Week 5 Lecture Flashcards
What is cognition?
The mental process of acquiring and knowledge understanding
What are 3 assumptions of stage theories?
- domain general development
- stage invariance
- universal patterns
What is stage invariance in regard to stage theories?
Individuals may vary, but everyone goes through the same stages
What was Jean Piaget’s quote about his view children?
“Children are people from the time they are born”
Who was the greatest developmenter of developmental psychology?
John Piaget
What was one thing that Piaget was wrong about, which was found out by using different methods of testing?
By testing his theories using different testing methods, children were discovered to know how earlier than Piaget thought.
What was the clinical method of testing, developed by Piaget?
Flexible question and answer technique to assess what children know, rather than giving them all the same question.
What is one weakness with Piaget’s stage theory of cognitive development in regards to age?
Doesn’t test past adolescence, even though there may be significant cognitive development from adolescence to adulthood.
What are 3 mechanisms that Piaget said are used to get between stages?
- Direct Learning
- Social transmission
- Physical maturation
What is direct learning
Child actively responds to new problems using schemas
What is a schema?
systematic pattern of thought, actions, or strategies that provides an organised structure for making sense of the world
What are innate schemas?
simple patterns of unlearned reflexes
What is assimilation which relates to schemas? Give an example of this.
Interpret to new situation in terms of existing schema.
2 year old calls a butterfly a bird because it flies
What is accomodation in regard to schema?
Change existing schema when faced with new information that doesn’t fit.
What is adaptation?
integration of assimilation, accomodation to maintain equilibrium
