Ch. 8 - Cognitive Development: Piaget's Theory, Case's Non-Piagetian Theory, and Vygotsky's Sociocultural Viewpoint Flashcards
What is cognition?
The activity of knowing and the processes through which knowledge is acquired
What is cognitive development?
Changes that occur in mental activities such as attending, perceiving, learning, thinking, and remembering
What is genetic epistemology?
The experimental study of the development of knowledge, developed by Piaget
What is cognitive equilibrium?
Piaget’s term for the state of affairs in which there is a balanced, or harmonious, relation
What is a constructivist?
One who gains knowledge by acting or otherwise operating on objects and events to discover their properties
What is a scheme?
An organized pattern of thought or action that a child constructs to make sense of some aspect of his or her experience; Piaget sometimes uses the term cognitive structures as a synonym for schemes
What is organization?
An inborn tendency to combine and integrate available schemes into coherent systems or bodies of knowledge
What is the sensorimotor period?
Piaget’s first intellectual stage, from birth to 2 years, when infants are relying on behavioural schemes as a means of exploring and understanding the environment
What is intelligence, according to Piaget?
In Piaget’s theory, a basic life function that enables an organism to adapt to its environment
What is adaptation?
An inborn tendency to adjust to the demands of the environment
What is assimilation?
The process of interpreting new experiences by incorporating them into existing schemes
What is accommodation?
The process of modifying existing schemes in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences
What is an invariant developmental sequence?
A series of developments that occur in one particular order because each development in the sequence is a prerequisite for those appearing later
Describe the reflex activity substage?
First substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; infants’ actions are confined to exercising innate reflexes, assimilating new objects into these reflexive schemes, and accommodating their reflexes to these novel objects
Describe the primary circular reactions substage?
Second substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; a pleasurable response, centred on the infant’s own body, that is discovered by chance and performed over and over
Describe the secondary circular reactions substage?
Third substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; a pleasurable response, centred on an external object, that is discovered by chance and performed over and over
Describe the coordination of secondary circular reactions substage?
Fourth substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; infants begin to coordinate two or more actions to achieve simple objectives. This is the first sign of goal-directed behaviour.
Describe the tertiary circular reactions substage?
Fifth substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; an exploratory scheme in which the infant devises a new method of acting on objects to reproduce interesting results
Describe the inner experimentation substage?
Sixth substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; the ability to solve simple problems on a mental, or symbolic, level without having to rely on trial-and-error experimentation
What is deferred imitation?
The ability to reproduce a modelled activity that has been witnessed at some point in the past
What is object permanence?
The realization that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible or detectable through the other senses
What is the A-not-B error?
Tendency of 8- to 12-month-olds to search for a hidden object where they previously found it even after they have seen it moved to a new location
According to Piaget, what does the term ‘accommodation’ refer to?
a. the modification or distortion of new information in order to incorporate it into current schemes
b. the fact that every structure has its genesis in previous structures
c. the tendency to integrate structures into higher-order systems of structures
d. the changing of a current scheme in order to incorporate new information
d. the changing of a current scheme in order to incorporate new information
According to Piaget, what does the term ‘cognitive equilibration’ refer to?
a. the tendency to integrate structures into higher-order systems or structures
b. the individual seeking to stabilize his or her cognitive structures
c. the tendency to modify structures in order to incorporate new information into existing structures
d. the fact that every structure has its genesis (i.e., its origins) in earlier structures
b. the individual seeking to stabilize his or her cognitive structures
Professor Johanson believes that children’s thinking follows an invariant developmental sequence. Does Professor Johanson generally agree or disagree with Piaget?
a. Professor Johanson agrees with Piaget and is a stage theorist.
b. Professor Johanson agrees with Piaget and is not a stage theorist.
c. Professor Johanson disagrees with Piaget and believes that children’s thinking is uneven at different times of development.
d. Professor Johanson disagrees with Piaget and believes that children’s thinking strongly reflects sociocultural influence.
a. Professor Johanson agrees with Piaget and is a stage theorist.
What is neo-nativism?
Idea that much cognitive knowledge, such as the object concept, is innate, requiring little in the way of specific experiences to be expressed, and that there are biological constraints, in that the mind/brain is designed to process certain types of information in certain ways
What are theory theories?
Theories of cognitive development that combine neo-nativism and constructivism, proposing that cognitive development progresses by children generating, testing, and changing theories about the physical and social world
What is the preoperational period?
Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, lasting from about age 2 to 7, when children are thinking at a symbolic level but are not yet using cognitive operations
What is symbolic function?
The ability to use symbols (e.g. images and words) to represent objects and experiences