Chp 12.3: Cognitive Development

Question 1

What did Piaget (father of cognitive development) believe about the cognitive abilities in children? (3)

Answer 1

Children are constructivists
• Learn through acting upon environment
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Younger children
• Not necessarily less intelligent
• Rather, qualitative differences in thinking
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Intellectual activity occurs because we are motivated to achieve cognitive equilibrium
• balance between cognitions (thoughts and beliefs) and environment

Question 2

Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory (How we gain/modify knowledge) (2)

Answer 2

Assimilation and Accommodation

Question 3

assimilation

Answer 3

in cognitive development, the process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas

Question 4

accommodation

Answer 4

in cognitive development, modifying belief systems to account for new info

Question 5

What are the 4 stages of Piaget’s Model of Cognitive Development?

Answer 5

Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete operational
Formal operational

Question 6

sensorimotor stage

Answer 6

0-2
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development in which children understand their world primarily through sensory experience and physical (motor) interaction with objects
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Important milestone: object permanence

Question 7

object permanence

Answer 7

the recognition that an object continues to exist even when it can no longer be seen

Question 8

preoperational stage

Answer 8

2-7
in Piaget’s model, a stage of cognitive development in which children represent the world symbolically through words and mental images, but do not yet understand basic mental operations or rules
-
Still working on egocentrism (can’t understand other’s perspective)
Fail conservation task

Question 9

conservation

Answer 9

the principle that basic properties of objects, such as their mass or quantity, stay the same (are “conserved”) even though their outward appearance may change

Question 10

egocentrism

Answer 10

difficulty in viewing the world from someone else’s perspective

Question 11

concrete operational stage

Answer 11

7-12
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development during which children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (i.e., “concrete”) objects and situations: logical thinking, manipulating numbers
-
Reality-bound
lack abstract, hypothetical thinking
Lack deductive reasoning

Question 12

formal operational stage

Answer 12

Above 12
in Piaget’s theory, a period in which individuals are able to think logically44 systematically about both concrete and abstract problems, form hypotheses, scientific thinking and test them in a thoughtful way

Question 13

What are some major criticism of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development (2)

Answer 13

• Underestimated certain aspects of infant cognition
• Tasks were tricky
Thus, may have interpreted performance as competence

Question 14

What are other methods for studying cognitive abilities in infants?

Answer 14

Habituation Studies
• Habituation
• decrease in response due to repeated exposure
• Dishabituation
• increased response (interest) due to change in stimulus
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to whether infants recognise a difference in things, test for object permanence

Question 15

Vygosky’s Sociocultural Theory

Answer 15

Much of learning occurs within cooperative or collaborative dialogue with more knowledgeable individuals

Question 16

zone of proximal developments (Vygosky’s Sociocultural Theory)

Answer 16

the difference between what a child can do independently, and what the child can do with assistance from adults or more advanced peers

Question 17

Scaffolding

Answer 17

Tailoring instruction in order to help a novice to learn more effectively

Question 18

theory of mind

Answer 18

beliefs about the “mind” and the ability to understand other people’s mental states

Question 19

emotion regulation

Answer 19

the processes by which we evaluate and modify our emotional reactions

Question 20

temperament

Answer 20

a biologically based general style of reacting emotionally and behaviourally to the environment