Psychiatry - Cognitive and Moral Development

Schemes

The term Piaget used for mental representations that organize knowledge.

Accommodation

The process of modifying cognitive structures to fit new environmental demands.

Assimilation

The process of integrating new experiences into existing cognitive structures.

Cognitive Organization

The term describing how isolated behaviors are grouped into higher systems.

Adaptation

Piaget’s major mechanism of cognitive growth involving assimilation and accommodation.

True

T/F: Behavioral schemes in infants include activities like grasping and sucking.

False

T/F: Cognitive development proceeds in a random and unpredictable manner.

True

T/F: Organization and adaptation are both required for schemes to change.

False

T/F: Cognitive development stops after adolescence.

False

T/F: Older children use behavioral rather than mental schemes.

Symbolic Thought

The substage where infants use symbols to represent objects (1½–2 years).

Animistic Thinking

The egocentric belief that inanimate objects have human traits.

Deferred Imitation

The substage when a child imitates adult behavior seen days earlier.

Preoperational Thought Stage

The stage when a child begins to use words and drawings symbolically.

Transductive Reasoning

The term for child logic where one event is believed to cause another because it came first.

False

T/F: Centration allows a child to focus on multiple aspects of an object simultaneously.

False

T/F: Egocentrism is when children can understand perspectives different from their own.

True

T/F: The Sensorimotor stage includes development through reflexes and circular reactions.

True

T/F: In the symbolic function substage, toddlers believe their thoughts can control events.

False

T/F: Deferred imitation can only happen immediately after an action is seen.

Conservation

The logical ability to understand that mass remains the same despite shape changes.

Deductive Reasoning

The reasoning process where a general rule is applied to specific cases.

Recursive Thinking

The formal stage ability that involves thinking about others' thoughts.

Seriation

Logical ability to arrange items in a sequence based on size or order.

Syllogism

Logical structure formed from two premises leading to a conclusion.

True

T/F: Reversibility allows a child to understand changes can be undone.

True

T/F: In the formal operational stage, adolescents can solve hypothetical problems.

False

T/F: Concrete operational thinkers are capable of abstract reasoning.

False

T/F: Conservation of volume develops earlier than conservation of number.

True

T/F: Formal operations allow teens to think idealistically and systematically.

Punishment and Obedience Orientation

Substage where moral reasoning is based on fear of punishment.

Immediate Gratification

The “I want it now!” stage seen in infants.

Immanent Justice

The principle that punishment follows wrongdoing inevitably.

End Justifies the Means

The stage where the end justifies any means to achieve selfish goals.

Instrumental Relativism

The substage involving “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” thinking.

True

T/F: Preconventional moral reasoning focuses on personal consequences.

True

T/F: Adults can remain fixated at the preconventional level of moral development.

False

T/F: Immanent justice involves forgiving those who make mistakes.

True

T/F: “Might is right” describes obedience driven by power.

False

T/F: The Talion Principle emphasizes mercy in punishment.

Interpesonal Concordance

The substage where a child wants to be seen as a “good boy” or “nice girl.”

Soldier in War

The stage where children blindly obey authority figures like soldiers.

Law and Order Orientation

Stage where a child obeys rules to maintain societal order.

7-12 years

The age range typically associated with the Conventional stage.

Conformity

This characterizes moral decisions based on acceptance of social norms.

False

T/F: In the Law and Order stage, children follow rules only to please authority figures.

True

T/F: Blind obedience is characteristic of the Soldier in War substage.

True

T/F: Children at this stage define right and wrong based on group norms.

True

T/F: Law and Order orientation is based on maintaining social order.

False

T/F: Good behavior is defined internally without reference to social rules.

Universal Ethical Principle

The highest stage where moral decisions are based on universal principles.

Relativsm and Impermanence

The concept that laws can be changed to suit society’s needs.

Situational Ethics

The principle that "right" depends on current circumstances.

post-Conventional Stage

The moral stage where one follows their conscience even against the law.

Social Contract Orientation

The substage involving mutual agreements and legal fairness.

True

T/F: Not everyone reaches the Post-Conventional stage of moral reasoning.

False

T/F: People in this stage obey laws without question.

True

T/F: Universal principles override societal laws in ethical decisions.

False

T/F: Only teenagers reach the Universal Ethical Principle stage.

True

T/F: Advocacy for justice and human dignity is a feature of this stage.