Cognitive development Flashcards
Cognitive development
the development of thought processes and mental activity
e.g. memory, attention, language, reasoning, social cognition, problem-solving
Piaget’s view of a child
1896-1980
- constructivist: children actively construct their own understanding of the world
- scientist: develop ideas, gather evidence, change ideas
Piaget’s theory
children’s understanding of the world is organized by schemas that change through assimilation and accommodation
e.g. buttons are round, plastic, and have holes
Assimilation vs accommodation
- new information viewed through existing schemas
- schemas are adapted to new experiences
4 stages in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
- sensorimotor stage (0-2 yrs)
- preoperational (2-7)
- concrete operations (7-12)
- formal operations (12+)
- stage theory = discontinuous, qualitative changes
- occurs in an invariant order (i.e. universal progression)
Sensorimotor stage (0-2 yrs)
Piaget’s theory
assimilation of knowledge through motor and sensory-based schemas (i.e. reflexes)
e.g. learn about the world through touching, sucking, looking, reaching, etc.
Accomplishments vs gaps in sensorimotor stage
Piaget’s theory
accomplishments
* adapting to the environment
* object permanence (6-10 mos)
gaps
* unable to form a mental representation of the world
object permanence: object continues to exist even when it is out of sight
Accomplishments in preoperational stage (2-7)
Piaget’s theory
symbolic representations: thinking about objects differently than how they exist in the world
e.g. symbolizing a banana as a phone
Gaps in preoperational stage (2-7)
Piaget’s theory
- incapable of operations
- incapable of conservation, instead engage in centration
- egocentrism
- operations: logical manipulation of information
- egocentrism: seeing things solely from one viewpoint
Conservation vs centration
preoperational stage (Piaget’s theory)
- conservation: understanding that physical properties don’t change despite changes in form or appearance
- centration: focusing on one aspect of a situation (e.g. perceptually-salient physical property)
Accomplishments in the concrete operational stage (7-12)
Piaget’s theory
capable of
* operations: use mental logic to reason about concrete things
* conservation: decentration or ability to focus on multiple dimensions
* less egocentrism
concrete things = things they can directly experience (e.g. a feather can’t break a glass)
Gaps in the concrete operational stage (7-12)
Piaget’s theory
reasoning about abstract, hypothetical concepts
Accomplishments in formal operational stage (12+)
Piaget’s theory
- able to use mental logic to reason about abstract, hypothetical things
- logically examine evidence and test hypotheses (e.g. pendulum problem)
- hypothetical reasoning: if a rule states that a feather can break a glass, then a feather can break a glass
- pendulum problem: does weight or string length make pendulum swing for longer?
Piaget’s legacy in cognitive development
- inspired others to investigate children’s cognition and explore the mechanisms of cognitive change
- introduced the idea of “natural limits” at a given age
- and children as contributing actively to their own development
Criticisms of Piaget’s theory
- underestimates the influence of others, and of culture
- underestimates infants and children
e.g. children of pottery makers in Mexico achieve conservation of mass at an earlier age
Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky
range of tasks too difficult to do on your own but are possible with the help of a skilled other
