Cognitive Development: Information Processing and Intelligence Theories

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Chapter 4

• Cognitive Development Information Processing
  and Intelligence Theories

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Information processing theories claim that
cognitive development involves changes in
content, structure, and processing of
information.
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Information is retained in the sensory memory for
a very brief period of time - only a few
milliseconds.
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Short-term memory, or working memory, has a
limited capacity in time and amount of storage.
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Long-term memory has a large storage capacity and
stores information indefinitely.
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Attention span increases during the preschool
years.
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Current research defines attention as a set of
behaviors and processes.
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Automaticity is the gradual elimination of
attention in the processing of information.
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Selective attention is a process where children
become better able to focus their attention on
task-relevant information and to ignore
irrelevant information.
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Memory processes are involved in forming
emotional attachments to people.
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During the preschool and early elementary years,
children begin to use memory strategies to encode
or place into memory information that is
abstract, unfamiliar, or not meaningful.
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Rehearsal is the memory strategy where people may
repeat items over and over again.
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Elaboration is the memory strategy where people
try to construct a mental image of the items.
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Retrieval strategies are cognitive operations
used to recover information.
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Hamburger-Helper Paragraph (Figure 4.4)
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Expert versus novice studies compare the thinking
and problem-solving processes of experts and
novices.
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Childrens and Adults Recall of Numbers and
Chess Pieces (Figure 4.5
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Childrens prior knowledge can influence memory
processes in a number of ways.
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Metcognition refers to childrens knowledge and
understanding of their own cognitive capabilities
and thinking processes.
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One aspect of metacognition that improves
significantly during the elementary years is
metamemory, or knowledge about memory.
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There are age-related improvements in childrens
knowledge of how a particular learning strategy
can enhance recall or comprehension.
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Declarative knowledgeas children develop they
learn what strategies are available to help them.
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Procedural knowledgeknow how strategies should
be applied to aid learning.
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How can social interaction influence childrens
memories and strategy use?
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With the development of metacognitive knowledge,
children begin to regulate and control their own
learning activities.
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In order to increase alertness and attentiveness,
it is important to create a classroom environment
that is secure, attractive, novel, and
stimulating.
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Because memory capacities are limited, it is
important for teachers to help children organize
their learning experiences.
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The development of metacognition enables learners
to regulate and control their learning or to
become self-regulated learners.
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The classroom culture influences the ways
students and teachers interact and their shared
understanding of what is valued and acceptable.
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There is a wide range of variation in childrens
cognitive abilities within a particular age group.
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Psychometric or intelligence theories attempt to
identify the processes that explain individual
differences revealed on cognitive measures.
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The most common methods of assessing individual
differences in cognitive development are
standardized tests of intelligence and academic
achievement.
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The use of standardized tests of intelligence to
study individual differences in cognitive
development is known as the psychometric approach.
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Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, published
the first intelligence test in 1904.
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IQ 100 x MA/CA
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If a child has a score of 100, his or her
performance is average for that age.
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There is no widely accepted definition of
intelligence.
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Intelligence tests are thought to measure a
childs ability to learn or to apply
information in new ways.
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An achievement test is designed to measure what
children have gained from instruction at home or
school.
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Traditional approaches to intelligence testing
define intelligence as a single ability or
capacity.
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Terman and his followers argued that a general
intelligence, called g, underlies all cognitive
functioning.
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Crystallized intelligence is assessed by measures
of word fluency, general information, and
vocabulary and verbal comprehension.
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Fluid intelligence involves speed of information
processing, memory processes, ability to detect
relationships, and other abstract thinking skills.
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Robert Sternberg introduced the triarchic model
of intelligence.
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Componential intelligence involves such skills as
the ability to allocate mental resources, to
encode and store information, to plan and
monitor, to identify problems, and to acquire
new knowledge.
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Experiential intelligence involves the ability to
cope with new situations in an effective,
efficient, and insightful manner.
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Contextual intelligence involves the ability to
adapt to a changing environment or, more
important, to shape that environment to
capitalize on ones abilities or skills.
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Practical intelligence is the application of
intelligence to everyday problems.
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Gardner believes that each intelligence has a
unique developmental history, and it may be
governed by a distinct region of the brain.
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There is no one definition of intelligence.
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Whether an IQ test yields one or several scores,
it is assumed that these scores represent some
estimate of a childs cognitive ability relative
to other children of the same age.
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A standard deviation is a measure of the average
amount scores vary from the mean.
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A childs IQ score is bests thought of as an
indicator of how well that child will do in
school.
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A heritability index is a statistic that applies
to a population, rather than a trait or an
individual.
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Few child development researchers today question
the influence of the environment of childrens
intellectual development.
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Early evaluations of Head Start indicated that
almost all programs were able to produce
short-term gains in IQ scores.
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Poor children experience a number of conditions
that can negatively affect their cognitive
development, such as poor nutrition, inadequate
health care, overcrowded living conditions, low
parental education, and chronic stress.
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Many different terms are used to describe
individuals who have unique talents or gifts.
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Once they are identified, there are a wide
variety of plans for educating students with
special needs and talents.
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Acceleration is an approach that moves a child
ahead of his or her age in one or more curriculum
areas or grade levels.
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Mental retardation has both genetic and
environmental causes.
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Standardized tests of academic achievement are
often used to examine group differences in
cognitive abilities.
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One of the major shortcomings of research on
racial and ethnic differences in cognitive
abilities is that it fails to examine differences
within ethnic groups.
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The achievement problems of racial and ethnic
minority students are compounded by a schools
ability grouping or tracking systems.
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It is difficult to draw any firm conclusions
about gender differences in cognitive ability.
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Static assessments generally provide information
about the present state and existing skills of
students to teachers.
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Dynamic assessments involve two-way interactions
between students and teachers.
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It is generally believed that there is a growing
digital divide separating children from different
socioeconomic groups in the United States.
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