Chapter 7

Question 1

cognition :

Answer 1

the activity of knowing and the process through knowledge is acquired

Question 2

clinical method:

Answer 2

an unstandardized interviewing procedure by Piaget in which a child’s response to each successive question determines what the investigator will ask next

Question 3

scheme

Answer 3

organized pattern of action or thought used to deal with experiences

Question 4

organization :

Answer 4

In Piaget’s theory, a person’s inborn tendency to combine and integrate available schemes into more coherent or complex systems of knowledge; grouping or classifying stimuli into meaningful clusters

Question 5

adaptation :

Answer 5

In Piaget’s theory, a person’s inborn tendency to adjust to the demands of the environment, consisting processes of assimilation and accommodation

Question 6

assimilation :

Answer 6

Piaget’s term for the process by which children interpret new experiences in terms of their existing schemata

Question 7

equilibration :

Answer 7

In Piaget’s theory, the process of seeking a state of mental stability in which our thoughts (schemes) are consistent with the information we receive from the external world

Question 8

primary circular reaction :

Answer 8

During Piaget’s sensorimotor period, the infant’s repetition of interacting acts centered on his or her own body

Question 9

secondary circular reaction :

Answer 9

During Piaget’s sensorimotor period, the infant’s repetition of interesting actions on objects ex. shaking rattle to make noise

Question 10

coordination of secondary schemes :

Answer 10

During Piaget’s sensorimotor period, the infant’s combining of actions to solve problems, using one scheme as means to an end, as in battling aside a barrier in order to grasp a toy

Question 11

tertiary circular reaction:

Answer 11

During Piaget’s sensorimotor period, the infants experimenting with actions to find new ways to solve problems or produce interesting effects

Question 12

object permanence :

Answer 12

the understanding that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible or otherwise detectable to the senses, fully mastered by the end of infancy

Question 13

A not B error :

Answer 13

the tendency of 8 to 12 month old infants to search for hidden objects in a place they last found it (A) rather than in its new hiding place (B)

Question 14

symbolic capacity :

Answer 14

the capacity to use symbols such as words, images, or actions to represent or stand for objects and experiences; representational thought

Question 15

imaginary companions :

Answer 15

a play companion invented by a child in the preoperational stage who has developed the capacity for symbolic thought

Question 16

perceptual salience :

Answer 16

phenomenon in which the most obvious features of an object or situation have disproportionate influence on the perceptions and thought of young children

Question 17

conservation :

Answer 17

the recognition that certain properties of an object or substance do not change when its appearance is altered in some superficial way

Question 18

decentration :

Answer 18

the ability to focus on two or more dimensions of a problem at one time

Question 19

centration :

Answer 19

In Piaget’s theory, the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a problem when two or more aspects are relevant

Question 20

reversibility :

Answer 20

In Piaget’s theory, the ability to reverse or negate an action mentally performing the opposite action

Question 21

transformational thought :

Answer 21

In P’s theory, the ability to conceptualize transformations, or processes of change from one state to another, which appears in the state of operations

Question 22

static thought :

Answer 22

In P’s theory, the thought characteristics of the preoperational period that is fixed on end states rather than on changes that transform one state into another. Contrast to transformational thought

Question 23

egocentrism :

Answer 23

the tendency to view the world from the person’s own perspective and fail to recognize the others may have different points of view

Question 24

class inclusion :

Answer 24

the logical understanding that parts or subclasses are included in the whole class and that therefore the whole class is greater than any of its parts

Question 25

horizontal decalage :

Answer 25

P’s term to characterize that different cognitive skills related to the same stage of cognitive development emerge at different times

Question 26

Seriation

Answer 26

a logical operation that allows a person to mentally order a set of stimuli along a quantifiable dimension such as height or weight

Question 27

transitivity

Answer 27

the ability to recognize the necessary or logical relations among elements in a serial order (ex. if A is taller than B, and B is taller than C, then A must be taller than C)

Question 28

hypothetical deductive reasoning

Answer 28

a form of problem solving in which a person starts with general or abstract ideas and deduces or traces their specific; implications “if then” thinking

Question 29

decontexualize

Answer 29

to separate the demands of a task at hand from prior beliefs and knowledge

Question 30

adolescent egocentrism

Answer 30

a characteristic of adolescent thought that involves difficulty differentiating between the person’s own thoughts and feelings and those of other people; evident in the personal fable and imaginary audience phenomena

Question 31

personal fable

Answer 31

a form of adolescent egocentrism that involves thinking that oneself and one’s thoughts and feelings are unique or special

Question 32

postformal thought

Answer 32

proposed stages of cognitive development that lie beyond formal operations

Question 33

relativistic thinking

Answer 33

A form of postformal operational thought in which it is understood that there are multiple ways of viewing a problem and that the solutions people arrive at will depend on their starting assumptions and perspective

Question 34

dialectical thinking

Answer 34

an advanced form of thought that involves detecting paradoxes and inconsistencies among ideas and trying to reconcile them

Question 35

zone of proximal development

Answer 35

Vygotsky’s term for the difference between what a learner can accomplish independently and what a learner can accomplish with the guidance and encouragement of a more skilled partner

Question 36

guided participation

Answer 36

a process in which children learn by actively participating in culturally relevant activities with the aid and support of their parents and other knowledgeable individuals

Question 37

scaffolding

Answer 37

Jerome Bruner’s term of providing structure to a less skilled learner to encourage advancement

Question 38

private speech

Answer 38

nonsocial speech, or speech for the self, commonly used by preschoolers to guide their activities and believed by Vygotsky to be the forerunner of inner speech, or silent thinking in words

Question 39

imaginary audience

Answer 39

a form of adolescent egocentrism that involves confusing one’s own thoughts with the thoughts of a hypothesized audience for behavior and concluding that others share these preoccupations