Studied by 10 people
basic foundation of Piaget's theory
children act as little scientists and construct their knowledge of the world based on experiences
key aspects of organization
children integrate individual observations into coherent understanding
key aspects of adaptation
children progressively adapt their thinking to their environment
key aspects of assimilation
incorporation of new info into existing concepts
key aspects of equilibrium
adaptation of existing concepts into new info
4 stages of Piaget's theory
sensorimotor stage (birth-2), preoperational stage (2-7), concrete operational stage (7-12), formal operational stage (12+)
what does "lack of mental representation" mean?
children in the sensorimotor stage do not have thoughts separate from perceptions/actions in the moment
what is object permanence?
the understanding that objects continue to exist when out of view
Piaget's basic object permanence task
show infant object, infants reach for it -> hider under cloth, no longer reaches for it
A-not-B error
8-12 months, have object permanence but unstable mental rep -> hide object under cloth B and infant looks for it under cloth A
challenge to Piaget's object permanence theory
infants have obj perm before 8 mos because they reach for objects in the dark; just can't act on one object (cloth) to obtain another object (toy)
Baillargeon (1986) - Violation of Expectations
Methods: 6 1/2 and 8 mo old watch car roll down a track behind a screen - possible and impossible event with blocks
Results: both ages looked longer at impossible event
Conclusion: children younger than 8 mos expect block to stop car, therefore have obj perm
why does Esther Thelen say infants fail the A-not-B error task?
they have insufficient perceptual and motor coordination - difficult to overcome motor memory of success at cloth A
how did Esther Thelen change the A-not-B experiment to make it succeed?
weigh arms down, have them stand up (changing motor situation)
how does Piaget assess egocentrism?
three mountain task - children believe doll can only see what they see despite different angle
challenge to Piaget's egocentrism task
children are successful when a familiar context is used, like a farm
what is centration?
focusing on a striking feature of an object/event and ignoring other relevant features
what are the 3 conservation tasks and what are the typical responses?
liquid, solid, number
more liquid, more solid, more number
how can the conservation of number task be simplified?
using only 3-4 items or when a group label is used over a unit label
how did Piaget test subcategory/superordinate category preoperational understanding?
bead task
example of concrete operational children problem-solving unsystematically
pendulum swing factors - don't test one variable at a time
characteristics of formal operational stage
systematically solve problems, consider alternate hypotheses, think hypothetically, metacognition
Kim and Spelke (1992) - Gravity
sample: 5 and 7 mos
methods: ball released on slope up or down
result: 7 old look at condition 2 longer, but not 5 old
conclusion: 7 old expect ball to roll down slope
Baillargeon - Support
sample: 3 mo old
methods: box released in midair fails to fall, box touching another box fails to fall
results: look longer at 1st condition because it violates expectations, do not look longer at second condition
conclusion: support expectations develop with age
Quinn and Eimas (1996) - Categorization
sample: 3 and 4 mo olds
methods: habituated to cat pics, shown pic of different cat and then dog
results: looked longer at dog
conclusion: dishabituation to dog shows distinction b/w the 2
Oakes and Cohen (1995) - Causation
sample: 6-10 mo olds
methods: habituated to videos of moving objects colliding with stationary objects
results: looked longer when non-causal event occurred
conclusion: recognition of cause and effect
Starkey (1992) - Distinguishing of Numbers
sample: 6-9 mo olds
methods: habituated to pics of 2 or 3 objects, then saw other condition
results: looked longer at other condition
conclusion: infants can distinguish between 1 and 4
Wynn (1992) - Arithmetic
sample: 5 mo olds
methods: addition behind screen with impossible event
results: infants looked longer at impossible event
conclusion: infants understand simple addition
criticisms of Wynn's arithmetic study
results only work with 1-3 objects, and results don't replicate consistently
Zelazo et al. (1996) - Rule-Switching
sample: 3 and 4 yr olds
methods: shown card of different shapes and colors, asked to sort based on one dimension, then asked to swithc and sort based on other dimension
results: most 4 yr olds succeed, 3 yrs old continue sorting by first dimension
conclusion: 3 yr olds have difficulty inhibiting attention to previously relevant info
DeLoache (1987) - Scale-Model Task
methods: 2 1/2 and 3 yr olds watch experimenter hide toy in scale model room and then asked to find toy in real room
results: most 3 yr olds find toy, most 2.5 yr olds can't
conclusion: difficulty with dual representation - don't understand the model is a symbol for the room
Scale-Model Task follow up study
"shrinking machine" - believe room was actually shrunk, so no dual representation here so 2 1/2 yr olds succeed
deferred imitation
repetition of another's behavior hours or days after it has occurred
symbolic representation
use of one object to stand for another (like make believe play)
metacognition
ability to think about thinking
Note 
Flashcard (48)