Define cognitive development and discuss the influence of biology and the environment on development.

What will be an ideal response?


Ans: Cognitive development refers to age-related changes in thinking and processing information from infancy through adolescence. It includes examination of the ways people of varying developmental levels acquire, process, store, and manipulate information. Some of these processes include perception, attention, memory, knowledge representation, categorization, language, thinking, reasoning, and decision making. These processes are important to academic skills, social cognition, and education. Biology is important to cognitive development, as it provides constraints through which context exerts its influence. For example, genes provide the opportunity, but environment is necessary for an individual to utilize this opportunity. Thus, there are cultural differences in cognitive development based on environmental factors and cultural values.

Psychology

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Yashiko is 16 months old and is from Japan. Gerhardt is 16 months old and is from Germany. When meeting new people, Yashiko demonstrates more stranger anxiety than Gerhardt. What is the most likely explanation for this?

Yashiko is female, and girls generally tend to exhibit stranger anxiety longer than males. Gerhardt's mother most likely carries him everywhere, so he feels more secure. Gerhardt is of German descent and therefore tends to be generally hardier than children of Asian descent. Yashiko has probably had fewer experiences with separation from her mother.

Psychology

The presence of a weapon during the witnessing of a crime often affects

A. attention and recall. B. auditory processing. C. language comprehension. D. all of the above

Psychology

Which country allows for more legal immigration than most other countries and has millions of illegal immigrants as well?

A. the United States B. Canada C. Germany D. Japan

Psychology

What is a major drawback of some continuing-care facilities?

A. requiring a substantial initial payment to secure housing B. not being homogeneous in racial or ethnic composition C. typically remote locations in unincorporated areas D. the type of care offered is not suitable for an older population

Psychology