Piaget and Infants: The Origins of Intelligence

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on Piaget's theory of infant intelligence and development stages.

Sensorimotor Stage

The first stage in Piaget's theory of development, occurring from 0-2 years, involving practical intelligence.

Preoperational Stage

The second stage in Piaget's theory, occurring from 3-6 years, characterized by symbolic intelligence.

Concrete Operations Stage

The third stage in Piaget's theory, occurring from 7-11 years, involving internalized logical operations.

Formal Operations Stage

The fourth stage in Piaget's theory, starting at age 12, involving hypothetical-deductive reasoning and abstract reasoning.

Maturation

A concept by Arnold Gesell, suggesting that development is driven by innate biological processes.

Constructivist Theory

Piaget's explanation of development as a process that involves the construction of knowledge through interactions with the environment.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new information into existing cognitive structures.

Accommodation

The process of changing cognitive structures to accept new information.

Secondary Circular Reactions

A stage in Piaget's sensorimotor development where infants repeat actions that have interesting effects.

Tertiary Circular Reactions

Stages 5 and 6 of sensorimotor development, where infants explore new actions and their effects systematically.

Insight vs. Blind Trial and Error

A debate between Gestalt and behaviorist psychologists on how learning occurs, with insight representing understanding relationships and trial and error being a more random process.

Practical Intelligence

A form of intelligence that infants develop in the sensorimotor stage, involving problem-solving and action-based learning.