Chapter 12: Cognitive Development and Schooling in Middle Childhood

Question 1

piaget’s view of cognitive development

Answer 1

development emerges in stage-like progression, reflecting a fundamental reorganization

Question 2

sigler, case, fischer view of cognitive development

Answer 2

view development as more continuous and less stage-like, reflecting gradual increases in children’s information processing capabilities from early to middle childhood

Question 3

5-to-7 shift

Answer 3

children go through a gradual period of transition from illogical and unsystematic reasoning of the preoperational period to the more logical and systematic reasoning to middle childhood

Question 4

initiative (children’s reasoning 5-7)

Answer 4

implies noticeable improvement over preoperational thought, but with lingering lapses in logic

Question 5

concrete operation

Answer 5

a new form of cognitive ability that enables the child to adapt to his or her environment with systematic logic

Question 6

decrease in egocentrism

Answer 6

helps children to understand that different people may interpret and react to the same situation differently

Question 7

conservation

Answer 7

children as young as 4 can understand

begin to show consistent conservation of matter, length, and number

Question 8

classification

Answer 8

classify objects hierarchically
children do not consistently indicate that the class must be larger than the subclass

Question 9

moral reasoning

Answer 9

what’s right and what’s wrong

Question 10

Piaget’s view of moral development

Answer 10

preoperational children –> amerial: unable to reason logically about the rules and concepts of right and wrong

Question 11

moral realism

Answer 11

first logical reasoning

inflexible view that behaviors are either right or wrong, no in-between

Question 12

immanent justice

Answer 12

notion that you always get punished for behaving inappropriately and rewarded for behaving appropriately

Question 13

autonomous moral reasoning

Answer 13

rules not irrevocably set by external authorities

Question 14

stage 1: obedience and punishment orientation

Answer 14

children believe that behaviors that avoid punishment must be good

Question 15

stage 2: hedonistic and instrumental

Answer 15

believing that behaviors are good if they meet ones personal needs

Question 16

conventional level of moral reasoning

Answer 16

children develop internal standards that reflect society’s values of what is right and what it wrong

Question 17

stage 3: good boy, good girl orientation

Answer 17

engaging in good behavior to gain adult approval or to avoid disapproval

Question 18

stage 4: law and order orientation

Answer 18

dogmatically believing that laws define what is right or wrong

Question 19

postconventional moral reasoning

Answer 19

enables individuals to think beyond specific laws to abstract principles such as justice, equality, and human rights

Question 20

stage 5: social contact orientation

Answer 20

believing that laws should be respected as the best way to balance individual interests against the needs of the group

Question 21

stage 6: universal principles orientation

Answer 21

believing the universal moral principles transcend laws made by man

Question 22

morality in the superego

Answer 22

mental structure that unconsciously guides child behavior

Question 23

limited capacity

Answer 23

each individual is constrained by a finite pool of mental resources that can be allocated to various thought processes

Question 24

effortful mental activities

Answer 24

mental activities that require more resources

Question 25

automatic mental activities

Answer 25

highly efficient, freeing up resources for other puposes

Question 26

three key aspects of children’s cognitive functioning

Answer 26

1. increased use of strategies to solve problems
2. expanding knowledge base or expertise in specific content areas
3. increasing awareness and control of their mental abilities