Human Development Flashcards
Animism
Refers to children believing that nonliving objects have lifelike qualities. (Preoperational age 2-4)
When it begins to rain, a child exclaiming “the sky is pouring water on me” is an example of
Animism
Imaginary friends in a child 2-4 yrs old are an example of
Animism
Causal Reasoning “Causality”
Children believe that their thoughts can cause action, whether or not the experience have a causal relationship.
Level 1 Causal Reasoning
Reality is defined by appearance.
Level 2 Causal Reasoning
Child appeals to an all-powerful force
Level 3 Causal Reasoning
Child appeals to causes in nature
Level 4 Causal Reasoning
Child now approaches an adult explanation
A 3-year-old says “When I move along, the clouds move along too”
Reality is defined by appearance
A 5-year-old says “God moves the clouds”
Child appeals to an all-powerful force
A 7-year-old says “The sun moves the clouds”
Child appeals to causes in nature
A 10-year-old says “The clouds move because of wind currents”
Child now approaches an adult explanation
Centration (preoperational)
The tendency for a child to focus on only one piece of information at a time while disregarding all others.
A child is playing outside on a swing when his mother decides to bring him for a nap. The child becomes upset because all he can focus on is riding the swing.
Centration
Egocentrism (preoperational)
Until about age 5, young children cannot differentiate between their own perspectives and feelings, and someone else’s.
Equilibrium
Development is motivated by the search for a stable balance toward effective adaptions.
Three phases of equilibrium
- Children begin in a state of balance
- Thought changes and conflict emerges
- Through the process of assimilation and accommodation, a more sophisticated mode of thought surfaces.
Irreversibility (preoperational)
Children make errors in their thinking because they cannot understand that an operation moves in more than one direction and the original state can be recovered.
If Emma plays with a ball of clay, she believes that the clay must always be in this same form to remain the same amount. When a classmate plays with the clay and gives it back as a long, narrow piece, Emma thinks she’s getting back less.
Irreversibility.
Metacognition (concrete operations)
A child’s awareness of knowing about one’s own knowlege. Helps children plan their own problem-solving strategies.
A child who is thinking about thinking.
Metacognition
Object permanence (sensorimotor)
Recognition that objects and events continue to exist when they are not visible. This recognition ability begins when the child is about 8 months old.
Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning (formal operations)
Done by mentally forming a logical and systematic plan to work out the right solution after considering all the possible outcomes.
The ability to form ideas about “what might be”
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning