ECON 1050 Lecture Notes - Lecture 23: Frontal Lobe, Information Processing, Egocentrism

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Economics
• Course: ECON 1050
• Professor: Eveline Adomait

Document Summary

Human development can be divided into physical development (change in the body), personal de(cid:448)elop(cid:373)e(cid:374)t (cid:894)(cid:272)ha(cid:374)ges i(cid:374) a(cid:374) i(cid:374)di(cid:448)idual"s pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)alit(cid:455)(cid:895), so(cid:272)ial de(cid:448)elop(cid:373)e(cid:374)t (cid:894)(cid:272)ha(cid:374)ges i(cid:374) the (cid:449)a(cid:455) an individual relates to others), and cognitive development (changes in thinking). We know today that these simple either/or distinctions cannot capture the complexities of human development, where coactions and interactions are the rule. Theorists generally agree that people develop at different rates, that development is an orderly process, and that development takes place gradually. The cortex is a crumpled sheet of neurons that serves three major functions: receiving signals from sense organs (such as visual or auditory signals), controlling voluntary movement, and forming associations. The part of the cortex that controls physical motor movement develops or matures first, followed by the areas that control complex senses such as vision and hearing, and then the frontal lobe, which controls higher-order thinking processes. Lateralization is the specialization of the two sides, or hemispheres, of the brain.