pscl 101 exam 2: cognitive development #5

piaget's cognitive developmental theory

Children build and adapt schemas based on interactionswith environment

schema

basic unit of knowledge about a specific action or experience

assimilation

-apply existing schemas to new info

-equilibrium maintained

accomodation

-update or create schemas to incorporate new info

-disequilibrium, change, then back to equilibrium

1. sensorimotor stage

-birth to two years

-build schemas through sensory perception or motor movements

-intentional, goal-directed behavior, mental representations (memories)

2. preoperational stage

-2-7 years old

-advances in mental representation

preoperational stage limitations

-mental operations

-perspective-taking

-conservation

-classifying objects

conservation

understanding that objects have certain properties that do not change, even if their appearance changes

3. concrete operational stage

-7-11 years old

-perspective-taking, conservation, classification skills

concrete operational stage limitations

-mental operations on concrete objects only

-hypothetical thought

4. formal operational stage

-11+ years

-logical, hypothetical, abstract thought and reasoning

vygotsky's sociocultural theory

cognition is shaped by social interactions, language, and culture

zone of proximal development

body of knowledge/skills child can't learn or display alone, but can with help from a teacher

scaffolding

adjusting support to suit learner's existing knowledge/skills, gradually building something new