Cognitive Development 3.4 Flashcards
Jean Piaget
- 4-stage theory of cognitive development
- Biological but the environment could speed it up
- Always trying to learn by interacting with the world
Ways children form understanding
Schema: Representation of how the world works
Face schema
A baby’s first schema: Bad vision but can recognize color contrast. When visual systems mature, facial color contrasts aren’t as appealing as the actual face shape
Assimilation
New info and fitting it into a preexisting schema (similar, therefore the same)
Accommodation
Changing existing schemas in order to fit new information
Sensorimotor Stage
(Birth-2)
- Information is gained directly through senses and motor actions
- Has no ability to think logically
Object Permanence
An object still exists even when it is not in sight
(Sensorimotor Stage)
Baby physics
Infants look longer at unexpected events like a car passing through a solid object
Baby math
When a baby is shown 2 figures and a figure is visibly moved but there remain 2 figures, the baby stares longer as if “knowing” something is wrong
Preoperational Stage
(2-7)
- Understand language but not logic;
symbolic thought - thoughts into words/pictures; centration
- Lack of conservation
- Irreversibility
- Egocentrism
Centration
Tendency to focus, or center, on only one aspect of a situation, usually a perceptual aspect, and ignore other relevant aspects of the situation
(Preoperational Stage)
Lack of conservation
Two equal quantities remain equal even if the appearance of one is changed, as long as nothing is added or subtracted
(Preoperational Stage)
Irreversibility
A child cannot mentally reverse a sequence of events or logical operations back to the starting point
(Preoperational Stage)
Egocentrism
Inability to take another person’s point of view; “Everybody knows/sees the same thing I do”
(Preoperational Stage)
Theory of Mind
Developing a sense of what others are thinking or what they know; lying starts
(Preoperational Stage - developing during)
Pretend play
Symbolic play; create and engage in imaginary scenarios
Parallel play
(2.5)
Tend to play next to other children without influencing each other
Animism
A belief that inanimate objects are alive or have feelings and motivations
Concrete Development Stage
(7-12)
- Ability to think logically about things they’ve only experienced before
- Inability to reason abstractly or hypothetically
- Understands conservation
- Begin to grasp math and spacial relations
Formal Operational Stage
(12-adulthood)
- Ability to think logically about abstract principles and hypothetical situations
- Hypothetico-deductive: “What if…?” Problems
- Adolescent Egocentrism
Adolescent Egocentrism
Personal fable: Belief that somehow you’re unique and special (Thinking you won’t have a consequence: Drug use)
Imaginary Audience: Preoccupation with what others are thinking about you. Misconception that everyone is paying attention to you.
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Perspective
- Children think in words by age 7
- Children learn best when interacting with others (Piaget said they learned through interaction with their environment)
- Language to be the foundation for social interaction and though
- Peer/role model helps a child move from one development zone to the next
Zone of Proximal Development
What a child can do with the help of another person, but can’t do alone
Dementia
A cognitive disorder that impairs memory, cognition, and decision-making
Cognitive Development in Adulthood
- Differences in memory tend to be greater among older adults than in younger adults
- May take longer to show what they know
Terminal Decline
An accelerated cognitive decline that occurs within one’s last 3-4 year of life
