Cognitive Development (Piagetian, Core Knowledge, Vygotskian) Flashcards
cognition
inner processes and products of the mind that lead to knowing; it includes all mental activity–attending, remembering, symbolizing, categorizing, planning, reasoning, problem solving, creating and fantasizing
constructive approach
children as discovering or constructing, virtually all knowledge about their world through their own activity
schemes
organized ways of making sense of experience
mental representation
internal depictions of information that the mind can manipulate
adaptation
building schemes through direct interaction with the environment
assimilation
use of current schemes to interpret the external world
accommodation
we create new schemes or adjust old ones after noticing that our current way of thinking does not capture the environment completely
equilibration
back and forth movement between equilibrium and disequilibrium
organization
process that occurs internally, apart from direct contact with the environment; once children form new schemes, they rearrange them, linking them with other schemes to create a strongly interconnected cognitive system
sensorimotor stage
first two years of life, belief that infants and toddlers think with their eyes, ears, hands and other sensorimotor equipment
circular reaction
special means of adapting to first schemes; involves stumbling onto a new experience caused by the baby’s own motor activity
intentional / goal-directed behavior
coordinating schemes deliberately to solve simple problems
object permanence
understanding that objects continue to exist when they are out of sight; BUT A-not-B search error
deferred imitation
ability to remember and copy the behavior of models who are not present
make-believe play
children act out everyday and imaginary activities
violation of expectation method
habituate babies to a physical event (expose them to the event until their looking declines) to familiarize them with a situation in which their knowledge will be tested
analogical problem solving
applying a solution strategy from one problem to other relevant problems
displaced reference
realization that words can be used to cue mental images of things not physically present–a symbolic capacity called displaced reference that emerges around the first birthday
preoperational stage
spans 2-7, extraordinary increase in representational or symbolic activity
sociodramatic play
make-believe with others that is under way by the end of the second year and increases rapidly in complexity during early childhood
dual representations
viewing a symbolic object as both an object in its own right and a symbol
operations
mental representations of actions that obey logical rules
egocentrism
failure to distinguish others’ symbolic viewpoints from one’s own
conservation
certain physical characteristics of objects remain the same even when their outward appearance changes
centration
focus on one aspect of a situation, neglecting other important features
reversibility
ability to go through a series of steps in a problem and then mentally reverse direction, returning to the starting point
hierarchical classification
organization of objects into classes and subclasses on the basis of similarities and differences
concrete operational stage
from 7-11, marks a major turning point in cognitive development; thought becomes far more logical, flexible and organized
seriation
ability to order items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight
transitive inference
concrete operational child can also seriate mentally
cognitive maps
mental representation of familiar large-scale spaces, such as the neighborhood or school
formal operational stage
they develop the capacity for abstract, systematic, scientific thinking
hypothetico-deductive reasoning
when faced with a problem they start with a hypothesis, or prediction about variables that might affect an outcome, from which they deduce logical, testable inferences; systematic isolation of variables
propositional thougth
adolescents’ ability to evaluate the logic of propositions (verbal statements) without referring to real-world circumstances
imaginary audience
adolescents’ belief that they are the focus of everyone else’s attention and concern
personal fable
teenagers developing an inflated opinion of their own importance, a feeling that they are special and unique
logical necessity
accuracy of conclusions drawn from premises rests on the rules of logic, not on real-world confirmation
core knowledge perspective
infants begin life with innate, specialized purpose knowledge systems referred to as core domains of thought; each prewired understandings permits a ready grasp of new related information
theory theory
after children observe an event, they draw on innate concepts to explain or theorize about its cause
private speech
self-directed speech
zone of proximal development
range of tasks too difficult for the child to do alone but possible with the help of adults and more skilled peers
intersubjectivity
process whereby two participants who begin task with different understandings arrive at a shared understanding
scaffolding
adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child’s current level of performance
guided participation
broader concept than scaffolding; refers to shared endeavors between more expert and less expert participants without specifying the precise features of communication
reciprocal teaching
collaborative group takes turn leading dialogues on the content of a text passage
cooperative learning
small groups of classmates work toward common goals
