Psychology 2040A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Mental Representation, Problem Solving, Egocentrism

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2040A/B
• Professor: Sarah smits-bandstra

Document Summary

Cognitive development: cognition: inner processes and products of the mind that lead to "knowing", includes all mental activities like, attending, remembering, symbolizing, categorizing, planning, reasoning, problem solving, creating, fantasizing. Schemes: organized ways of making sense of experience: change with age, at first, schemas are sensorimotor action-based patterns, later, schemes move to mental representations, mental representations: internal depictions of information that the mind can manipulate. Infants "think" with their eyes, ears, hand, and other sensorimotor equipment: not yet carrying out mental activities, 6 sub-stages, reflexive schemes, birth-1 month. Infant interacts with the world using newborn reflexes: primary circular reactions, 1-4 months, repeating chance behaviours motivated by basic needs, simply motor habits centered around the infant"s own body, limited anticipation of events (stops crying when sees mom) Secondary circular reactions: 4-8 months, skilled at reaching for and manipulating objects, actions aimed at repeating interesting effects (hitting at a mobile( Imitation of familiar behaviours: coordination of secondary circular reactions, 8-12 months.