Chapter 4: Sensory and Perceptual Development: Cognitive development (Piaget)

Question 1

At what age do children become efficient in detecting boundaries between colours?

Answer 1

3-4 years of age

Question 2

What common visual problem do preschool children face initially that goes away by the time they’re in first grade?

Answer 2

Many preschool children have trouble seeing close up and are far sighted. By first grade, this goes away as their lends can accommodate better and they can focus effectively on close up objects.

Question 3

What is a possible reason for why most preschoolers far sighted?

Answer 3

They’re head is shape is still developing and the eyes are filling out their heads

Question 4

According to Piaget, what are the 4 stages that logical thinking evolves from? Briefly describe each.

Answer 4

1. Sensorimotor stage –> birth to 2 years. Infants use sensory and motor schemes to act on world
2. Pre-operational stage –> from 2 years to 7 years. Children acquire symbolic schema get?es such as language and fantasy. Use these symbols to communicate. Also a period of time where kids will experience “imaginary friends”
3. concrete operation stage —> from 7 years to 11 years. Children begin to think logically and become capable of solving problems
4. Formal Operations stage –> 11 years and older. Adolescents learn to think logically about abstract ideas and hypothetical situations

Question 5

When do children acquire semiotic (symbolic) function? At what stage of page’s cognitive development does this occur?

Answer 5

between ages 18-24 months. This indicates that children are in pre-operational stage once they start to show understanding of symbolic functions

Question 6

What are 3 aspects that children show during the pre-operational stage, according to piaget?

Answer 6

1. children use symbols proficiently
2. children still have difficulty thinking logically
3. at 2 or 3 years they begin to pretend in their play

Question 7

What are 6 types of Children’s play according to piaget? Briefly describe each

Answer 7

1. Sensorimotor play (~12 months) –> basic form of playing like putting objects in mouth and rattling objects
2. Constructive play (~2 years) –> actively constructing/ building something like building blocks
3. First pretend play (between 15-21 months) –> toy is used for actual purpose like bringing an empty cup to the mouth of a teddy bear and telling it to “drink” it.
4. Substitute pretend play (2-3 years) –> one step up in terms of complexity … taking a toy and changing its function in your mind as something else. i.e riding a broom and saying its a horse
5. Sociodramatic play (preschool years) –> playing house and assigning roles to people
6. Rule governed play (5-6 years) –> assigning roles that are done logically and according to rules (i.e. boy will be the father in ‘house’).

Question 8

What is conservation? At what stage do we see it emerge?

Answer 8

Conservation is the understanding that matter can change in appearance without changing in quantity.
- emerges in pre-operational stage

Question 9

What 3 types of arguments can children demonstrate their understanding of conservation with?

Answer 9

1. identity –> matter will retain
2. Compensation
3. Reversibility –> you can put matter back in its original stage

Question 10

What is egocentrism and when does it develop in the piaget’s cognitive development stages?

Answer 10

• egocentrism is a belief among young children that everyone sees and experiences the world the way they do
• inability to take the perspective of another individual
• develops in pre-operational stage
• involves using intelligence and visuospatial memory along with dynamic representations from the dorsal stream, all which are underdeveloped during pre-operational stages of development

Question 11

What is centration? When does it develop in piaget’s development?

Answer 11

centration is a tendency to think of the world in terms of one variable at a time.

• focusing on one property of a stimulus at a time
• explains why you have a hard time counting coins because they focus on the spread instead of the count and spread.

Question 12

What is animism?

Answer 12

a manifestation of centration.

- it is the belief that everything that moves is alive

Question 13

What is a criticism in piaget’s theory of pre-operational stage?

Answer 13

Piaget underrated children’s abilities to on egocentrism and perspective taking.
Some children as young as 14.5 months have ability to understand other people’s experiences
- by 2 or 3 they can adapt their speech or play demands of a companion