psych test four chapter two

being able to introspect, for instance, may lead to periods of extreme self-absorption - referred to as what?adolescent egocentrismadolescent egocentrism results in two distinct problems in thinking that help to explain some of the seemingly odd beliefs and behaviors of teenagers. what are they?the imaginary audience, comes form having such a heightened sense of self-consciousness that you imagine that your behavior is the focus of everyone else's attention the personal fable, revolves around the adolescent's egocentric belief that his/her experiences are uniquea fourth way in which thinking changes during adolescence involves the ability to think about things in what?multiple dimensionsthe development of what is also made possible by an improved ability to think in multiple dimensions?a more sophisticated understanding of probabilityadolescents' ability to look at things in multiple dimensions also enables their understanding of what?sarcasma final aspect of cognition that changes during adolescence concerns a shift from seeing things in absolute terms - in black and white - to seeing things as what?relativecompared to children adolescents...are more likely to question others' assertions and less likely to accept "facts" as absolute truthstheorists who adopt a Piagetian perspective take a what view of intellectual development?cognitive-developmentalwhat do cognitive-developmentalists argue?that cognitive development proceeds through a fixed sequence of qualitatively distinct stages, that adolescent thinking is fundamentally different from the type of thinking employed by children and that during adolescence, individuals develop a special type of thinking that they use across a variety of situationsaccording to Piaget, cognitive development proceeds through four stages. what are they?the sensorimotor period (from birth until ~ age 2), the preoperational period (from ~2-5), the period of concrete operation (from ~6 - early adolescence), and the period of formal operations (from adolescence through adulthood)Piagetian theorists believe that what is the chief feature that differentiates adolescent thinking from that of children?abstract logical thinkingwhat question does the information processing theory propose?just what is it about the ways adolescents think about things that makes them better problem solvers than children?improvements take place in both selective attention and in divided attention. what are these concepts?selective attention: adolescents must focus on one stimulus and tune out another divided attention: adolescents must pay attention to two sets of stimuli at the same timewhat is working memory?the ability to retain something for a brief period of timewhat is long-term memory?being able to recall something from a long time agowhat is autobiographical memory?an aspect of long term memory in which adolescents' ability to remember personally meaningful events from earlier in lifewhat is the reminiscence bump?adults generally remember details about the people, places, and events they encountered during adolescence than those from other yearsa third component of information processing related to the observed improvements in thinking in adolescence is an increase in the sheer what of information processing?speedadolescents are more what than children?planful; they are more likely to approach a problem with an appropriate strategy in mind and are more flexible in their ability to use different strategies in different situationsthe major contribution to our understanding of what takes place in the brain during adolescence has come from studies using various imaging techniques especially which ones?functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)some aspects of brain development in adolescence are reflected in changes in brain (structure/function) whereas others are reflected in brain (structure/function)structure; functionscientists also have studied age differences in patterns of brain activity using a device that measures electrical activity at different locations on the scalp. what is it?electrocephalography (EEG)EEG can be used to examine changes in electrical activity in response to different stimuli or events. what are these changes called?event-related potentials (ERPs)research indicates that differences between the genders in brain structure and function are very (small/large) and what?small; unlikely to explain differences between males and females in the way they behave/thinkthe (similarities/differences) between males and females in brain structure and function before, during, and after adolescence are far more striking than the (similarities/differences)similarities; differencesthe brain functions by transmitting electrical signals across circuits that are composed of interconnected cells called what?neuronseach neuron has 3 parts. what are they?a cell body, a longish projection called an axon, and thousands of tiny antennae like branches called dendritescollectively, neurons and the projections that connect them are called what?gray matterthere is a tiny gap between the tip of one neuron's axon and another neuron's dendrite. what is it called?a synapsethe transfer of current across the synapse when a neuron fires is enabled by the release of chemicals called what?neurotransmitterseach neurotransmitter has a specific what that fits into a receptor for which it is precisely designed?molecular structurewhat is synaptic pruning?soon after birth, unused and unnecessary synapses start to be eliminatedsynaptic pruning results in what?a decrease in the amount of gray matter in the brainsynaptic pruning continues through what?adolescence; and is completely normal and necessary to healthy brain developmentgenerally the development of synapses proceeds how?a period of growth followed by a period of declinewhat is white matter?cells other than neurons that also play a role in transmitting electrical impulses along brain circuits; provide support and protection for neurons and compose a fatty substance called myelin that surrounds the axons of certain neuronswhat does myelin do?insulates brain circuits, keeping the impulses flowing along their intended pathways rather than leaking out. circuits coated in myelin carry impulses ~100x faster than non-myelinated circuitswhat is the growth of myelination called?myelinationwhen does myelination begin?before birth and continues into young adulthoodwhy is adolescence termed the "age of opportunity"?one of the most exciting new discoveries in neuroscience is that some areas of the brain may be especially malleable or "plastic" in adolescence - it is more easily shaped for better/worse by experience during adolescence than at any other time than the first few years of lifewhat is plasticity?the capacity of the brain to change in response to experiencewhat is development plasticity?the malleability of the brain during periods in which the brain is being built, when its anatomy is still changing in profound ways, as is the case in adolescencewhat is adult plasticity?relatively minor changes in brain circuits as a result of experiences during adulthood, after the brain has maturedthe brain goes through (significant/insignificant) changes in both structure and function during adolescencesignificantwhat is one part of the brain that is pruned dramatically during adolescence?the prefrontal cortexwhat is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?most important for sophisticated thinking abilities, such as planning, thinking ahead, weighing risks and rewards, and controlling impulsesbetter connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the what system leads to improvements in our ability to regulate our emotions and coordinate our thoughts and feelings?limbic system, an area of the brain involved in processing of emotions, social information, and reward and punishmenta different type of functional change results from changes, especially in the limbic system, in the ways in which the brain is affected by certain neurotransmitters. which two play important roles and what do they do?dopamine (which plays an important role in our experience of reward) and serotonin (which plays an important role in the experience of different moods)these changes in the functioning of the limbic system occur relatively (early/late) in adolescence, in contrast to the prefrontal cortexearlymuch of our current thinking about the nature of intelligence has been influenced by the work of Russian psychologist? who emphasized what?Lev Vygotsky (1930/1978) who emphasized the broader context in which intellectual development occursaccording to Lev Vygotsky's view , it is essential that we understand the nature of the _____________ in which an adolescent develops in terms of its demands for intelligent behavior and its opportunities for learningenvironmentwhat is the zone of proximal development?when young people, through a close collaboration with a more experienced instructor, are stimulated to "reach" for the more advanced level of performancewhat is scaffolding?the role of the instructor is to help structure the learning situation so that it is within the reach of the studentwhat does social cognition involve?such cognitive activities as thinking about people, social relationships, and social institutionsgains in the area of social cognition help account for many of the psychosocial advances typically associated with adolescence - advances in the realms of what?identity, autonomy, intimacy, sexuality and achievementwhat is mentalizing?the ability to understand someone else's mental stateas they develop a more sophisticated theory of mind, the ability to understand that others have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be different from one's own, adolescents are better able to do what?adolescents are better able to interpret the feelings of others and to infer their motives and feelings, even when specific info of this sort is not directly observableadolescents generally believe that social exclusion on the basis of gender orientation, nationality, race, or ethnicity is (right/wrong)wrongalthough the stereotype of adolescents is that they invariably come to reject the authority of adults, research shows that what instead is that adolescents increasingly distinguish between what?issues that authority figures have the right to regulate and issues that are their own personal choiceswhat are social conventions?the social norms that guide day-to-day behavior such as waiting in line to buy a movie ticketyoung adolescents often see social conventions as nothing but _________ ___________, and consequently, as insufficient reasons for compliance.social expectationsgradually, adolescents begin to see social conventions as what?the means by which society regulates people's behaviorresearch also finds that, with age, teenagers come to believe that there are situations in which it (may be/may not be) legitimate to restrict individuals rights to serve the benefit of the communitymay beseveral themes cut across the research findings from studies of different aspects of social cognition - the way we think about people, relationships, conventions, and rights. what are these themes?first, as individuals move into and through adolescence they become better able to step outside themselves and see things from other vantage points second, adolescents are better able to see that the social "rules" we follow are not absolute an therefore subject to debate and questioning third, with age, adolescents develop a more differentiated, more nuanced understanding of social normsthe main health problems of adolescents are the result of behaviors that can be prevented such as?substance abuse, reckless driving, and unprotected sexwhat is behavioral decision theory?decision making is a rational process in which individuals calculate the costs and benefits of alternative courses of action and behave in ways that maximize the benefits and minimize the costsaccording to behavioral decision theory, all behaviors, including risky ones, can be analyzed as the outcome of a process involving five steps. what are they?1. identifying alternative choices 2. identifying the consequences that might follow from each choice 3. evaluating the costs and benefits of each possible consequence 4. assessing the likelihood of each possible consequence 5. combining all of this information according to some decision ruleyoung adolescents' risky decision making is especially influenced by the opinions of their (peers/parents)peersone very important difference between adolescents and adults is that, when weighing the costs and benefits of engaging in risky behavior, adolescents are more attuned to the ___________ __________ than are adults.potential rewardsa number of studies have shown that adolescents' decision making is as good as adults when individuals are tested under ______ ____________, but that the quality of adolescents' decision making declines more than adults' when they are ___________ ___________ or ______________.calm conditions; emotionally aroused or fatigueda good deal of adolescents' risk taking takes place in contexts in which they are what?emotionally aroused, unsupervised by adults, and with their peersmore recently, several theorists have proposed models of adolescent risk taking that consider the ways in which two different thinking systems - one that is ___________ and ___________ and one that is __________ and __________ - interact to influence behaviordeliberate and logical; intuitive and gut levelthe most common approach to reducing adolescent risk taking is through what?classroom based education programs designed to teach adolescents about the dangers of various activities, about making better decisions, and about resisting peer pressure to engage in risky activites.