week 13 - cognitive development

Question 1

what is piaget’s stage theory?

Answer 1

development occurring through sequence of four discontinuous stages

Question 2

what are the four piaget stages? (what ages do they occur at?, and describe the stage)

Answer 2

1. sensorimotor (birth to 2 years): interacts with environment, manipulate objects, object permanence
2. preoperational (2 to 6 or 7 years): perception dominates thinking, symbolic functioning, language development, conservation problem
3. concrete operational (6 or 7 to 11 or 12 years): local reasoning applied to objects real or seen
4. formal operational (11 or 12 to life): think logically of potential events/abstract ideas and advanced reasoning

Question 3

what are the basic symptoms of ASD?

Answer 3

impairments in social functioning (eye contact), navigating give or take of group conversation (high to low IQ), difficulty processing visual and auditory information, decrease use of eyes in judging facial expressions, social difficulties, repetitive behaviours/language

Question 4

what are the four interconnected neuroanatomical structures ((and functions) the social brain consists of ?

Answer 4

1. amygdala: recognize emotional state of others, experience/regulate own
2. orbital frontal cortex: supports reward feelings around others
3. fusiform gyrus: detects faves and supports facial recognition
4. posterior superior temporal sulcus: recognize biological motion to interpret/predict actions/intentions of others

Question 5

describe the two neuroimagining devices used to diagnose ASD

Answer 5

1. functional magnetic resonance imaging: magnets measuring oxygen levels in the brain (more neural activity=more oxygen/blood flow in that area), this shows where brain activity occurs with excellent spatial resolution
2. event-related potentials: sensors on scalp measure group neuron firings in cortex and record small currents from neuronal activity, this shows when brain activity occurs with outstanding temporal resolution