Chap 6 Flashcards
What is Piaget’s theory ?
Children in their natural curiosity about the world, make sense of their perceptual experience by generating theories about the world. Over time these theories develop with active engagement in their experiences.
What is a schema?
A schema is the psychological structures that children use to organize their experience into different mental categories
What is assimilation vs accommodation ?
Assimilation is adding to pre-existing schemas based on the acquisition of knew knowledge
Accommodation is the modification of pre-existing schemas when new information is acquired
For example: A child may learn that an object can be grasped, then that it may need two hands to grasp
What is equilibration ?
The process of reorganizing schemas to incorporate newly learned information or experiences. When a child’s established theory of the world is not compatible with new information, they seek equilibrium
At what ages does Piaget claim the 3 revolutionary changes of thought occur?
At age 2, 7 and 11
What are the stages of Piaget’s model of cognitive development?
- Sensorimotor
- Pre-operational
- Concerte operational
- Formal operational
Describe the difference between the preoperational and concrete operational stage
In the pre-operational stage (2-6), this is when words and numbers can be used to represent things in the world
In the concrete operational stage (7-11), logical operations and higher computational thinking can be applied to our experiences
What are the 6 substages to Piagets sensorimotor
- Exercising reflexes
- Learning to Adapt
- Making interesting events
- Using means to achieve ends
- Experimenting
- Mental representations
What are the primary, secondary and tertiary circular reactions ?
- The primary: At substage 2, babies will recreate a pleasant event with the body (a baby will touch their mouth and initiate finger sucking)
- The secondary: At substage 3, they learn about sensations associated with different objects
- The tertiary: At substage 5, they repeat old schemas but with new objects
What is meant by differed imitation?
At the 6th sensorimotor substage, the baby will begin to act out an experience or behaviors that they witnessed or learned from an earlier time
What is meant by the terms “naive physics” and “naive biology”
Physics: at a young age, children begin to understand the basic properties of physics and how objects move through space. The acquire an understanding that objects will collide on the same path and learn the concept of gravity.
Biology: children also being to understand basic biology in such the difference between animate and inanimate objects.
What is the information processing theory?
A theory where human cognition is compared to a computers hardware and software. The hardware are the cognitive structures inlcuding sensory, working and long-term memory. The software refers to our cognitive processes.
Describe the 3 components of memory discussed in the information- processing theory
- Sensory memory: Raw and unanalyzed information. For example, when you rapidly move your hand up and down the short lasting of your hand at the starting point is sensory memory
- Working memory: Active manipulation of information that is being inputted and known information. For example, when we read a sentence, we interpret the words in reference to what we already know
- Long-term memory: Includes the permanent storage of knowledge. For example, knowing that Canada is a country
What are 3 other forms of memory?
- Procedural
- Semantic
- Autobiographical
Describe the difference between habituation and dishabituation
Habituation: when the response to a specific stimulus decreases due to an over exposure of that stimulus repeatedly (developing a familiarity)
Dishabituation: when the stimulus that one was once habituated too suddenly elicits the previous response
