chapter 6 Flashcards
assimilation piaget
occurs when new experiences are readily incorporated into a child’s existing theories
accommodation piaget
occurs when a child’s theories are modified based on experience
assimilation example
child has a family dog that licks their face and barks. when seeing a relatives dog and it does the same thing, it makes sense to the child
accommodation example
child sees at cat that somewhat resembles a dog but meows instead and rubs up against the child instead of licking. child revives original theory
equilibration piaget
the process by which children recognize their schemas and in the process move to the next developmental stage
according to piaget, these revolutionary changes in thought occur three times over the life span
at approximately 2, 7, and 11 and divides cognitive development into four stages
sensorimotor stage
spans birth to 2 years old, a period during which the infant progresses from simple reflex actions to symbolic processing
preoperational stage
spans ages 2 to 7 and marked by the child’s use of symbols to represent objects and events
concrete operational stage
spans ages 7 to 11, children being to use mental operations to solve problems and to reason
formal operational stage
extends from age 11 into adulthood, children and adolescents apply mental operations to abstract entities; they think hypothetically and reason deductively
object performance
the understanding, acquired in infancy, that objects exist independently of oneself
infants understanding for objects could be summarized
as out of sight out of mind
at about 8 months infants search for an
object that an experimenter has covered with a cloth but object permanence is still incomplete at this time
A not B error
if you hide an object under 1 container several times then see it hid under another container they usually look for the toy under the first container
egocentrism
refers to young children’s difficulty in seeing the world from another’s viewpoint
animism
a phenomenon common in preschool children in which they attribute life and lifelike properties to inanimate objects
centration
piagets term for narrowly focused thought that characterizes preoperational children (they get tunnel vision)
centration example
juice in glass example. where kids are focused on the level of juice in a couple and can see that in the same two glasses the juice level is the same but when one is poured into a tall glass they say that cup has more juice
mental operations
are strategies and rules that make thinking more systematic and more powerful
what drives us toward higher stages in piagets theory is
our need to make sense of our experiences, children’s constructions of reality depend on the knowledge available to them at that point in time
schemes
cognitive, mental structures that we create to represent, organize, and interpret our experiences
sensorimotor substances
stage 1 reflex activity 0-1 months
stage 2 primary circular reactions (repetitive behaviours focused on the infants own body 1-4months)
stage 3 secondary circular reactions (repetitive behaviours focused on external objects 4-8 months)
stage 4 coordination of secondary schemata (combination of different schemes to achieve specific goals)
stage 5 tertiary circular reactions (experimenting with properties of external objects 12-18 months)
stage 6 inventing new means by mental combination (combining schemes mentally, relying less on physical trial and error 18-24months)
concrete operational thinking’s is limited to
the tangible and real and the here and now. thinking abstractly and hypothetically is beyond
deductive reasoning
the ability to draw appropriate conclusions from facts
constructivism
the view that children are active participants in their own development who systematically construct ever more sophisticated understandings of their worlds
sociocultural perspective
the view that children’s cognitive development is not only brought about by social interaction but is also inseparable from the sociocultural contexts in which they live
cultural contexts organize cognitive development in several ways
culture often defined which cognitive activities are valued
culture provides tools that shape the way children think
higher level cultural practices help children to organize their knowledge and communicate to other
vygotsky saw development as
an apprenticeship in which children advance when they collaborate with others who are more skilled
intersubjectivity
mutual, shared understanding among people who are participating in an activity together
guided participation
cognitive growth results from children’s involvement in structured activities with others who are more skilled than they
zone of proximal development
the difference between what children can do with assistance and what they can do alone
scaffolding
a teaching style in which adults adjust the amount of assistance that they offer based on the learners needs
private speech
comments not directed at others but intended to help children regulate their own behaviour
inner speech
as children gain greater skill private speech becomes inner speech which is their thoughts
learning happens first through
interaction then through internalization
children gain the same knowledge on two levels
first: the social level - by experiencing it with others, maybe more experienced others
second: the psychological level - by making mental maps of what has been understood
information processing theory
a view that human cognition consists of mental hardware and mental software
mental hardware has 3 components
sensory memory, working memory, and long term memory
sensory memory
is where info is held very briefly in raw, unanalyzed form (no longer than a few seconds)
working memory
is the site of ongoing cognitive activity
long term memory
is a limitless, permanent storehouse of knowledge of the world
central executive (executive functioning)
refers to the executive network of attention and resembles a computers operating system
executive function includes three related components
inhibiting inappropriate thoughts and actions, shifting from one action, thought or task to another, and updating the contents of working memory
connectionist theories
information processing theories that view the mind as a system of network processors
core knowledge theories
the view that infants are born with basic knowledge of the world that is elaborated upon based on children’s experiences
