Piaget - Cognitive Development

What is cognition

mental processes involved in thinking and understanding

what did Piaget mean by genetic epistemology

study of the origins of knowledge

what key observation came from intelligence testing

children make qualitatively different errors than adults

what are schemas

mental structures used to organise knowledge

what is assimilation

interpreting new information using existing schemas

what is accommodation

changing schemas to fit new information

what is equilibration

drive towards cognitive balance

name the four stages of development

sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, formal operational

what is object permanence

understanding objects exist when not seen

what task assessed egocentrism

three mountains task

what is centration

focus on one salient feature of a situation

what defines concrete operational thinking

logical reasoning about concrete objects

what is conservation

understanding quantity remains constant despite appearance

what challenged Piaget’s object permanence timeline

Baillargeon et al. (1985) findings in infants

what methodological criticism applies

naturalistic observation and experimenter bias

why are stage theories criticised

overly rigid and ignore cultural variation

what is Piaget’s enduring impact

foundation of developmental and constructivist psychology