piaget's theories of cognitive development Flashcards
fill in the blanks:
cognition -> schemas -> organisation and ________->______________ and accommodation
adaptation;assimilation
define schemas.
mental structures of knowledge and behavior to interpret the world. concepts about a place or thing or event.
define organisation in terms of schemas.
merge existing schemas to create new and more intricate schemas
define adaptation.
fit schemas with new experiences in our envt.
define assimilation.
interpret new and unfamiliar things in terms of preexisting schemas
define accommodation.
reorganisation of schemas based on new data to better fit envt.
define equilibrium/equilibration in terms of assimilation and accommodation.
process of using both assimilation and accommodation to create a stable theory.
________ leads to disequilibrium and ________ leads to equilibrium.
assimilation; accommodation
what are the 4 major characteristics of development in children?
- universal: same for all kids around the world
- invariant: each stage followed same fixed order
- discontinuous: each stage is qualitatively different
- parallel: same rate across multiple domains
what is the universal sequence of 4 stages according to piaget’s theory?
- sensorimotor (0-2 yrs)
- act on themselves, then on objects
- interactions become increasingly sophisticated - preoperational (2-7 yrs)
- symbols, language
- engage in pretend play
- thinking lacks logic - concrete operational (7-11 yrs)
- logical but not abstract
- form concrete concepts
- develop more structured way of thinking - formal-operational (11+ yrs)
- think abstractly
- demonstrate scientific thinking similar to adults
list the 3 key features of the sensorimotor stage.
- learn through senses and actions
- circular reactions: repeat events caused by own motor activity
- initially limited to here and now: no mental representations
list the gradual development of mental representations.
[A-not-B task] [8, 12, 18-24 mths]
8 mths: object permanence appears but still fragile (A-not-B error)
12 mths: A-not-B error disappears; object perm stronger
18-24 mths: full representation appears marking end of stage
what behavioural manifestations are evidence for having mental representations for children in the preoperational stage (2-7 yrs)?
- delayed imitation
- anticipation in problem solving
- pretend play
- drawing
- language
why do children in the preoperational stage (2-7 yrs) fail at conservation tasks?
- lack of critical mental operators:
compensation
reversibility
identity - leading to centration (cannot focus on 2 dimensions simultaneously)
what is the seriation task and what does it test?
- order objects according to length/size
- tests if children in the preoperational stage can think of an object in relation to 2 or more objects simultaneously