dev 2 Flashcards
_ classical theoretical questions
2
1= what are the relative contributions of maturation and experience
2= is development a continous or discountinous process
__ theoretical approaches to cognitive development
2
1= maturation (Nature) 2= Experience (nurture)
what determines development of humans
social and environmental influences
cognitive development results from
need to interact with other members of the species
The “classic” theorists =
2
1= Jean Piaget 2= Lev Vygotsky
Jean Piaget
a classical theorist
propsed a ‘stage’ theory
stages are maturationally determined
Lev Vygotsky
a classical theorist
stressed the role of social interaction
development proceeds from “outside in”
Piaget’s principles _
5
child actively seeks knowledge
1= children’s thought processes differ from adults
2= children do not behave randomly = use coherent logical systems that differ from adult logic
3= analysis of errors can uncover the child’s system
4= goal = to adapt to the environment
5= responses to the environ. become increasingly complex and have a greater reliance on mental representation and symbol manipulation
constructivist view
piaget’s principles
during development, children use basic cognitive processes to form increasingly complex cognitive structures or “schemata”
define
schema=
organised group of interrelated ideas, strategies and associations that the child uses to try to make sense of a situation
if a child comes across something that doesn’t make sense to them =they will
strive to understand it, and actively try to fit it in with what they already know
piaget’s principles
motivation of the child is to achieve =
changes occur when =
equilibrium between environment and current stage of cognition
current cognitive processes and schemata cannot handle environmental input
processes to achieve equilibrium =
piaget’s principles
2
assimilation = child adds new information into existing schema
accommodation = child alters existing schema to fit new information
children’s earliest schemata take the =
form of innate reflexes and related patterns of physical action that let them interact with the environment
a major cognitive step forward
= is when the child moves from using predominantly physical schemata to mental ones
piaget’s stages of cognitive organisation =
4
1 sensorimotor birth-2
2 pre-operational 2-7
3 concrete operations 7-11
4 formal operations 11+
stages follow in sequence and include the cognitive processes of the preceding stage
define
sensorimotor
birth-1
earliest adaptations of reflexes
focused on sensory input and motor behaviours
stage ends with beginnings of representational thought
characterised by = lack of object permanence ‘egocentric’ thought
e.g when a toy hidden with cloth = child lose interest = no attempt to retrieve it
define
object permanence
the awareness that objects continue to exist when they’re not visible
define
preoperational
2-7
characterised by centration
4
1=language development
2=foundations for logical thought
3=increasing ability to take another’s perspective
4=development of internal mental representations
define
centration
tendencyy to focus on only one aspect of a complex situattion or problem and inability to conserve quantity
____ is defined by centration
preoperational 2-7 yrs
define
conservation
understanding that something stays the same in quantity, even though its appearance changes
7 types
__ types of conservation
7
7-8yrs
1= number
2 = liquid
3= mass
8yrs
4=length
9-10yrs
5=weight
10-11yrs
6=area
11-12yrs
volume
define
concrete-operation
7-12yrs
internal manipulation of mental representations
the beginning of logical thought
children become much more flexible in their thinking
ability to perform mental operations on representations of concrete objects
e.g conservation of quantity
requires understanding of reversibility
not yet capable of formal inductive and deductive reasoning
children can succeed at many types of problems, but only if=
the problems are physically instantiated and present
difficult when abstract
piaget’s balance test=
make the weight times the distance equal on both sides of center
define
formal operation
stage of cognitive development 11+
6
1= can acquire knowledge without direct experience
2=ability to perform mental operations on abstract symbols and thoughts
3=greater use of mathematical reasoning and formal logic
4=fully able to adopt other’s perspectives
5=systematic approach to problem solving
6=increased linguistic sophistication
criticisms of piaget’s theory=
4
1= environment can affect development of stages
2=ages are too high an estimate for stages
3=experiments too hard for children to understand
4= additional ‘5th’ stage is needed
