Chapter 6: cognitive development Flashcards
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
children actively construct their own cognitive worlds
schemes
actions or mental representations that organize knowledge
assimilation
using existing schemes to incorporate new information
accommodation
adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences
organization
grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order, smoothly functioning cognitive system
equilibration
shifting from one stage of thought to the next
sensorimotor stage
infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions. An infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage
- birth to 2 years
preoperational stage
the child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action
- 2 to 7 years
concrete operational stage
the child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets
- 7 to 11 years
formal operational
the adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways
- 11 years through adulthood
6 substages of the sensorimotor stage
- simple reflexes
- first habits and primary circular reactions
- secondary circular reactions
- coordination of secondary circular reactions
- tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity
- internalization of schemes
simple reflexes stage
this occurs in the 1st month after birth where sensation and action are coordinated through reflexive behavior, such as rooting and sucking. The infant begins to produce behaviors that resemble reflexes in absence of the usual stimulus for the reflex.
first habits and primary circular reaction stage
this occurs between 1 and 4 months of age where habits and circular reactions are something the infant repeats the same way each time
primary circular reaction
a scheme based on an attempt to reproduce an event that initially occurred by chance
secondary circular reaction stage
this occurs between 4 and 8 months of age where the infant becomes before object oriented moving beyond preoccupation with the self and imitates some simple actions and physical gestures
secondary circular reaction
actions are repeated because of their consequences
coordination of secondary circular reaction stage
this occurs between 8 and 12 months of age where the infant must coordinate vision and touch, hand and eye. Their actions become more outwardly directed and they readily combine and recombine previously learned schemes in a coordinated way.
-intentionality
tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity stage
this occurs between 12 and 18 months of age
tertiary circular reaction
schemes in which an infant purposefully explores new possibilities with objects, continually doing new things to them and exploring the results
internalization of schemes stage
this occurs 18 to 24 months of age where infants develop the ability to use primitive symbols
symbol
in Piaget’s model, an internalized image or word that represents an event
object permanence
the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched
A-not-B error
occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting a familiar hiding place (A) rather than a new hiding place (B) as they progress into the stage of secondary circular reactions
core knowledge approach
infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge systems
-space, number sense, object permanence language
-evolutionary
-built-in sense of morality
