Cognitive development

Question 1

What are the four main traditions of cognitive development within developmental psychology?

Answer 1

Logical constructivism
Information processing
Nativism
Social constructivism

Question 2

What is the difference between Domain specific and domain general learning?

Answer 2

Domain specific learning:
Development is different for all fields.
Differently fast without connection
-> Evolutionary (bc of adaptation)

Domain generell learning (Piaget)
Conservation often is the same regardless of the area where its used.

Question 3

What is a module in developmental psychology?

what is its function?

how are they developed?

which direction of cognitive development do they belong to?

Answer 3

A module is a limited neurological unit for a specific function, which can have sub modules.

Modules help with distinguishing between various aspects of life.

They are seen nativistic, that means one is born with them and experience triggers their development, but some say they become distinct with age.

(e.g. language, spacial perception, social relations,….)

Question 4

What is a schema?
Which big subschema are there?
Why are schema useful?
Do they develop automatically?

Answer 4

A general/abstract concept that can be used in many different situations.

Action schema: used for acting/movement

Symbolic schema:
One can solve problems without having to have access to the object its self.

Operational schema:
Abstraction of situations and actions, doing al the fancy operations ^.^

Schema can be activated and adapted to different situations.

Schema develop automatically (nativistic) and without learning them directly.

Question 5

What are thoughts according to Piaget?

Answer 5

Internalized actions.

Question 6

In piagets logical constructivism theory, what drives (cognitive) development?

Answer 6

The combination of:

1. Maturation
2. Training
3. Social discourse

-> No point in finding out which is how strong

Question 7

What is assimilation according to Piaget?

Answer 7

Incorporating new information into an already existing framework without changing that framework

vs accomodation, where the framework has to be adapted

Question 8

What is accommodation according to Piaget?

Answer 8

Accommodation is when one changes or adapts the schema after an experience. This is often learning by failure.

vs Assimilation: fitting information into the schema!

Question 9

What does the “logic” in logical constructivism stand for?

Answer 9

It means that the knowledge pieces that are acquired are organized in relation to each other according to logical laws.

Question 10

What are the stages of cognitive development according to piaget?

(And ages?)

Answer 10

Sensorimotor stage (0-2)
Preoperational stage (2-7)
Concrete operational stage (7-11)
Formal operational stage (11-15)

Question 11

What are the six substages of the Sensorimotor stage of development according to Piaget?

Answer 11

0-2 years:
0-1 month:
Reflexes motivate for survival

1-4 months:
Random movements lead to success
(Brutforcing)

4-8 months:
Child (re-)uses sequences of movement for success
-> Goal and means get differentiated

8-12 months:
Child chooses between different actions.
Child begins imitating (immediate and later delayed - PreOp)

12-18 months:
Children begin using utensils
-> Objekt permanens begins

18-24 months:
The child develops mental models of objects and can solve physical problems with thinking.
-> Thinking begins
Child will search other places as well.

Question 12

What is the Preoperational stage of cognitive development according to Piaget and its substages?

Answer 12

Age 2-7
Thoughts get more abstract, but not completely (PREoperational stage)
Thinking gets detached from actions.
Precausal thinking

Symbolic function substage:
* Children play symbolic (pretend)
* Children are egocentric (no perspective taking)
* animism, artificialism and transductive reasoning

Intuitive thought substage:
Logical thought appears (less symbolic)

Question 13

What is the concept of centration?
What is the opposite of it?

Answer 13

It means that one (a child) focuses just on one aspect of an object (the main aspect), rather than many of its properties
(think water conservation experiment with height)

Decentration is when you can pay attention to multiple properties of something at the same time

Question 14

What is the concept of irreversibility?

Answer 14

That a child cannot mentally reverse a sequence of actions
(think water conversation experiment, where pouring back would lead to the same amount again)

Question 15

What is the Concrete operational stage according to Piaget?

Answer 15

Age 7-11

Inductive reasoning appears
The child learns conservation
-> First number then amount, weight, and volume
The child learns reversibility
Egocentrism disappears
-> important for effective social communication
The child learns to think logically

But the child cannot think in abstract or systematic scientific ways

Question 16

What is the Formal operational stage according to Piaget?

What happens after?

Answer 16

Age 11-15

Here the child learns abstraction
The child learns deductive reasoning
And hypothetico-deductive reasoning
-> What if? Reasoning
Metacognition kicks in

Formal means abstract/hypothetical

After 15 the basis is just increased knowledge, but not more advanced thinking.

Question 17

Why is Piagets theory still the most dominant?

Answer 17

It is the only comprehensive theory of cognitive development

It was the first of its kind and is build upon from others

The theory is measurable with experiments.

Question 18

What is Piagets theory of cognitive development criticized for?

Answer 18

It is criticized that logic is the driving factor in children.

It is criticized that the ages are not right. Given familiar tasks children can solve some things earlier.

Adults do not always think rationally abstract, especially in areas they have little knowledge about.

His theory does not satisfy the criteria for a stage theory.

Children in different cultures get the knowledges at different ages.

Research showed that the development is rather domain specific.

Question 19

What is important about a stage theory?

Answer 19

The stages have to have an order.

The stages have to be qualitative different from another.

Transition from stage to stage has to be fast and has to have changes.

Question 20

What is new in Piagets new theory?

And whats the old one called?

Answer 20

The focus lies more on meaning and interpretation rather than logic and actions.

Schema are build by disovering similarities (correspondances).

Correspondance:
When things have similar relations.

its called standardtheory!

It was developed in order to meet criticism to domain general learning

Question 21

What are the types of correspondances according to Piaget?

Answer 21

1. Totally similar objects
2. Things that are similar (morphisms), and have certain constants they have in common.
3. Things that are similar across certain categories
4. Transformations: Inner manipulations that have to be made to find similarities. (Zebra&Zebrastreifen)

Question 22

What are the stages of morphisms?

Answer 22

1. Identical
2. Intramorphic:
   Comparison just within one class
   (Preoperational)
3. Intermorphic
   Comparison between classes
   (categories can be part of categories)
   (Concrete operational)
4. Transmorphic
   Classes are all put together into one big system/understanding. One can abstract rules from class to another
   (Formell operational)

Morphisms are the way that children can compare two things and find out whether they are similar or not (and in which way they are similar). This is the basis for creating schemas!

Question 23

Which assumptions are part of the informational processing theory?

Answer 23

1. Children have a nativistic information processing system
2. Learning is hierarchical and complex skills builds on less complex ones
3. Children will always use the most complex one (if available)
4. This system is valid for development and across domains

Question 24

What is complexity according to the informational processing theory?

Answer 24

It is the number of relations that can be processed in parallell and the number of schema which are needed for this.

Question 25

What can be possible explanations for cognitive development according to the information processing theory?

Answer 25

Bigger Memory capacity
Better parallel processing
More effective use of available capacity
Automatization of many processes

These can be global or domain specific

Question 26

What is the nativistic view on cognitive development?

And which types are there?

Answer 26

This view looks at skills as being dictated by genes and NOT dependent on experience.

1. Strong nativism:
   Experience has no effect on cognitive changes, just for it to be used.
   Differentiation between core modules and not core modules
   -> Core = genes, Not <- some EXP
2. Weak nativism:
   Theory theory!
   -> We have a module to make theories and abstracts
   => Domain general learing
   => Theories change as well

Question 27

What is the social contructivistic view on development?

Answer 27

Children gain knowledge through social learning.

Children are born with skills, but skills towards social learning.

1. Social cognitive development
2. Internal cognitive development

Children learn the cultural tools (Language, math, calendars,…)

Internalizing

Zone of Proximal Development

Domain specific learning.

(Vygotsky)

Question 28

What is a often used argument when making a developmental theory?

Answer 28

That some complex knowledge cannot be gained through experience.
(e.g. Chomsky -> nativist
Vygotsky -> Sosial construcitivst)

Question 29

What does internalizing mean according to the social constructivist theory by Vygotsky?

Answer 29

When external (social) processes become internal (psychological) processes.

For example, talking through a problem becomes thinking through a problem.

Question 30

What is the Zone of Proximal Development according to Vygotsky?

Answer 30

The Zone of Proximal Development is where a child does not themselves manage to solve a problem, but with the help of another. This is when the child learns the most.

This is measured in years:
Managing a task with help, that a X year old can manage (how much “older” does the child get)

Question 31

Activity phases of Vygotsky

Answer 31

0-1: Emotional & intuitive contact with others - grasping, desire to be with others

1-3: Learning socially acceptable interactions (adapting) and aquiring language and orientation

3-7: Symbolic and creative playing. Understanding group goals.

7-11: Children develop abstract thinking and theories.

11-15: The child learns about norms, and advanced communication.

15-17: New cognitive and occupational interests appear. Research and life projects are tried.

Every transition creates a crisis and difficulties.

Each phase has certain activities that are central!

Question 32

What does Equilibration mean according to Piagets theory of cognitive development?

Answer 32

It means integrating different knowledge in to one big network and adapting that network to the knowledge
(assimilation and accomodation)

Question 33

What is the difference between a schema and a scheme?

Answer 33

Scheme is a representation for an object

Schema is a rather complex for a situation

Question 34

How many modules are there?

Answer 34

That is not clear.
Some say 4-5,

Others say modules are created through experience

Question 35

What is at the center of Piagets theory of logical constructivism?

Answer 35

Development of cognitive structures, that allow for abstraction, based on experiences!

Question 36

What are the types of intelligence that Piaget focuses on?

Answer 36

Figurative intelligence
-> Facts, knowledge

Dynamic intelligence
-> Abstract how the world works
-> Operations (reversibility,…)

Question 37

What are the three core processes of Piagets theory of cognitive development?

Answer 37

Assimilation vs Accommodation

Equilibration and conflict

Organization

Question 38

What does Equilibrium mean according to Piagets theory of cognitive development?

Answer 38

It means that the experience a child has is in accordance with its schema.

Question 39

What is the A not B error?

Answer 39

When training for putting an object under box A and then putting it under box B, the child will look under the original box A

Question 40

What is a mental operation?

Answer 40

Mental operations are operations that affect mental contents.

Question 41

What are the different mental operations?

Answer 41

CRDTS C:

Conservation:
The understanding that certain properties of objects, such as volume, mass, and number, remain the same even when their outward appearance changes. For example, recognizing that a tall, thin glass can hold the same amount of water as a short, wide glass if the quantity is the same.

Reversibility:
The ability to mentally reverse the direction of a sequence of events. For example, understanding that pouring water from one glass into another and then back into the original glass does not change the amount of water.

Transitivity:
The ability to recognize relationships between elements in a series. For example, if A is related to B, and B is related to C, then A is also related to C. This ability is fundamental for understanding logical relationships.

Seriation:
The ability to arrange objects or items in a particular order based on specific criteria, such as size, weight, or length. This skill is crucial for tasks that involve ordering, sequencing, or ranking items.

Decentration:
The ability to focus on multiple aspects of a situation or problem simultaneously, rather than being limited to only one aspect. This allows children to consider various factors when solving problems and making decisions.

Classification:
The ability to categorize objects or concepts based on their common features. Children learn to group objects into categories, which reflects their understanding of similarities and differences.