Infant Cognitive Development

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts related to infant cognitive development and Piaget's cognitive developmental theory.

Cognition

Mental processes by which we acquire and process information.

Cognitive Development

How mental processes change as we get older.

Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

A theory that describes progressive stages of cognitive development based on qualitative changes.

Scheme

A pattern of thought used to represent, organize, and interpret experiences.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemes.

Accommodation

Altering old schemes or developing new schemes to understand new experiences.

Sensorimotor Stage

The stage of cognitive development from birth to 2 years.

Preoperational Stage

The stage of cognitive development from 2 to 7 years.

Concrete-operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development from 7 to 11 years.

Formal-operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development from 11 years and beyond.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view.

Primary Circular Reactions

Repeated actions centered on the infant’s own body (1-4 months).

Secondary Circular Reactions

Repeated actions focused on external objects (4-8 months).

Means-Ends Behavior

The first appearance of true intentionality, using one secondary scheme to activate another.

The A not B Task

A task assessing an infant's ability to understand object permanence.

Tertiary Circular Reactions

Active experimentation to achieve new objectives (12-18 months).

Symbolic Thought

The ability to mentally represent physically absent objects (18-24 months).

Judgments and Inferences

A cognitive skill assessed during Piaget's stages of development.

Egocentrism

The inability to view the world from another person's perspective.

Animism

Attributing life and life-like qualities to inanimate objects.

Conservation

Understanding that certain properties of an object remain the same despite changes in form.

Relational Logic

Connecting relationships between objects, such as in seriation and transitivity.

Inductive Reasoning

Reasoning that involves drawing general conclusions from specific instances.

Zone of Proximal Development

The distance between the actual developmental level and potential development with guidance.

Scaffolding

Adjusting guidance provided to a child based on their current performance level.

Vygotsky's Theory

A theory emphasizing that cognitive skills develop through social interactions and language.

Criticisms of Piaget

Concerns regarding the generalizability, stages, and underestimation of children's cognitive abilities.

Formal Operational Thinking

Involves abstract logical reasoning and the ability to ponder hypothetical scenarios.

Concrete Operational Thinking

Thinking that involves real or imaginable objects and events.

Magical Causality

A limited understanding of cause and effect in early cognitive stages.

Intentionality

The ability to have purpose behind actions, developing through cognitive stages.

Qualitative Changes

The fundamental changes in cognitive processes as one progresses through Piaget's stages.

Critiques of Sensorimotor Stage

Arguments suggesting Piaget underestimated sensory and physical reasoning capacities.

Three Mountains Task

An experiment designed to assess egocentrism in children's thinking.

Limitations in Preoperational Thinking

Challenges such as centration and a lack of conservation understanding.

Centration

Focusing on only one aspect of a situation, leading to errors in reasoning.