Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Question 1

what are the 5 topics in C+D

Answer 1

• piaget’s theory of cognitive develpment
• piaget’s stages of intellectual development
• vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development
• baillargeon’s explanation of infant abilities
• social cognition

Question 2

define accommodation

Answer 2

accommodation occurs when an individual is exposed to new information which radically changes their existing knowledge and, in order to deal with this, a new schema is formed

Question 3

define assimilation

Answer 3

assimilation occurs when an individual is exposed to new information and it is incorporated into an existing schema as it does not radically change their existing knowledge

Question 4

define disequilibrium

Answer 4

people are in a state of disequilibrium when they are in an unfamiliar situation which cannot be understood by assimilation

people are motivated to learn and develop schemas to reduce unpleasant feelings associated with/ derived from disequilibrium

Question 5

define equilibrium

Answer 5

equilibrium is the desired mental state where the new information is entirely understood as existing assimilation and new accommodation schemas are complete

Question 6

define equilibration

Answer 6

equilibration is the process of exploring the environment to improve your understanding of it and develop or create schemas

Question 7

define schema

Answer 7

schemas are mental frameworks of knowledge, beliefs and expectations that provide shortcuts in cognitive processing by allowing large volumes of data to be processed quickly and effectively, avoiding sensory overload

Question 8

schemas +

Answer 8

schemas are the main cognitive structure to change during cognitive development

over time schemas become more sophisticated to be able to understand more complex situations

some schemas are innate such as instincts like gripping and sucking

one issue with schemas is that they can lead to perceptual errors by distorting sensory stimuli

Question 9

identify key features of piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Answer 9

accommodation
assimilation
disequilibrium
motivation to learn
equilibrium
equilibration
schema

Question 10

how does cognitive development occur

Answer 10

cognitive development occurs through the interaction of innate capacities and environmental events