Developmental Psychology

Question 1

Piaget: Believed

Answer 1

• cognitive development depends on the interaction of the brains biological maturation with personal experience
• children go through 4 cognitive steps in order
• each stage linked to an approximate age stage
• some may be capable of more advanced thinking than associated with their stage, but still use mental abilities with associated stage

Question 2

Piaget: Three Assumptions that Characterize Stage Approaches

Answer 2

1. individuals must progress through specific stages in a certain unchanging order where each stage builds on the previous one
2. movement and progression through the stages is closely linked to age changes
3. development at each stage is sign-posted by major steps that lead to dramatic behavior transitions

Question 3

Piaget: How Infants Understand the World

Answer 3

• creates thinking frameworks, concepts or mental patterns called schemas
• based around reflexes such as gripping and sucking, become more complex as the child gets older
• develop frame works by duel process of assimilation and accomodation
  as we interact with the world we modify the schema

Question 4

Piaget: Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 4

(0-2 yrs)

• intellectual development mostly non-verbal
• mainly concerned with learning to coordinate purposeful movements with information from the senses
• begin to integrate sensory and motor information and to coordinate their motor responses
• gradually learn their is a relationship between their actions and the external world
• learn they can manipulate objects and produce effects

OBJECT PERMANENCE

Question 5

Piaget: Preoperational Stage

Answer 5

(2-7 yrs)
- begin to think symbolically and use language
- thinking is intuitive
> the sun follows you when you walk
- use of language is not as sophisticated as it seems
> confuse words with the objects they represent
> name of an object as much a part of the object as the size, shape and colour

EGOCENTRISM
ANIMISM
CENTRATION
TRANSFORMATION
SERIATION

Question 6

Piaget: Concrete Operational Stage

Answer 6

(7-11 yrs)
- begin to use concepts of time, space and number
can think logically about very concrete objects or situations, categories and principles
- ability to reverse thoughts or mental operations

REVERSIBILITY
CONSERVATION
CLASSIFICATION

Question 7

Piaget: Formal Operational Stage

Answer 7

(11 yrs and up)

• break away from concrete objects and specific examples
• thinking based more on abstract principles, democracy and honour
• think about their thoughts, become less egocentric
• gradually become able to consider hypothetical possibilities and their implications
• full intellectual ability attained in this stage
• learn to test hypothesis in a scientific manner
• can thin formally about some topics, but thinking is concrete when topic is unfamilliar

ABSTRACT THINKING
LOGICAL THINKING
INDUCTIVE THINKING
DEDUCTIVE THINKING

Question 8

Piaget: Strengths

Answer 8

• further research has supported theory and findings
• inspired countless studies that have further improved our understanding of children’s cognitive
• has had a massive impact on educational practice. it has changed todays education system

Question 9

Piaget: Limitation

Answer 9

• may have underestimated young children’s development
  > understand object permanence earlier
  > pre-operational have less egocentrism and animism
• problem with stage theory- doesn’t cope with variability seen amongst developing children
• cultural variations in timing of the stages
• biased observations- used own children

Question 10

Piaget: Schema

Answer 10

an idea about what something is and how to deal with it

basic building blocks of intelligent behavior that enables them to understand their world

Question 11

Piaget: Assimilation

Answer 11

how a child uses old frameworks to deal with new ones: they ‘fit’ the world into what they already know

Question 12

Piaget: Accomodation

Answer 12

how existing methods or ideas are changed to deal with or adjust to new situations

Question 13

Kohlberg: believed

Answer 13

• there is a universal sequence to the development of morality that begins early in childhood
• saw morality as developing in innate stages in a set order when biological maturation is ready as experiences which fail to fit existing schemas challenge current moral thinking
• moral behaviour results from moral thinking