week 5 exam 1 Flashcards
*Piaget’s preoperational stage of cognitive development
(2-6 years)
Symbolic thinking & language; egocentrism
Imagination; growth of language skills
- Myelin
The brain grows to 85-90% of its adult weight…
But the other 10-15% is crucial. It includes:
Myelin, to insulate nerves, and speed connections.
Connections across the corpus callosum coordinate the left and right sides of the brain.
10-15% of the brain still developing…
Myelination in the limbic system (the brain’s center of emotion, memory, & motivation)
Growth of the prefrontal cortex (center of executive function)
- Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Good mentors provide scaffolding to support children as they take the next step in their zone of proximal development (ZPD).
- Scaffolding
- Centration
Focus on only one aspect of a situation
Example: Sally wants Peter’s stuffed bunny, so she takes it.
- Egocentrism
Egocentrism is caused by centration, not selfishness
- Conservation
Recognition that amount of something remains the same (is conserved) despite changes in its appearance
Example: One glass is taller than another (but also thinner), so there must be more liquid in it
- The six-year old’s brain weighs 10-15% less than it will in adulthood. Which tissues are still growing? How are these brain and nerve tissues crucial to development?
o Myelin, to insulate nerves, and speed connections
Sleep becomes more regular
Emotions become more balanced
Temper tantrums subside, along with uncontrollable laughter and tears
Terrors subside as brain connections develop
- Be able to list and to describe Piaget’s four stages (periods) of cognitive development.
Sensorimotor
o Active, non-reflective learning by use of senses and motor abilities
o (Birth to 2 years)
o Object permanence achieved
Preoperational
o Symbolic thinking & language; egocentrism
o (2-6 years)
o Imagination; growth of language skills
Concrete operational
o Logic limited by direct experience
o (6-11 years)
o Learning to use logic, grasp concepts
Formal operational
o Abstract thinking & analysis
o (12 years through adulthood)
o Theoretical reasoning; interest in social, moral, other abstract issues
Sensorimotor
o Active, non-reflective learning by use of senses and motor abilities
o (Birth to 2 years)
o Object permanence achieved
Preoperational
o Symbolic thinking & language; egocentrism
o (2-6 years)
o Imagination; growth of language skills
Concrete operational
o Logic limited by direct experience
o (6-11 years)
o Learning to use logic, grasp concepts
Formal operational
o Abstract thinking & analysis
o (12 years through adulthood)
o Theoretical reasoning; interest in social, moral, other abstract issues
- A preschooler, asked to describe another person’s view of a landscape, instead describes his own view. Which typical feature of preoperational cognition does this response illustrate?
o Egocentrism due to centration
- Be able to describe Piaget’s “two glasses of liquids” experiment. How do children’s responses, at younger and at older ages, illustrate the concepts of centration and conservation?
o Preoperational stage (2-7 yrs. old)
-responds that the glass on the left has more juice because it’s taller
-Girl focuses on one aspect of the glasses, the fact that one is taller
-She doesn’t realize that the volume of the water is staying the same even though its appearance is changing
- Be able to list and describe the three cognitive abilities that are combined in executive function. How is executive function in early childhood related to academic achievement later in life?
o Working (recent) memory
o Inhibition (ability to stop and think before acting)
o Flexibility (ability to see things from another perspective and to change course)
o Predicts children’s later academic achievement
o Protects adolescents against destructive emotional outbursts
o Promotes adult coping skills
- Be able to explain how we can make events last in our memories. (Hint: See the reading in this week’s folder.) How might watching a concert through a phone camera affect a fan’s memory of the event?
o In some sense, it’s about being mindful. If we want to form a new memory, focus on aspects of the experience you want to take with you. If you’re with your kid, you’re at a park, focus on the parts of it that are great, not the parts that are kind of annoying. Then you want to focus on the sights, the sounds, the smells, because those will give you rich detail later on when you remember it. Another part of it, too, is that we kill ourselves by inducing distractions in our world. We have alerts on our phones. We check email habitually. So you don’t remember being there, because to some extent you were never really there in the first place. If you set time with your child, don’t check email, and turn off your alerts. That’s the idea. Technology can be helpful for memory, but usually not in the way we use it. You’re not really there if you’re mindlessly taking pictures, because it takes over the experience. When we go on trips, I take candid shots. These are the things that bring you back to moments. If you capture the feelings and the sights and the sounds that bring you to the moment, as opposed to the facts of what happened, that is a huge part of getting the best of memory.
