Cognitive Development Flashcards
- Actions or mental representations that organize knowledge
- Developed by infants’ brains when infant seeks to understand their world
Schemes
These schemes represent (a). physical activities and (b). cognitive activities, respectively:
(a). Behavioral schemes
(b). Mental schemes
A baby’s schemes are structured by simple actions that can be _____
Performed on objects
Assimilation vs Accommodation:
ASSIMILATION
When children incorporate new experiences into existing schemes
ACCOMMODATION
When children adjust their schemes to account for new information & experiences
It is the grouping of isolated behaviors/thoughts into a higher-order system
Example: After learning how to use a tool, child relates this to learning to use other tools
Organization
- Cognitive conflict
- The encountering of inconsistencies to existing schemes
Disequilibrium
The process wherein children assimilate and accommodate to seek equilibrium.
Cognitive changeis produced, and children upscale stages.
Equilibration
- Lasts from birth - 2 yrs old
- Infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motoric actions
Sensorimotor stage
Six substages of Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage
- Simple reflexes
- First habits and primary circular reactions
- Secondary circular reactions
- Coordination of secondary circular reactions
- Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity
- Internalization of schemes
- The first sensorimotor stage
- Corresponds to first month after birth
- Sensation and action are coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviors
Substage 1: Simple Reflexes
- Develops between 1-4 months
- Here, schemes based on attempts to reproduce events that occurred by chance
- Actions are stereotyped; repeated the same way each time
Substage 2: First Habits & Primary Circular Reactions
- Develops between 4-8 months
- Infant becomes more object-oriented, moving beyond self-preoccupation
- Infant repeats actions because of their consequences that are fascinating or pleasurable
Substage 3: Secondary circular reactions
- Develops between 8-12 months
- Actions become more outwardly directed
- Vision-touch and hand-eye coordinations are developed
- Coordination of schemes & intentionality
Substage 4: Coordination of secondary circular reactions
- Develops between 12-18 months
- Infants become more intrigued by objects’ many properties and what they can make happen to objects
- This stage marks the starting point for curiosity & novelty
Substage 5: Tertiary circular reactions, novelty & curiosity
- Develops between 18-24 months
- Infants develop the ability to use primitive symbols and form enduring mental representations
Substage 6: Internalization of Schemes
Primary vs. Secondary vs. Tertiary Circular Reactions
Primary Circular Reaction: Scheme based on the attempt to reproduce an event that initially occurred by chance
Secondary Circular Reaction: Actions repeated because of their consequences
Tertiary Circular Reactions: Schemes in which the infant purposely explores new possibilities with objects, continually doing new things and exploring results
It is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched
Object Permanence
Objects are both separate from self and permanent
Endorsed by Spelke, he claims that infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge such as space, number sense, object permanence, language.
Core Knowledge Approach
Piaget vs Vygotsky’s Cognitive Development Theories:
Piaget: Children develop cognitively by interacting with the physical world
Vygotsky: Children develop cognitively through social interaction and cultural context
