WK2 Cognitive development - Piaget Basic tendacies in thinking Flashcards
What does Piaget mean by organization
Organization - an inherited inclination to organize thoughts and behaviors into coherent systems.
What does Piaget mean by adaptation
Adaptation - an inherited tendency to adjust to the environment.
What are the basic building blocks of thinking, according to Piaget?
Schemes - organized systems allowing mental representation of the world.
How does development occur in terms of schemes?
Infants start with simple schemes and combine/coordinate them into more sophisticated structures over time.
What is assimilation in the context of cognitive development?
It’s using existing schemes to understand new events, sometimes distorting information to fit.
What is accommodation, as per Piaget’s theory?
It’s changing existing schemes to respond to new situations, adjusting thinking to fit new information.
How do assimilation and accommodation work together?
Both processes are used together to respond to the environment’s complexity.
How do people adapt to new information according to Piaget?
They use existing schemes when they work (assimilation) and modify/add new ones when needed (accommodation).
What does Piaget describe as a complex balancing act?
Organizing, assimilating, and accommodating are seen as a complex balancing act.
What is equilibration in Piaget’s theory?
It is the process of searching for balance in thinking.
What is disequilibrium in Piaget’s theory?
If a scheme doesn’t work, discomfort arises, motivating the search for a solution through assimilation and accommodation.
Why does Piaget say an optimal level of disequilibrium is necessary?
The right level of discomfort is necessary for change; too little leads to no motivation, while too much can result in discouragement.
What are the two basic tendacies according to Piaget
Organisation and adaptation
