A book containing some of the latest & greatest developments & advances within the department of Psychology. Some for realism and knowledge, and some for quirkiness and abnormality. Enjoy the workings of my strange mind and the things I find interes...
Ever wondered where emotions came from? Or where hormone responses originated?
1. The Limbic System, located in various places near the center of the brain, controls hormone secretion, hormone responses, and emotions. The Limbic System consists of several structures all with their own specific functions.
The structures are:
1. Amygdala- Controls emotional responses, fear, and plays a part in memories and hormonal secretions.
2. Hippocampus- Moves memories from short term memory to long term memory, retrieves memories from long term memory, also helps with spatial reasoning.
3. Hypothalamus- Controls mood, temperature, hunger, and sleep cycles. Contains the glands responsible for regulating hormone processes throughout the body.
4. Thalamus- Serves as a switchboard for sensory input as it comes into the brain, sending it to the appropriate place when it is received. It also plays a role in attention.
FUN FACT: Abnormalities in the Limbic System have been linked to several disorders, most notably psychopathy.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
These stages do not occur at a definite age, and can occur slightly differently for each child, hence age ranges. However, they do always occur in this order, since each stage builds off the abilities learned in the previous stage.
Sensorimotor: This stage happens between birth and about 2 years of age. During this stage, the infant is using their five senses to explore the world and learn about the objects around them. During this period, an important ability is learned: the ability to understand that an object still exists when it is not in sight. This is known as object permanence.
Preoperational: This stage happens between about 2 and 6 years of age. During this stage, the child is developing the ability to think, though this is limited to thinking about themselves. The child is also learning language during this period, which allows thoughts in that language and also allows more self expression.
Concrete Operational: This stage happens between about 6 and 11 years of age. During this stage, the child is learning logic and how to apply it. The child learns how to interpret situations in a rational, objective way. At this point in development, thoughts are still fairly limited to personal experiences and senses.
Formal Operational: This stage begins at about 11 years of age and extends into adulthood. During this stage, abstract thought and reasoning develop. As the child turns into an adolescent and then adult, they are able to reason analytically, without emotion, and can begin to apply this reasoning to experiences which have not happened to them.
Concepts central to Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development:
Cognitive Equilibrium: A "mental balance", where there are no new ideas to adapt to and cognition has reached a point of comfortable understanding.
Assimilation: A new experience disrupts the equilibrium and is then incorporated into old structures of thought.
Accommodation: A new experience disrupts the equilibrium and the old structures of thought are changed to allow for it.
Piaget's Theory is not the only theory regarding cognitive development, and is not necessarily the most accurate. There are many other theories and there have been many studies since Piaget's initial one regarding how cognitive functions come to be.
