MCAT Psychological Social Foundations Flashcards: 6b Cognitive Development Lifespan

What this deck covers

This deck focuses on 6b Cognitive Development Lifespan, giving you a quick way to review the definitions, rules, and examples that matter most for MCAT Psychological Social Foundations.

How to use these flashcards

Work through these flashcards in short sessions. Try to answer each prompt before flipping the card, then revisit any cards you miss until the explanation feels automatic.

Flashcard 1: What is theory of mind in child development?

Answer: Understanding that others have different mental states. Develops around age 4, crucial for social interaction.

Flashcard 2: Which concept best explains why children learn cultural norms through guided participation with adults?

Answer: Vygotsky's sociocultural theory. Emphasizes social interaction and cultural context in learning.

Flashcard 3: What is the key feature of Piaget's sensorimotor stage (birth to about 2 years)?

Answer: Learning via senses and motor actions. Infants explore the world through touching, grasping, and mouthing objects.

Flashcard 4: What is separation anxiety in early development?

Answer: Distress when separated from primary caregivers. Peaks around 10-18 months as attachment forms.

Flashcard 5: What is the defining feature of Alzheimer disease relevant to cognition across the lifespan?

Answer: Progressive neurodegeneration with memory loss. Most common dementia; plaques and tangles damage brain tissue.

Flashcard 6: What is equilibration in Piagetian theory?

Answer: Balancing assimilation and accommodation to reduce cognitive disequilibrium. This mechanism drives cognitive progress by resolving tensions between existing knowledge and new information through adaptive processes.

Flashcard 7: What is the key limitation of preoperational thought regarding viewpoints?

Answer: Egocentrism. Inability to see situations from others' perspectives, typical ages 2-7.

Flashcard 8: What is the primary cognitive achievement in Erikson's industry vs inferiority stage?

Answer: Developing competence through mastering skills and meeting expectations. School-age focus on achievement builds self-efficacy.

Flashcard 9: What is the key finding of the A-not-B error in infancy?

Answer: Infants persist in searching at old location, reflecting immature cognition. Shows limited working memory and executive function in infants.

Flashcard 10: What is assimilation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Interpreting new experiences using existing schemas. Fitting new information into existing mental frameworks.

Flashcard 11: What is the key claim of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory of cognitive development?

Answer: Cognition develops through social interaction and cultural tools. Emphasizes culture and social learning over individual discovery.

Flashcard 12: What is object permanence in the sensorimotor stage?

Answer: Understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight. This milestone indicates the infant's emerging understanding of the permanence and independence of the physical world beyond immediate perception.

Flashcard 13: Which Piaget stage is characterized by abstract and hypothetical reasoning (age range)?

Answer: Formal operational stage, about 12 years and older. Final stage where systematic, scientific thinking emerges.

Flashcard 14: What is Piaget's sensorimotor stage age range and core achievement?

Answer: Birth–2 years; object permanence. First stage where infants learn through senses and motor actions.

Flashcard 15: What is the core conflict in Erikson's identity vs role confusion stage?

Answer: Forming a stable identity versus confusion about roles and self. Adolescent crisis requiring exploration to establish coherent self.

Flashcard 16: What is egocentrism in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Difficulty taking another person's perspective. Young children assume others see the world as they do.

Flashcard 17: What is conservation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance. Understanding develops in concrete operational stage around age 7.

Flashcard 18: What is scaffolding in Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development?

Answer: Temporary support that is gradually withdrawn as skill grows. Like training wheels, helps learners master tasks beyond current ability.

Flashcard 19: Which pattern best describes intelligence across adulthood: fluid vs crystallized?

Answer: Fluid tends to decline; crystallized tends to increase or remain stable. Experience compensates for age-related processing declines.

Flashcard 20: Which type of memory is most associated with hippocampal development in childhood?

Answer: Explicit (declarative) memory for facts and events. Hippocampus crucial for forming conscious memories of experiences.

Flashcard 21: What is accommodation in Piagetian theory?

Answer: Modifying schemas to incorporate new information. Like reshaping the hole to fit a new peg - mental structures change to fit new info.

Flashcard 22: What is conservation in Piagetian cognitive development?

Answer: Quantity remains constant despite changes in form. Understanding that water poured into different containers stays same amount.

Flashcard 23: What is scaffolding in Vygotsky's theory?

Answer: Temporary support that is gradually removed as skill increases. Like training wheels - helps learners until they're ready to go solo.

Flashcard 24: What does a theory of mind refer to in child cognitive development?

Answer: Understanding that others have different mental states. Develops around age 4-5, crucial for social interaction.

Flashcard 25: What is centration in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Focusing on one salient feature and ignoring others. Leads to errors in conservation tasks like water in different glasses.

Flashcard 26: Identify the concept: a child can mentally reverse steps to return to an initial state.

Answer: Reversibility. This cognitive ability emerges in the concrete operational stage, enabling logical manipulation of transformations in problem-solving.

Flashcard 27: What is meant by cognition in developmental psychology?

Answer: Mental processes of knowing: perception, memory, reasoning, and language. This encompasses the foundational mental activities that evolve through developmental stages, forming the basis for understanding cognitive growth.

Flashcard 28: What is theory of mind, and around what age does it typically emerge?

Answer: Understanding others have distinct beliefs; about age $4$. Enables false-belief tasks and perspective-taking.

Flashcard 29: Identify the memory system most associated with age-related decline: episodic or procedural?

Answer: Episodic memory. Personal event memories decline more than skill-based memories.

Flashcard 30: What is the central idea of Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

Answer: Children construct knowledge via schemas that change with experience. Active learning through mental frameworks that adapt to new experiences.

Flashcard 31: Identify the Piaget stage: an adolescent evaluates abstract propositions and hypotheses.

Answer: Formal operational stage. Age 11+; systematic reasoning about abstract concepts.

Flashcard 32: What is the concrete operational stage age range in Piaget's theory?

Answer: About 7 to 11 years. Third stage where logical thinking applies to concrete objects.

Flashcard 33: What does the term "executive function" refer to in cognitive development?

Answer: Control processes: inhibition, working memory, and cognitive flexibility. These frontal lobe functions develop through childhood into early 20s.

Flashcard 34: What is assimilation in Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

Answer: Interpreting new info using existing schemas. Fitting new experiences into pre-existing mental structures.

Flashcard 35: Identify the Piaget stage: a child uses symbolic play but fails conservation tasks.

Answer: Preoperational stage. Ages 2-7; symbolic thinking emerges but logic is limited.

Flashcard 36: Which parenting style is high warmth and low control, often linked to impulsive behavior?

Answer: Permissive parenting. "Friend" parents who avoid setting limits or enforcing rules.

Flashcard 37: What is centration in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Focusing on one salient feature while ignoring others. Leads to errors like judging tall glasses hold more than wide ones.

Flashcard 38: What is Piaget's formal operational stage (age range and hallmark ability)?

Answer: 11+ years; abstract and hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Enables scientific thinking and systematic hypothesis testing.

Flashcard 39: What is Piaget's sensorimotor stage, and what is its approximate age range?

Answer: Sensorimotor: cognition via senses and actions; birth to ~2 years. First stage where infants learn through sensory exploration and motor activity.

Flashcard 40: What is animism in the preoperational stage?

Answer: Attributing life-like qualities to inanimate objects. Children believe sun "goes to sleep" or toys have feelings.

Flashcard 41: What is accommodation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Modifying schemas to incorporate new information. Like creating a new "bird" schema when seeing animals that fly.

Flashcard 42: What is the major limitation in Piaget's preoperational stage involving others' viewpoints?

Answer: Egocentrism. Inability to see situations from others' perspectives.

Flashcard 43: What is conservation in Piagetian theory?

Answer: Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in form. It reflects the child's grasp of invariance, recognizing that superficial changes do not alter underlying quantities or properties.

Flashcard 44: What is the information-processing model's view of cognitive development?

Answer: Development reflects increases in processing speed, capacity, and strategies. Like computer upgrades: faster processor, more RAM, better algorithms.

Flashcard 45: What is fluid intelligence, and how does it typically change across adulthood?

Answer: Novel problem-solving; tends to decline with age. Peaks in early 20s; involves processing speed and pattern recognition.

Flashcard 46: Which term describes a child's level of performance when aided by a more skilled partner?

Answer: Zone of proximal development (ZPD). Gap between independent ability and potential with guidance (Vygotsky).

Flashcard 47: What is conservation, and which Piaget stage reliably demonstrates it?

Answer: Quantity remains constant despite form; concrete operational. Understanding develops when children can decenter and reverse operations.

Flashcard 48: What is the defining feature of secure attachment in Ainsworth's Strange Situation?

Answer: Distressed at separation, soothed on reunion, returns to play. Child uses caregiver as secure base for exploration.

Flashcard 49: What is centration in the preoperational stage?

Answer: Focusing on one salient feature while ignoring others. Leads to conservation errors - child thinks tall glass has more water.

Flashcard 50: What is centration in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Focusing on one feature while ignoring others. Preoperational children can't consider multiple aspects simultaneously.

Flashcard 51: What is egocentrism in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Difficulty taking another person's perspective. Children assume others see the world as they do.

Flashcard 52: What is reversibility in Piaget's concrete operational stage?

Answer: Understanding actions can be undone mentally. Enables understanding that $3+4=7$ means $7-4=3$.

Flashcard 53: What is object permanence in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Knowing objects exist when not perceived. Major milestone around 8 months; peek-a-boo works because of this development.

Flashcard 54: What is Piaget's formal operational stage, and what is its approximate age range?

Answer: Formal operational: abstract and hypothetical reasoning; ~12+ years. Final stage enabling scientific reasoning and abstract thought.

Flashcard 55: What is Piaget's concrete operational stage (age range and hallmark abilities)?

Answer: 7–11 years; conservation and logical operations on concrete objects. Children can think logically but need physical objects to manipulate.

Flashcard 56: What is the zone of proximal development (ZPD) in Vygotsky's theory?

Answer: Tasks possible with guidance but not yet independently. The gap between current ability and potential with help.

Flashcard 57: What is conservation, and which Piaget stage reliably demonstrates it?

Answer: Quantity remains despite form change; concrete operational stage. Children understand same water in different shaped containers.

Flashcard 58: What is scaffolding in Vygotsky's sociocultural theory?

Answer: Temporary support that is gradually withdrawn as skill increases. Teacher adjusts help based on learner's current ability level.

Flashcard 59: Identify the Piaget term for changing a schema to fit new information.

Answer: Accommodation. Modifying mental frameworks when new info doesn't fit existing schemas.

Flashcard 60: What ability defines Piaget's preoperational stage (about 2 to 7 years)?

Answer: Symbolic thought with limited logic. Children can use language and pretend play but lack logical operations.

Flashcard 61: Which Piaget stage includes abstract reasoning and hypothesis testing (about 12+ years)?

Answer: Formal operational stage. Enables scientific thinking and hypothetical reasoning.

Flashcard 62: What is accommodation in Piaget's learning processes?

Answer: Modifying schemas to incorporate new information. Changing mental structures when new information doesn't fit.

Flashcard 63: What is egocentrism in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Difficulty taking another person's perspective. Children assume others see/think/feel exactly as they do.

Flashcard 64: What is centration in Piaget's preoperational stage?

Answer: Focusing on one aspect of a situation and ignoring others. Preoperational children can't consider multiple dimensions simultaneously.

Flashcard 65: What is centration in the preoperational stage?

Answer: Focusing on one feature and ignoring others. Preoperational limitation preventing understanding of conservation.

Flashcard 66: What is the hallmark of Piaget's formal operational stage (about 12 years and older)?

Answer: Abstract and hypothetical reasoning. Enables scientific thinking and considering multiple variables.

Flashcard 67: What is the preoperational stage age range in Piaget's theory?

Answer: About 2 to 7 years. Second stage marked by symbolic thinking but illogical reasoning.

Flashcard 68: What is the sensorimotor stage age range in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Birth to about 2 years. First stage where infants learn through senses and motor actions.

Flashcard 69: Which concept is shown when a toddler insists a tall thin glass has "more" than a short wide one?

Answer: Centration (leading to failure of conservation). Child focuses only on height, ignoring width compensation.

Flashcard 70: What is fluid intelligence across the lifespan compared with crystallized intelligence?

Answer: Fluid declines; crystallized tends to increase. Processing speed decreases with age while accumulated knowledge grows.

Flashcard 71: Which term best describes a child who cannot describe what another person can see from a new viewpoint?

Answer: Egocentrism. Cannot mentally rotate perspectives to see others' views.

Flashcard 72: What is conservation in Piagetian theory?

Answer: Quantity remains the same despite changes in form. Key concept mastered in concrete operational stage.

Flashcard 73: Which Piaget stage best fits a child who can reverse steps mentally (reversibility)?

Answer: Concrete operational stage. This stage (ages 7-11) features logical thinking about concrete objects.

Flashcard 74: What is object permanence, and in which Piaget stage does it emerge?

Answer: Knowing objects exist when unseen; sensorimotor stage. Develops around 8-12 months when infants understand permanence.

Flashcard 75: Identify the term: a child's balance between assimilation and accommodation.

Answer: Equilibration. Cognitive balance drives development through schema adjustment.

Flashcard 76: What is the difference between assimilation and accommodation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Assimilation fits to schema; accommodation changes schema. New info either fits existing mental structures or requires modifying them.

Flashcard 77: What is accommodation in Piagetian theory?

Answer: Modifying schemas to incorporate new information. Changing mental frameworks when new information doesn't fit.

Flashcard 78: What is conservation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Quantity stays constant despite shape changes. Key milestone showing logical thinking about physical properties.

Flashcard 79: What is the difference between assimilation and accommodation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Assimilation: fit info to schema; accommodation: change schema to fit info. Two ways we adapt schemas to new experiences.

Flashcard 80: What is the typical developmental pattern of processing speed across the lifespan?

Answer: Increases through childhood, peaks in early adulthood, then declines. Reflects neural myelination then age-related white matter changes.

Flashcard 81: What is assimilation in Piagetian theory?

Answer: Integrating new information into existing schemas. Like fitting a square peg in a square hole - new info fits existing mental structures.

Flashcard 82: Which parenting style is low warmth and high control, often linked to anxious or withdrawn children?

Answer: Authoritarian parenting. Strict rules without warmth; "because I said so" approach.

Flashcard 83: What is Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD)?

Answer: Tasks possible with guidance but not yet independently. Gap between current ability and potential with expert help.

Flashcard 84: What is the key new ability in the formal operational stage?

Answer: Abstract, hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Enables scientific thinking and systematic hypothesis testing.

Flashcard 85: What is Piaget's sensorimotor stage (age range and core achievement)?

Answer: Birth–2 years; object permanence develops. First stage where infants learn through senses and motor actions.

Flashcard 86: What is egocentrism in the preoperational stage?

Answer: Difficulty taking another person's perspective. Young children assume everyone sees what they see.

Flashcard 87: Identify the correct Erikson stage for adolescence: identity vs role confusion describes which task?

Answer: Developing a stable identity and sense of self. Adolescents explore values and beliefs for coherent self.

Flashcard 88: Which Piaget stage includes abstract, hypothetical, and deductive reasoning (about 12 years and older)?

Answer: Formal operational stage. Teenagers develop scientific reasoning and can think about possibilities.

Flashcard 89: What is the defining limitation of the preoperational stage?

Answer: Lack of operations: intuitive thinking with poor logical manipulation. Children can't mentally manipulate or reverse actions on objects.

Flashcard 90: What is the typical pattern of crystallized intelligence across the lifespan?

Answer: Increases through adulthood; relatively stable. Accumulated knowledge and vocabulary remain intact or grow.

Flashcard 91: What is accommodation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Modifying schemas to fit new information. Creating new category for "cats" when child learns not all animals are dogs.

Flashcard 92: What is the key cognitive ability of the formal operational stage?

Answer: Abstract reasoning and hypothetical-deductive thinking. Emerges around age 12, enabling scientific and philosophical thinking.

Flashcard 93: Which Piaget stage is marked by hypothetical-deductive reasoning and abstract thought?

Answer: Formal operational stage. Begins around age 11-12 with ability to think systematically about possibilities.

Flashcard 94: Which option best matches Vygotsky's view of cognitive development?

Answer: Cognition develops through social interaction and cultural tools. Vygotsky emphasized social context over individual construction.

Flashcard 95: What is Piaget's preoperational stage, and what is its approximate age range?

Answer: Preoperational: symbolic thought without operations; ~2 to 7 years. Children use symbols (words, images) but lack logical reasoning.

Flashcard 96: What is assimilation in Piaget's theory?

Answer: Incorporating new information into an existing schema. Fitting new experiences into existing mental frameworks.

Flashcard 97: What is the difference between fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence?

Answer: Fluid: novel problem solving; crystallized: learned knowledge. Fluid peaks in 20s; crystallized grows with experience.

Flashcard 98: How do fluid and crystallized intelligence typically change across adulthood?

Answer: Fluid tends to decline; crystallized tends to increase. Processing speed decreases but knowledge accumulates with age.

Flashcard 99: What is the sensorimotor stage in Piaget's theory (age range and key focus)?

Answer: Birth–2 years; cognition develops through sensory and motor interaction. First stage where infants learn through senses and motor actions.

Flashcard 100: What is assimilation in Piagetian cognitive development?

Answer: Interpreting new information using existing schemas. This process enables cognitive continuity by integrating novel experiences into pre-existing mental structures without alteration.