources to meet demands of a task -more likely to manage and better understand than children on how to deploy their attention to diff tasks -by middle age: adults have great deal of metacogn knowledge which combats decline -older adults overestimate daily memory problems more aware of and anxious about minor memory failures

development changes in theory of mind adol and adulthood

-adol more likely to engage in recursive thinking: thinking about what others are thinking -adulthood: retain TOM accomplishments they developed, adults don't always use TOM neglect to take other's perspectives into account declines in older adults

role of anxiety and memory

-anxiety can interfere with memory, high stress environment can lead to less recall of info -culprits faces were identified more if in low anxiety conditions -weapon effect: memory for details unrelated to gun were poorer, ppl attend to unexpected stimuli in a current situation and this impairs memory

early adulthood attention

-attention excellent in early adulthood -attentional skills, divided attention, and multi-tasking are similar to ones in adolescence

habituation/dishabituation

-babies display memory in habituation/dishabituation and preference for novelty paradigms (patterns) shortly after birth -infant's attention is closely linked with novelty and habituation...more baby looks at a stimulus the more habituated they become and more likelihood they become distracted or look at new objects -habituation/dishabituation can help parents effectively with their children: give them novel stimulus and repeat them often until infant stops responding

microgenetic method

-best way to understand how children learn, looks at how children acquire knowledge -children strategies are variable and develop gradually -discovered how children learn a particular issue in science or learn key aspects in reading

executive changes in adolescents and emerging adults

-big variations in cognitive functioning, adolescents determine their own development -cool executive function: conscious control driven by logic and critical analysis, hot executive function: driven by emotion, 12-17 y/o cool executive increased w age and hot executive functions peak at 14/15 then decrease -2 important aspects of executive functions: cognitive flexibility (young adolescents with greater understanding of metaphors was linked to higher cognitive flexibility in young adulthood) and cognitive control (increase during adolescence and emerging adulthood)

infancy attention

-by 4 m/o can selectively attend to objects -by 7-8 m/o looked away from overly simple or very complex things, prefer medium complexity -as baby gets older, preferred level of complexity increases (learn to process more complex things as they get older) -sustained attention evident as early as 3 m/o, length of sustained attention increases throughout infancy

children's LTM

-can be erratic but children can retain lots of info if given necessary prompts or cues -one aspect of children's LTM excessively studied is autobiographical memory

scientific thinking

-children tend to be more influenced by random events than by patterns, children have difficulty designing experiments to determine the cause of an event -skills scientists use (observation, graphing, self-regulation) not taught in schools

conjugate reinforcement procedure

-conditioning technique: used to demonstrate memory in infants as young as 3 months and can go on for as long as 2 weeks

cognitive development

-consistent with facts in biology, neuroscience research -computer analogy (computers very important to cognitive psychology-artificial intelligence) hardware: the physical brain (IQ, speed of thinking, size of storage) software: using strategies to maximize hardware

working memory and processing speed adults

-decline in WM from ages 65-89 y/o. WM increases childhood to YA, peaks at 45 and declines at 57 -processing speed decline in middle and late adulthood due to aging is linked w decline in WM -WM is plastic-training can increase through training (more for YA than older adults) aerobic endurance, longer encoding time, imagery strategies, and cognitive training for frontal and parietal lobe increased WM

conclusions of memory and aging

-decline in explicit, episodic, and working memory NOT semantic or implicit memory -declines in processing of speed linked with declines in WM -strategies, elaboration (elaboration can help older adults more than younger), and physical activity can improve memory

development in children theory of mind 5-7 y/o

-deepen appreciation of mind, Recognize people's behaviors don't necessarily reflect thoughts -middle-late childhood see one event can open multiple interpretations ex. before age 7 only one right answer was acceptable, not ok to have diff opinions

cognitive training

-enhanced problem solving capabilities in 70-80 y/o to increase level it had been at 60 y/o -cognitive skills can be restored to some extent -novel activities increase episodic memory...60-90 y/o iPad training 15 hrs/wk for 3 mo increased episodic memory and processing speed more than engaging in social non-challenging activities -there is a loss of plasticity in late adulthood -cognitive training increases mindfulness and maintain fluid intelligence

critical thinking

-executive function involves critical thinking, grasping deeper meaning of ideas -few schools teach students to think critically-spend too much time getting students to give a single correct answer. As a result many students think superficially and think only on surface of a problem

executive function and aging

-executive functions remain strong during early and middle adulthood...decline during late adulthood prefrontal cortex shrinks due to lower WM -impaired WM due to dysregulation of neurotransmitter GABA, variable for each person -less cognitive flexibility and cannot inhibit responses as well -women experience less decline in exec fxns, tai chai and aerobic exercise can increase fxn

experience-expectant processes and experience-dependent processes

-experience-expectant: neural connections that are made by all members of a species, given normal experiences -experience-dependent: made by unique experiences

gender differences in memory

-females more likely to recall episodic memory and more emotion-linked memory...remember things in greater depth and more elaborately -males better with visuospatial working memory tend to use schemas more and focus on overall gist on the information

metacognition

-good for math problems, critically think, and perform cognitive tasks

eyewitness memory

-highly unreliable, can be distorted by confirmation bias, event memory influenced by observer's expectations -Lindholm and Christianson (1998) participants expectations of ethnicity of criminal affected their memory for identity of perpetrator -Bartlett (1932) memory influenced by expectations because we possess a number of schemas in LTM that can distort memory

changes in speed of processing

-hm decline is dependent on health and exercise -increases from childhood to YA, declines after that -speed processing decline begins in middle adulthood and continues into late adulthood -reaction time increases at age 35, accelerates in 60-70s -studies have linked decline to multiple causes 1. breakdown of myelin 2. decline in fxn in brain/CNS 3. decline in neural connectivity or indirectly through change in dopamine levels or both

infantile amnesia

-inability to remember memories from first 3 yrs of life (fades around 8-9 y/o) could be from immaturity in the infantile prefrontal cortex and hippocampus key places for memory -current theories suggest in infantile amnesia comes from self-concept development, difference in language to communicate memories, and differences in how we encode information

factors to increase critical thinking in adolescence

-increase speed, automaticity, capacity of info processing, greater knowledge content, increase ability to construct new combinations of knowledge -adolescent critical thinking: many adolescents show self-serving bias in their reasoning

childhood memory

-increases in LTM and STM and usage of strategies -event memory based on scripts (form of schemas) -early memory is for general routines, not specific autobiographical experiences -parents can "teach" kids how to remember by interacting with them and putting experiences into narratives

executive function in children

-involves advances in inhibition, cognitive flexibility, goal-setting, and delay of gratification -topsy-turvy imagery likely helped young children become more flexible -better indicator for school readiness than IQ

gaze following

-looking where another person has just looked, occurs around 10-11 m/o -study using eye tracking equipment in 11-24 m/o found that joint attention was predicted by infants hand-eye coordination involving connection of gaze with manual actions on objects rather than gaze following alone

metamemory

-metamemory: individual knowledge ab memory imp form of metacognition -metamemory limited in young children. Don't yet understand recognition tests are easier than recall tests, don't understand gist recall is easier than verbatim, don't know related items easier to remember -preschool children: inflated opinion of memory abilities . Felt could recall all 10 items but did not know one. By elementary school start to reevaluate memory abilities -preschoolers little appreciation for importance of memory cues, by 7-8 appreciate more -memory abilities and skill in evaluating their performance on memory task increases 11-12 y/o

orienting/investigating process

-newborns can fixate on stimuli, older infants can scan patterns more thoroughly involves directing attention to potentially important locations and recognizing objects and their features (orienting/investigating processes of attention in characterized in first year of life) -attention from 3-9 m/o is more quick and flexible

adulthood memory

-older adults only show mild deficits in memory such as short term retention of word lists and event memory -researchers suggest this could be from slowing down of speed processing due to demyelination NOT memory capabilities

is training beneficial to adult's attention?

-older adults who participated in 20, 1 hour video game training showed increased alertness and decrease in distraction -yoga increased information processing -mindfulness meditation improved goal-directed attention

recognition and recall in children

-preschooler's recognition better than recall -recognition good in children depends on difficulty -child's recall is higher on cued-recall tasks, younger children needing more specific cued tasks before recalling information

vacant slot explanation

-related info from original event not stored in memory can lead to distorted eye witness reports

prospective memory

-remember to do something in future, declines with age -cause of decline depends on nature of task and and what's assessed -deficits occur more in time-based tasks than event-based tasks

incidental learning tasks

-selective attention has been used for incidental learning tasks (older children can ignore this information better than younger children) -strategies are costly in mental resource use, children with greater knowledge learn to use these strategies most effectively

parent/teacher roles in executive functioning

-sensitive parenting at 3 y/o predicted fewer executive function problems at 4 y/o -fathers autonomy support and secure attachment to mothers during toddler years linked to higher levels of exec fxn at 5/6 y/o -harsher parenting decreased executive functioning

adulthood, expertise

-shows up middle aged or older adults because it takes long to attain -process information different then novices: experts more likely to rely on their accumulated experience to solve problems, process info more automatically, better strategies

older adulthood attention

-simple vigilance and sustained attention in older adulthood is same as younger adulthood if tasks easy, but vigilance declines as complexity of tasks increases. Study showed sustained attention increased throughout YA after that remained unchanged through 77 y/o -older adults have more difficulty in driving, distraction, selective attention, and complex vigilance -study on drivers 72 or older drove worse if had lower visual attention scores -as demands of attention for tasks increases, performance and divided attention decreases

misleading questions

-source misattribution: memories from one source resemble those from another... misleading post event information may distort reports -misinformation effect smaller when participant given a source recognition test -misinformation effect can be due to reconsolidating (reactivation of memories from the past) due to increased connectivity between hippocampus and the amygdala

elaboration

-strategy engaging in more extensive info processing -make info meaningful, more personal -changes with age: adults more likely to use elaboration more spontaneously, verbal elaboration good for young elementary school children -elementary school children can be taught elaboration skills but are less likely to use these skills in the future compared to adolescents

how does good attentional skills benefit child's development?

-study with over 1,000 children confirmed that ability to sustain attention at 54 m/o linked to school readiness -ability to focus better at age 5 was linked to better academic achievement at age 9 -older children become better at shifting attention and their attention to relevant information increases to elementary/secondary school

joint attention

-two or more individuals focus on the same object or event -linked with sustained attention, memory, self regulation, and executive functions -requires (1) ability to track another person's behavior such as following the other person's gaze (2) one person directing another person's attention (3) reciprocal interaction (interchanging and exhibiting similar behavior) -occurs about 7-8 m/o continues to develop through first year of life -increases child's ability to learn from other people -joint attention and selective attention at 9 m/o predict vocabulary size at 12-15 m/o (but. sustained attention is a better indicator)

limitation in 3-5 y/o in understanding theory of mind

-underestimate when mental activities are likely to occur. ex. think that someone who is quiet is not thinking 5 y/o have difficulty reporting thoughts, cld not write down any thoughts they had in 20 sec, 8 y/o cld

salient vs relevant dimensions

1st way young children's control of attention is deficit -pre school children are more likely to pay attention to salient stimuli (stands out more), even if information is not relevant. -after age 6-7, children act less impulsive and reflect more, more relevant dimension

education, work, health

-work: grandfathers more likely to be manual laborers than our fathers health: type 2 diabetes higher cognitive impairments, Chinese study early-stage kidney disease associated with cognitive deficits, -decline in intellectual performance for older adults likely due to health-related factors rather than age -exercise increases cognitive functioning, diet linked to cognitive function

theory of mind and autism

1 in 68 have autism, diagnosed by 3 y/o or earlier -TOM predicted severity of autism -autism= deficits in TOM, social int, communication and repetitive behaviors/interests

long term memory types

1. declarative: stating facts, 2 types -semantic (general knowledge) and episodic (based off of events, know when and where but usually fragile and distorted 2. procedural: learned skills (i.e driving a car) implicit/non-declarative memory

assumptions of information processing

1. limited capacity: the amt of limit varies but everyone has one 2. 2 types of processing: automatic, effortless and strategic, effortful 3. executive functions: set of skills to carry out higher order functions process involved in planning and monitoring ex. est. a goal and documenting your progress, planning course of action, executing strategy 4. metacognition-"knowing about knowing" knowledge of one's own thoughts + actions (part of executive fxn) -WE choose what strategies we use to retain and retrieve information: children play active role in dvlpt

fuzzy trace theory dual-process model

2 systems (verbatim and gist) work parallel -using gist is more beneficial for adolescents -in risky situations important for adolescents to quickly get gists of a situation to protect adolescents from making risky decisions. -increases inhibition (self control) less risky situations

planfulness

2nd way young children's control of attention is deficit -although higher executive attention (improving their planning), preschool children use haphazard comparison strategy (don't examine all details before making a judgement)

executive functioning changes in middle/late childhood

3 important factors for 4-11 y/o 1. self control/inhibition: allow them concentrate and inhibit their tendencies to repeat mistakes, and resist the urge to do something they will regret 2. working memory: efficiently process the masses of info they will encounter in future 3. flexibility: flexible thinking to consider different strategies

3 mechanisms that create change in child's cognitive skills

Robert Siegler 1. encoding; getting information into memory 2. automaticity: ability to process info with little or no effort, practice increases automaticity 3. strategy construction: creation of new procedures for information processing

self-modification

Robert Siegler: children apply knowledge they have previously learned to adapt to new situations -part of self-modification is metacognition: "knowing about knowing"- knowledge of one's own cognitive abilities

memory span

STM very limited capacity (LTM unlimited) -assess capacity of STM by doing memory-span tests -tasks suggest that STM increases during childhood...2-3 y/o can only remember 2 digits while 7 y/o know 5 digits between 7 and 12 only recall 1.5 more digits -rehearsal and speed of processing important -when speed of processing controlled, 6 y/o same memory span as YA

multitasking

adolescents begin to multi task (example of divided attention) can do more than 3 tasks at once -although expands info adolescents attend to and forces brain to share process information, but can distract adolescent's attention to irrelevant info -high multi-tasking adolescents can store more info in STM and separate whats relevant vs irrelevant. This ability decreases as task complexity increases -controlling attention key aspect in learning and thinking in adolescence and emerging adulthood

theory of mind

awareness of your own mental processes and others

how well do adults remember information they learned in HS and college?

based on how well the material was initially learned. People who got an A in spanish 50 yrs prior remembered more than people who got a C 1 yr prior Spanish study: initial steep drop off with remembering info after 3 years, steady decline from 3 to 50 yrs, remember a little less than 50% of info after 50 yrs

own age bias

better recognition memory for one's own age group

divided attention

concentrating on one or more activity at the same time

thinking in infancy and childhood

concept formation and categorization -concepts: help generalize things, infants have concepts just don't know when exactly they arise...habituation experiment with 3-4 m/o infants showed they can group things together

culture and memory

culture can influence memory -cultural specificity hypothesis: culture determines what is relevant for a person (ppl will be more likely to remember relevant information) -influences autobiographical memory

individual differences

different children reach milestones in theory of mind executive function linked to theory of mind, predicted false beliefs -prefrontal cortex functioning influenced theory of mind, pretend play, social interaction, increased socioeconomic status, and older siblings w better TOM -better TOM=more popular better social skills

terminal decline

emphasizes changes in cognitive functioning linked more to distance from death or cognitive related pathology than to distance from birth -faster rate of cognitive decline occurred about 7.7 years prior to death -time of death good predictor of cognitive decline OT

executive function

encompasses a number of higher level cognitive processes linked to development of PREFRONTAL CORTEX -manages ones thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and self control

use it or lose it

failure to drive specific brain functions can lead to functional degradation -can maintain cognitive skills by reading books, cross words, etc. -important component of cognitive optimization that emphasizes how intellectual and socialization can buffer age related decline in intellectual dvlpt

delay of gratification

marshmallow experiment studied delay of gratification: -children who engaged in "cool thoughts" more likely to eat marshmallow later or when experimenter returned. Either rang a bell and received 1 marshmallow or wait till experimenter returned and receive 2 marshmallows. Children who waited engaged in "cool thoughts"-did any action to keep them from looking at marshmallow -children who delay gratification in preschool more academically successful, higher SAT scores, higher grades, and coped with stress better -as adults make more money, low BMI, happier, and law abiding -young children in 2000s waited an average of 2 mins longer than 1960s and 1 minute longer than 1980s -increase in delay of gratification due to increase in symbolic thought, technological advances, and more widely attended early childhood education programs

fuzzy trace theory

memory best understood by considering verbatim memory (precise details) and gist (central idea) gist=more fuzzy traces-during early elementary school switch to more gist which improves memory and reasoning bc fuzzy traces less likely to be forgotten

neural darwinism

neurons live and form synapses with other neurons -neural darwinism: competition with neurons to recruit other neurons

strategies for improving information processing

older children use rehearsal (repetition) for STM and organization and making info personally relevant for LTM...does not work for preschool children

reminiscence bump

part of autobiographical memory, adults remember things from their second and third decade of life more than any other decades -found more for positive events than negative

perceptual and conceptual categorization

perceptual categorization occurs early infancy...conceptual categories form 7-9 m/o -use object examination test to assess the presence of conceptual categories -infants advance in processing info through attention, memory, imitation, and concept formation...more gradual, less stage-like, and occur earlier than Piaget and other philosophies intended -9/11 m/o classified birds as animals and airplane as vehicles -study tested 11 m/o to 6 y/o and concluded that boys more passionate than boys with categorization

myelination

promotes faster transmissions -degree of myelination varies per region and increases with age and influenced by experience

long term memory

relatively permanent unlimited

short term memory

retention of info up to 15-30 seconds, without rehearsal

memory

retention of information overtime -basic processes are encoding (getting info into memory), storage (retaining information OT), and retrieval (getting info out of storage), any of these processes can fail at any time. Researchers study how these processes work

autobiographical memory

significant memories or events, increases during preschool years -volume of autobiographical memory linked to amount of self knowledge -children went from using 4 descriptive items to describe an event at 3.5 to using 12 items at age 6 -culture influences autobiographical memory -American mothers elaborate more on the past when compared to Korean mothers (could be why American children recall memories earlier)

constructing memory

sometimes our memory can be inaccurate -according to schema theory: people mold memories to fit information already present in their minds. schemas are ways to organize concepts/info -schemas influence how we encode, make inferences about, and retrieve information

contemplative science

study of how various types of mental and physical training might enhance children's development -mindfulness training, yoga, tai chi helped critical thinking

adolescence

study of risk taking behavior stimulated driving task, presence of peers increased risky driving by 50% in adolescents but no effect on adults (presence of peers activates brain's reward systems especially dopamine levels

solving problems

way to attain a goal, key to education is learning different strategies for problem solving -many strategies depend on prior knowledge -using analogies to solve problems: can occur as early as 1-2 years old

children as eyewitnesses

what children tend to recall tends to be accurate depends on: knowledge for the event and characteristics of interview, repeated recall can cause hypermnesia (enhanced memory of an event) -young children more susceptible to misleading questions compared to older children and can easily form false memories -deficits in source monitoring: children can confuse source of info which can influence susceptibility

imagery

works better for older children, create mental images to improve memory

Does processing speed matter?

yes, it's very important -processing speed is linked w competence in thinking -strategies learned through experience compensates for the decline of processing speed due to age -older children require less operating space for execution of cognitive processes than younger children which leaves more storage for other cognitive operations