Chapter 6 - Theories of Cognitive Development

Question 1

Why is Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development influential?

Answer 1

Piaget’s theory is influential because it is learning that the acquisition of knowledge is interacting with the world

Question 2

What is at the core of Piaget’s theory?

Answer 2

Stages of development

Question 3

How did Piaget see cognitive development?

Answer 3

He saw cognitive development as a series of transformations - sudden changes that are observable over a brief period of time

Question 4

The ultimate driving force behind the cognitive development theory is ______ - the cognitive tool that investigates and interprets the world.

Answer 4

learning

Question 5

Cognition develops through ________ and _________ of mental structures

Answer 5

refinement; transformations

Question 6

What are schemas?

Answer 6

Schemas are mental systems that underline our intelligence

Question 7

The motivation for development comes from _____ the child

Answer 7

Within; intrinsic - the child seeks to understand more about the world

Question 8

What did Piaget deem the child metaphorically?

Answer 8

A child scientists because children are constantly wondering about their world

Question 9

Children are naturally _______ and and create _____ about how the world works

Answer 9

curious; theories

Question 10

True or False: Schemas never change

Answer 10

False: Schemas are continuously changing

Question 11

What is assimilation?

Answer 11

Assimilation is what happens if you’re exposed to a new stimulus you’ve never seen before. The scheme was changed as you gained the new information and adapted to it

Question 12

What is accomodation?

Answer 12

Accommodation is the opposite of assimilation, and its when you create a new scheme for new stimulation

Question 13

What was Piaget’s most central assumption?

Answer 13

In his own words, Piaget claimed that the child is an active participant in the development of knowledge, constructing his own understanding

Question 14

What are the 4 primary causes of cognitive development?

Answer 14

Maturation, physical environment, social transmission, and equilibration

Question 15

What are the 4 stages of Cognitive Development?

Answer 15

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational

Question 16

Explain the sensorimotor stage

Answer 16

This stage spans from birth to approximately 2 years of age, and begins with reflexive responding and ends with using symbols.

Question 17

What is object permanence?

Answer 17

Object permanence is understanding that objects exist independently

Question 18

What are primary circular reactions?

Answer 18

Primary circular reactions are simple repetitive behaviours involving the infant’s body

Question 19

What are secondary circular reactions?

Answer 19

Secondary circular reactions are repeating actions involving objects, and making interesting actions last

Question 20

What are tertiary circular reactions?

Answer 20

Tertiary circular reactions are when an infant tries out variations of actions

Question 21

Explain the preoperational stage

Answer 21

This stage spans from 2 years to 7 years old and is where children use symbols, such as words, gestures, and imagery but there are many errors in their thinking, which shows symbolic thought

Question 22

What is egocentrism?

Answer 22

Egocentrism is the idea that children see everything from their point of view

Question 23

What is animism?

Answer 23

Animism is when children tend to think things around them are alive, using their very vivid imaginations

Question 24

What is centration?

Answer 24

Centration is the idea that you centre yourself in your reality

Question 25

Explain the concrete operational stage

Answer 25

This stage spans from ages 7 to 11 and involves thinking based on mental operations, such as strategies and rules that make thinking more systematic and powerful. It focuses on the real and concrete, not the abstract and allows children to interact with the world in ways that involve planning.

Question 26

Explain the formal operational stage

Answer 26

This stage spans from roughly age 11 to adulthood and allows children to be increasingly able to think abstractly, and adolescents to think hypothetically.

Question 27

Whenever you see something that is phrased 'cross-culturally', there is a _______ component

Answer 27

genetic

Question 28

What are the teaching applications of Piaget's theory of Cognitive Development?

Answer 28

1. Facilitate rather than direct learning, 2. Recognize individual differences, 3. Be sensitive to readiness to learn, 4. Emphasize exploration and interaction.

Question 29

What are the weaknesses of Piaget's theory of cognitive development?

Answer 29

1. It underestimates cognitive competence in infants, and overestimates in adolescence, 2. some components are too vague to test, 3. The stage model doesn't account for variability, 4. It undervalues the influence of sociocultural forces

Question 30

What is Vygotsky's theory?

Answer 30

Vygotsky's theory, also known as the sociocultural perspective, says that cognitive development is inseperable from social and cultural contexts: intersubjectivity, and guided participation.

Question 31

What is intersubjectivity?

Answer 31

Intersubjectivity is when each person is learning from each other and changing their abilities based on those interactions

Question 32

True or false: Development is not one-sided

Answer 32

True

Question 33

What is guided participation?

Answer 33

Guided participation takes place through the idea of the zone of proximal development

Question 34

What is the zone of proximal development?

Answer 34

Its the difference of what you can do alone versus what you can do with help

Question 35

What is scaffolding?

Answer 35

Scaffolding is the teaching side that matches how much help you're going to give with the learner's needs

Question 36

What is Vygotsky's term for thought?

Answer 36

Inner speech

Question 37

What is meant by private speech?

Answer 37

Private speech is the things we tell ourselves to regulate our behaviour

Question 38

What is internalization?

Answer 38

Internalization is when the child starts to internalize the language and culture of the larger community - how to act in a culturally dependent society. Within the culture, the child starts to internalize the lessons

Question 39

What is mediation?

Answer 39

Mediation is a more capable individual and start to interpret a child's behaviour

Question 40

What is inner speech?

Answer 40

Inner speech is when we talk out loud to ourselves. As new ideas are formed, we enter the zone of proximal development

Question 41

What does the zone of proximal development tell us?

Answer 41

It tells us that the relationship between the student and the teacher is central to learning