Cognitive development Flashcards
When does the Pre-operational stage occur?
2-7 years
What occurs at the pre-operational stage?
Mental imagery but with no principled thought and failure to decenter (broaden attention to the various aspects of a problem)
Define operational intelligence
Solving a problem by working through logical principles
Name 2 Piagetian tests designed to reveal the quality of pre-operational thinking
Conservation and Class inclusion
Define Conservation test
Understanding that changing the form or location of an object doesn’t change its mass, volume or amount
What response do (pre-operational) children give in a Conservation test?
The child gives an intuitive answer instead of working out the correct response based on operational thought
Why is operational intelligence necessary for a child?
So they can overcome egocentrism and free them of their highly subjective and intuitive view of the world
When does the concrete operational stage occur?
7-12 years
What happens in the concrete operational stage?
Principled thought confined to real-life problems
What happens when concrete operational children do a Conservation task?
They give the correct answer and are able to provide logical justifications for their answer- but it is confined to real-life problems
When does the Formal operational stage occur?
12+ years
What occurs in the Formal operational stage?
Principled thought applied to abstract problems
Name a Piagetian test designed to reveal the quality of formal-operational thinking
Hypothetico-deductive reasoning
What did Margaret Donaldson do?
Challenged Piaget’s theory and findings- showed when problems are rephrased children are able to pass conservation tasks much earlier than previously thought
What did Vygotsky emphasise?
The role of environment in development
What did Vygotsky propose?
Learning is motivated by a need to interact with others
Why did Vygotsky criticise Piaget’s stage theory?
He thought it was too individualistic
Define linguistic relativity
Language shapes the culture and culture shapes the language
What is the Zone of proximal development?
In order to learn something, the child needs to be cognitively ready
In terms of social transmission, what is scaffolding?
The parent creates support structures to aid children’s learning
Is Piaget’s view constructivist or social constructivism?
Constructivist
Is Vygotsky’s view constructivist or social constructivism?
Social constructivism
What is one problem with Piaget’s theory?
There’s little emphasis on social or emotional factors, nor on abnormal development
What is one issue with developmental research?
Relies on subjective interpretation
