Infancy and Toddlerhood- Cognitive Development

Question 1

Stage Theory

Answer 1

Discontinuous; Qualitative change (stage like), unified structures (explanation for how something works), progression (complete one stage to move to next stage like math), stable order, universality (stages are part of human nature)

Question 2

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 2

Piaget’s first stage, spanning the first two years of life, during which infants and toddlers “think” with their eyes, ears, hands, and other sensorimotor equipment (birth to 18/24 months); reflexes are in place

Question 3

Pre Operational Stage

Answer 3

Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, extending from about 2 to 7 years of age, in which children undergo an extraordinary increase in representational, or symbolic, activity, although thought is not yet logical

Question 4

Concrete Operational Stage

Answer 4

Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, extending from about 7 to 11 years, during which thought becomes logical, flexible, and organized in its application to concrete information, but the capacity for abstract thinking is not yet present

Question 5

Formal Operational Stage

Answer 5

Piaget’s highest stage of cognitive development, beginning around age 11, in which young people develop the capacity for abstract, systematic, scientific thinking

Question 6

Schemas/ schemes

Answer 6

In Piaget’s theory, specific psychological structures, or organized ways of making sense of experience, that change with age

Question 7

Assimilation

Answer 7

In Piaget’s theory, the part of adaptation in which current schemes are used to interpret the external world. Distinguished from accommodation

Question 8

Accommodation

Answer 8

In Piaget’s theory, the part of adaptation in which new schemes are created and old ones adjusted to produce a better fit with the environment. Distinguished from assimilation

Question 9

Object permanence

Answer 9

The understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight

Question 10

Circular reactions (primary) 1-4 months

Answer 10

Simple motor habits centered around the infant’s own body; limited anticipation of events (like sucking fist or thumb); inward

Question 11

Circular reactions (secondary) 4 to 8 months

Answer 11

Actions aimed at repeating interesting effects in the surrounding world; imitation of familiar behaviors (infants sit up, reach, and manipulate objects); outward

Question 12

Circular reactions (tertiary) 12 to 18 months

Answer 12

Exploration of the properties of objects by acting on them in novel ways; imitation of novel behaviors ; ability to search in several locations for a hidden object (accurate A-B search) (stacking blocks, scribbling on paper, making funny faces); experimentation; rational imitation

Question 13

Mental representation (18-24 months)

Answer 13

Internal depictions of information that the mind can manipulate; internal thinking; I know what I want to happen

Question 14

Deferred imitation

Answer 14

The ability to remember and copy the behavior of models who are not present (but in the past); enriches toddlers’ range of sensorimotor schemes; put off; say swear word-> bucking ale (weeks later)

Question 15

Inferred imitation

Answer 15

requires inferring others’ intentions; more likely to imitate purposeful rather than accidental behaviors; standing on a chair to reach for something instead of standing on a chair for fun

Question 16

Violation of expectation

Answer 16

Babies’ knowledge will be tested; heightened attention to the unexpected event suggests that the infant is “surprised” by a deviation from physical reality and, therefore, is aware of that aspect of the physical world; babies look longer at novel or unexpected events

Question 17

Theory of Core Knowledge

Answer 17

We are born with an innate understanding of the basic principles of the world; physical knowledge, linguistic knowledge, numerical knowledge, and psychological knowledge

Question 18

Conservation

Answer 18

The understanding that certain physical characteristics of objects remain the same, even when their outward appearance changes (pouring the same amount of water into two different sized glasses)

Question 19

Reversibility

Answer 19

The capacity to think through a series of steps in a problem and then mentally reverse direction, returning to the starting point. Distinguished from irreversibility

Question 20

Transductive reasoning

Answer 20

not based on logic; jump all over the place

Question 21

Hierarchical classification

Answer 21

putting things in order; order as in color, shape, and size

Question 22

Seriation

Answer 22

The ability to order items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight (arranging sticks of different lengths from shortest to longest)

Question 23

Transitive inference (7-8 years old)

Answer 23

Concrete operational child can also seriate mentally (integrate 3 relations at once such as sticks: A-B, B-C, C-A