Dev psych lecture #3: continuity vs discontinuity

Focus

• Shifting to processes of development

Schemas, assimilation, accommodation, disequilibrium

• Schemas: Mental structures for organising information.

  • Assimilation: Fit new information into existing schema.

  • Accommodation: Create/alter schema when new information doesn’t fit.

  • Disequilibrium: Temporary confusion prompting accommodation.

Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) description, milestone, comparative studies

• Cognition bound to sensory and motor interactions.

• Milestone: Object permanence (~6–12 months) — understanding that objects exist even when unseen.

• Comparative studies: Some animals (dogs, parrots) show object permanence

Preoperational Stage (2–7 years) description (1→3) + limitations (3)

• Explosion in language → labelling, symbolic thought, imaginary play.

• Limitations:

  • Conservation errors: Judging quantity by appearance (e.g., taller glass has more liquid).

  • Centration: Focus on one aspect at a time + discounting other factors (e.g., taller glass has more liquid)

  • Egocentrism: Difficulty seeing from others’ perspectives (e.g., Three Mountains Task)

Concrete Operational Stage (7–12 years) skills gained (3), description (1), limitations (2)

• Gain conservation, reversibility, decentration.

• Improved perspective-taking

• Logical thinking emerges but remains tied to concrete reality..

• Abstract tasks still often grounded in reality.

Formal Operational Stage (12+ years) description (1), skills (2)

• Abstract, hypothetical reasoning develops.

• Scientific thinking: forming/testing hypotheses (e.g., Pendulum Problem).

• More sophisticated justifications for ideas

Criticisms w/ description (3)

• Underestimation: Children often perform tasks earlier with simpler/more familiar designs.

• Cultural bias: Theory based on European, Western children.

  • Example: Central Australian Aboriginal children excelled earlier at spatial tasks, later at liquid conservation.

• Task demands: Leading questions, repeated prompts, and unfamiliar contexts may skew results.

Alternative interpretations of developmental phenomena

• Skills may emerge incrementally, supported by improved memory, attention, and inhibitory control.

• Development may be more domain-specific and variable across contexts.

Continuous development alternatives

• Information processing approached: gradual improvement in “hardware” (strategies) + “software” (e.g. working memory)

• Children use multiple strategies at any one time + progress towards more efficient ones