cognition and development Flashcards
What two influences did Piaget believe that cognitive development was a result of?
- Maturation
- Environment
Define Maturation
The effect of the biological processes of ageing . as children get older, certain mental processes become possible.
Define Environment in terms of influencing cognitive development.
Through interactions with the environment, children’s understanding of the world become more complex.
What did Piaget believe about schemas?
- Children are born with a small number of schemas.
- During infancy they construct new schemas e.g ‘me-schema’ where a Childs knowledge about themselves is stored.
- with tie we develop schemas for other people , objects and more abstract ideas like morality and justice . occurs as a result of interactions with the environment.
What two ways did Piaget propose schemas become more complex?
Assimilation and Accommodation
Explain Assimilation.
Assimilation occurs when an existing schema is used on a new object.
Explain Accommodation
- This takes place in response to dramatically new experiences.
- Children adjust to these by radically changing current schema, or by forming new ones.
What was a key element to Piaget’s theory?
The motivation to learn.
According to Piaget why are we motivated to learn?
When our existing schemas do not allow us to make sense of something new.
What unpleasant sensation does motivation to learn lead to ?
Disequilibrium
What do we do in order to escape disequilibrium?
we adapt to the new situation by exploring and learning what we need to know in order to reach equilibrium.
When does equilibrium take place ?
once a learner attains sufficient understanding of a situation. it involves experiencing a balance between existing schemes and new experiences
