Ch 4 Theories of Cog Development

Question 1

Piaget’s theory of Cog Develop?

Answer 1

the theory of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget, labelled Constructivist, which posits that cognitive development involves a sequence of four stages
1) the sensorimotor
2)preoperational
3)concrete operational
4)formal operational stages
that are constructed though there processes of assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium

Question 2

What does constructivist mean?

Answer 2

its the idea in Piaget’s theory that children construct knowledge for themselves in response to they experiences
“child as a scientist”

Question 3

Assimilation (Piaget’s theory)

Answer 3

the process by which people translate incoming information into a form that fits concepts they already understand

Question 4

Accommodation (Piaget’s theory)

Answer 4

the process by which people adapt current knowledge structures in response to new experiences

Question 5

Equilibrium (Piaget’s theory)

Answer 5

the process by which children (or others) balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding

Question 6

What are 3 sources of continuity (piaget)

Answer 6

Assimilation, Accommodation, & Equilibrium

Question 7

What are 4 sources of discontinuity?

Answer 7

1. Qualitative Change
2. Broad applicability
3. Brief Transitions
4. Invariant sequence

Question 8

Sensorimotor stage? whose theory?

Answer 8

Part of Piaget’s theory, this period (birth -2 years) in which intelligence is expressed through sensory and motor abilities

Question 9

Preoperational stage?

Answer 9

the period (2-7 years) within Piaget’s theory in which children become able to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought.

Question 10

Concrete operational stage?

Answer 10

the period (7-12 years) within Piaget’s theory in which children become able to reason logically about concrete objects and events

Question 11

Formal operational stage?

Answer 11

the period (12 years +) within Piaget’s theory inward hick people become able to think about abstractions and hypothetical situations

Question 12

object permanence

Answer 12

the knowledge that objects continue to exist even when they are out of view
(not present in sensorimotor stage)

Question 13

A-not-B error

Answer 13

the tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather than in the new location where it was last hidden

Question 14

Deferred imitation

Answer 14

the repetition of other people behaviour a substantial time after it originally occurred (occurs last half year of sensorimotor stage)

Question 15

Symbolic Representation

Answer 15

the use of one object to stand for another

Question 16

Egocentrism

Answer 16

the tendency to perceive the world solely from one’s own point of view

Question 17

Centration

Answer 17

the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event
(preoperational)

Question 18

Conservation Concept

Answer 18

the idea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not necessarily change the objects’ other key priorities (preoperational)

Question 19

Are all of Piaget’s stages universal?

Answer 19

No, the formal operational stage is not. Some adolescents (and adults) dlm’t reach it. (think stupid people)

Question 20

4 big weaknesses of Piaget’s theory

Answer 20

1. vague about mechanisms that give rise to children’s thinking & that produce cognitive growth
2. Infants & young children are more cognitively competent than Piaget recognized
3. understates the contribution of the social world to cognitive development
4. depicts children’s thinking as being more consistent than it is

Question 21

Information Processing theories

Answer 21

a class of theories that focus on the structure of the cognitive system and the mental activities used to deploy attention and memory to solve problems
"child as problem solver"

Question 22

task analysis

Answer 22

the research technique of identifying goals, relevant information in the environment, and potential processing strategies for a problem

Question 23

Computer simulation

Answer 23

a type of mathematical model that expresses ideas about mental processes in precise ways

Question 24

How does children’s processing limitations develop according to information processing theories?

Answer 24

1) expanding the amounts of information they can process at one time
2) increasing their processing speeds
3) acquiring new strategies and knowledge

Question 25

Problem solving

Answer 25

the process of attaining a goal by using a strategy to overcome an obstacle

Question 26

Working memory

Answer 26

memory system that involves actively attending to, gathering, maintaining, storing, and processing information. Subset of one’s knowledge used at a given time.

Question 27

Long-term memory

Answer 27

information retained on an enduring basis. The totality of one’s knowledge

Question 28

3 major types of executive functions

Answer 28

1) inhibiting (of inadvisable actions)
2) Enhancing working memory
3) Being cognitively flexible (such as imagining someone else p.o.v.)

Question 29

Basic Processes

Answer 29

the simplest and most frequently used mental activities

Question 30

Encoding

Answer 30

the process of representing in memory information that draws attention or is considered important

Question 31

Rehearsal

Answer 31

the process of repeating information from multiple items to aid memory of it (5-8 Years)

Question 32

Selective attention

Answer 32

the process of intentionally focusing on the information that is most relevant to the current goal

Question 33

Overlapping waves theory

Answer 33

an information processing approach that emphasizes the variability of children’s thinking - proposing that at any one age, children use multiple strategies; that with age and experience they rely increasingly on more advanced strategies.

Question 34

Why might planning be difficult (information processing theories)?

Answer 34

it requires inhibiting the desire to solve the problem immediately in favour of first trying to choose the best strategy. May be overly optimistic about their abilities.

Question 35

Core knowledge theories

Answer 35

approaches that view children as having some innate knowledge in domains of special evolutionary importance and domain-specific learning mechanisms for rapidly and effortlessly acquiring new information in those domains

Question 36

Why do children’s attempts to deceive poke holes in Piaget’s theory?

Answer 36

if preschoolers were truly egocentric they would assume people have the same knowledge as they do- there would be no point in deceiving. the attempt to deceive indicates they have non-egocentric understandings of other people’s minds

Question 37

domain specific

Answer 37

information about a particular content are

Question 38

nativism

Answer 38

the theory that infants have substantial innate knowledge of evolutionary important domains

Question 39

What is Core-Knowledge theory

Answer 39

most prominent nativist theory, proposes that infants begin life with 4 core knowledge systems

1) represents inanimate objects & their interactions
2) the minds of people & other animals capable of goal-directed actions
3) numbers, of objects, events
4) spacial layouts and geometric relations

Question 40

Constructivism

Answer 40

the theory that infants build increasingly advanced understanding by combining rudimentary innate knowledge with subsequent experiences

Question 41

Sociocultural Theories

Answer 41

approaches that emphasize that other people and the surrounding culture contribute greatly to children’s development

Question 42

Guided Participation

Answer 42

a process in which more knowledgable individuals organize activities in ways that allow less knowledgable people to learn

Question 43

Cultural tools

Answer 43

the innumerable products of human ingenuity that enhance thinking

Question 44

Vygotsky’s theory

Answer 44

• Children as social learners, intertwined w/people
• intent on participating in social activities of their environment
• emphasis on gradual continuous change
• thought as internalized speech

Question 45

Private Speech

Answer 45

the second phase of Vygotsky’s internalization-of-thought process, in which children develop self regulation & problem solving abilities by telling themselves aloud what to do, much and their parents did in the first stage

Question 46

Michael Tomasello’s additions to sociocultural theory

Answer 46

1) humans have an inclination to teach others of the species

2) also the inclination to attend to and learn from such teaching

Question 47

Intersubjectivity

Answer 47

the mutual understanding that people share during communication (believed by sociocultural theorists to be the foundation of human cognitive development)

Question 48

Joint Attention

Answer 48

a process in which social partners intentionally focus on a common referent in the external environment

Question 49

Social scaffolding

Answer 49

a process in which more competent people provide a temporary framework that supports children’s thinking at a higher level than children could manage on their own

Question 50

Autobiographical memories

Answer 50

memories of one’s own experiences, including one’s thoughts and emotions.

“bird fly away” -child. “yes, the bird flew away because you got close and scared it.” Help kids encode key information

Question 51

Dynamic Systems theory

Answer 51

a class of theories that focus on how change occurs over time in complex systems- change is a constant.

Question 52

Motivators of development (dynamic systems theory)?

Answer 52

Curiosity to explore the world and learn, and well as interest in the social world and social interactions

Question 53

Centrality of action

Answer 53

Within Dynamics systems theory, it is the emphasis that actions themselves contribute to development throughout life. As thinking shapes actions, actions shape thinking

Question 54

Two prominent developmental issues in dynamic systems theory are

Answer 54

1) Self Organization: involving integration of attention, memory, emotions, and actions as needed to adapt to a continuously changing environment
2) Mechanism of change: changes occur through mechanisms of variation snd selection that are analogous to those that produce biological evolution