1.1 cognitive development Flashcards
can cognitive develop be observed?
no not directly but it is inferred from observable behaviour
Piaget’s definition of cognitive development?
a process of adaptation to the changing world around us
what is adaptation?
taking in, processing, organising and using new info in ways which enable us to adjust to changes in our environment through assimilation and accomodation
what is assimilation?
the process of taking in new info and fitting it into and making it part of a pre-existing mental idea about objects or experiences
example of assimilation?
a young child may see a truck and call it a car, simply because a car is the only type of vehicle for which the child has a pre-existing mental idea
what is accomodation?
when we can’t assimilate new info into a pre-existing mental idea so we change a pre-existing mental idea in order to fit new info
more advanced than assimilation
what is a schema?
a mental idea of what something is and how to act on it
what are Piaget’s basic building blocks of intelligent behaviour that allows us to understand and respond to situations?
assimilation, accomodation, schema
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
a predictable sequence of 4 diff stages in developing our thinking and associated mental abilities
Names of the stages of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
Age range of the sensorimotor stage?
birth - 2yrs (infancy)
Age range of preoperational stage?
2-6 yrs
Age range of concrete operational?
7-11 yrs
Age range of formal operational?
12- adulthood
Sensorimotor developmental phenomena?
object permanence, goal directed behaviour
what is object permanence?
when an infant understands that objects still exist even if they cannot be seen, heard or touched
what is goal directed behaviour?
when infants behave in a way that enables them to meet a goal that they have purposefully planned
Eg they can reach for a toy
what is developmental phenomena?
key accomplishments during a particular stage
developmental phenomena of the preoperational stage?
egocentrism, animism, centration, reversibility
what is egocentrism?
the tendency to see the world only from one’s own point of view and being unable to understand the perspectives of other people
towards the end of the preoperational stage, children slowly become decentred and begin to appreciate other peoples’ perspectives
what is animism?
the belief that inanimate objects have consciousness (have feelings or personalities)
what is centration?
focussing on one feature of an object at a time, leading to the exclusion of other features.
what is reversibility?
the ability to understand that objects can change and then return to their original form.
e.g. understanding how ice works
concrete operational key accomplishments?
conservation, mathematical transformations, classification
what is conservation?
the ability to understand that certain properties of an object can remain the same even when the object’s appearance has been changed.
This can be applied to any form of measurement, including volume, mass, number and length.
what is classification?
the ability to organise objects or events into groups or categories based on common features that set them apart from other groups or categories.
For example, a child can separate wooden, plastic and metal pegs from each other by differentiating them according to the material from which they are made.
developmental phenomena of formal operational stage?
abstract thinking, use of reason or logic and idealistic thinking
what is abstract thinking?
the ability to think and process information without seeing or physically manipulating objects; for example, when children use metaphors or use the scientific method to solve problems
understanding concepts such as justice, honesty, respect
what is logical thinking?
using reason or logic to consider alternatives to solve a problem and come to a reasonable conclusion
what’s idealistic thinking?
thinking and planning for futures and setting goals
also thinking about global issues and other social issues
what’s idealistic thinking?
thinking and planning for futures and setting goals
also thinking about global issues and other social issues
criticisms of Piaget’s theory?
probably described children as having morel limited cognitive abilities than they actually do- they can think and reason in more sophisticated ways
some key accomplishments have been found to occur much earlier in development than Piaget suggested
may have potentially overestimated young children’s language ability, leading Piaget to assume that wrong answers came from faulty thinking
child may have potentially misunderstood the task or did not explain their answer clearly
had a small number of participants
