Chapter 7 Flashcards
cognition
the activity of knowing and the processes through which knowledge is acquired and problems are solved
clinical method
a simple question-and-answer technique used to discover how children think about problems
Schemes
cognitive structures - organized patterns of action or thought that people construct or interpret their experiences
organization
children combine existing schemes into new and more complex ones; the mind does not clutter with facts
adaptation
process of adjusting to the demands of environment; occurs through assimilation and accommodation
assimilation
the process by which we interpret new experience in terms of existing schemes or cognitive structures
accommodation
the process of modifying existing schemes to better fit new experiences
equilibration
the process of achieving mental stability where our internal thoughts are consistent with the evidence we are receiving from the external world - reduce mental conflict
neuro-constructivism theory
new knowledge is constructed through changes in the neural structures of the brain in response to esperiences
Vygotsky on culture and thought
cogniitive development is shaped by the culture in which children live and the kinds of problem-solving strategies that adults and other knowledgeable guides pass on to them
zone of proximal development
the gap between what the learner can accomplish independently and what she can accomplish with the guidance and encouragement of a more-skilled partner
guided participation
actively participating in culturally relevant activities with the aid and support of their parents and other knowledgeable guides
scaffolding
more-skilled person gives structured help to a less-skilled learner but gradually reduces the help as the less-skilled learner becomes more competent
private speech
speech to oneself that guides one’s thought and behavior - critical step in development of mature thought
human performance is dynamic
changes in response to changes in context (Fischer)
skill
a person’s ability to perform on a particular task in a specific context
developmental range
people’s abilities vary with context
object permanence
fundamental understanding that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible
A-not-B error
the tendency of 8 to 12-month-olds to search for an object in the place where they last found it rather than in its new hiding place
symbolic capacity
the ability to use images, or gestures to represent or stand for objects and experiences
primary circular reactions
infants repeat (circular) actions relating to their own bodies that had initially started by chance
secondary circular reactions
4 - 8 months; infants derive pleasure from repeatedly performing an action using an object (secondary) in its external environment
coordination of secondary schemes
8 to 12 months; infants combine secondary action to achieve simple goals such as when they push an obstacle out of the way to grasp a desired object
tertiary circular reactions
12 - 18 months; infants experiment in varied ways with toys, exploring them thoroughly and learning all about their properties
imaginary companions
some children - especially firstborns - and only children who do not have ready access to play companions invent these
perceptual salience
most obvious features of an object or situation - children can be fooled by appearances (a person dressed as Santa Claus)
conservation
idea that certain properties of an object or substance do not change when its appearance is altered in some superficial way
decentration
the ability to focus on two or more dimensions of a problem at once
centration
tendency to center attention on a single aspect of the problem
reversibility
the process of mentally undoing or reversing an action
transformational thought
the ability to conceptualize transformations, or the process of change from one state to another
static thought
thought that is fixed on end states rather than the changes that transform one state in to the other
egocentrism
tendency to view the world solely from their own perspective and to have difficulty recognizing other points of view
class inclusion
the logical understanding that the parts are included within the whole
seriation
enables children to arrange items mentally along a quantifiable dimension such as weight or length
transitivity
describes the necessary relations among elements in a series
hypothetical-deductive reasoning
reasoning from general ideas or rules to their specific implications
decontextualize
separate prior knowledge or beliefs from the demands of the task at hand -use reasoning rather than intuition
adolescent egocentrism
difficulty differentiating one’s own thoughts and feelings from those of other people - imaginary audience and personal fable
imaginary audience
confusing your own thoughts with those of a hypothesized audience for your behavior
personal fable
tendency to think that you and your thought and feelings are unique
postformal thought
ways of thinking that are more complex than those of the formal-operational stage
relativistic thinking
understanding that knowledge depends on its context and the subjective perspective of the knower
dialectical thinking
detecting paradoxes and inconsistencies among ideas and trying to reconcile them
