Chapter 4 Flashcards
What do developmental theories provide?
A framework for understanding important phenomena
Developmental theories lead to a better understanding of what?
Children
Piaget’s Theory
Observations convey the texture of children’s thinking at different ages
First days of infancy through adolescence
Children actively shape their own development
Constructivist
Depicts children as constructing knowledge for themselves in response to their experiences
Child as scientist
3 of the most important constructive processes
Generating hypotheses
Performing experiments
Drawing conclusions from observations
Piaget’s Basic Assumptions
Children are mentally and physically active from the moment of birth, contributing to development
Children learn many important lessons on their own
Children are intrinsically motivated to learn and do not need rewards from others to do so
Nature and nurture do what in Piaget’s theory?
Interact to produce cognitive development
Nurture’s role in Piaget’s theory
Child gets nurturing from parents and every experience they are involved in
Nature’s role in Piaget’s theory
Maturing brain and body
Ability to perceive, act, and learn
Tendency to integrate observations into knowledge
Sources of Continuity
Assimilation
Accommodation
Equilibration
What do the sources of continuity do?
Work together from birth to propel development forward
Assimilation
Process by which people translate incoming information into a form that fits concepts they already understand
Accommodation
Process by which people adapt current knowledge structures in response to new experiences
Equilibration
Process by which children balance assimilation and accommodation to create a stable understanding
3 Phases of Equilibration
Equilibrium
Disequilibrium
Sophisticated Understanding
Equilibrium
Not seeing any discrepancies between their observations and their understanding
Disequilibrium
Recognize shortcomings in their understanding, but cannot generate a superior alternative
Sophisticated Understanding
Eliminates shortcomings of old, creating more advanced equilibrium
Sources of Discontinuity
Stage theory
Stage Theory
Products of the human tendency to organize knowledge into coherent structures
Properties of the Stage Theory
Qualitative change
Broad applicability
Brief Transitions
Invariant Sequence
Qualitative Change
Children of different ages think in different ways
Broad applicability
Thinking characteristics influences children’s thinking across diverse topics
Brief Transitions
Fluctuate between the type of thinking characteristics
