PS 241 Chapter 4

Egocentrism

A concept for children in the preoperational stage. Unable to see other people’s perspective, thinking everyone likes the things that they like. Little effort in tailoring speech to the needs of the listener

Animism

A concept for children in the preoperational stage. Giving a lifelike personality to an inanimate object (uses pronouns on the object)

Intuitive reasoning

A concept for children in the preoperational stage. Ability to understand a concept immediately without any systematic analysis (reliance on instinct and past experiences)

Rigidity of thought

Inability to adapt to new information, failing to see alternative ways of thinking in the preoperational stage.

Centration

A type of rigidity of thought. Involves overfixation on one point, unable to see the larger picture. 

Example: a child cannot understand that there is the same amount of water in two differently shaped containers

States vs. transformations

A type of rigidity of thought. The child focuses on the states of the objects before and after, but never the dynamic transformation that occurs.

Example: Child doesn’t understand that water being poured from one cup to another is the same amount, just different shapes cups

Lack of reversibility

A type of rigidity of thought. Children cannot mentally reverse a sequence of events.

Example: When one cup of water is poured into another, the child does not know that they can pour the same amount of water back.

Piaget’s concrete operational period

7-11 year olds: Able to use logical rules to solve problems and deal with thinks that are directly experienced. Children in this stage cannot deal with the hypothetical yet

Conservation

Observed in Piaget’s concrete operational period. Preoperational kids do not have this. Child needs to be able to give a logical explanation (justification) and oppose other answers (resistance to counter suggestion).

Piaget’s formal operational period

Children 12+ years are able to perform mental operations on symbols and think of the possible.

Hypothetical reasoning

Child’s thinking resembles that of a scientist

Complex deductions

Child is able to consider a combination of factors and how thye interact with each other when coming up with a solution to a problem

Hypothesis testing

Problem solving is much more systematic.

Information Processing theory

This theory suggests that humans are processors of information (thinking), researchers of this theory are interested in specific areas and deriving precise models of how children perform on specific tasks.

Working memory

This type of memory is where problem solving takes place/the mind’s mental workspace. It holds only a limited amount of information for a short time unless we actively put it in our long term memory.

Long-term memory

This type of memory is also known as “the mind’s encyclopedia”, containing memories, problems, rules, and techniques without limit.

Executive function

This type of memory manages the activities of the information system, coordinating attention, memory, and behavioural responses.

Inhibitory control

Type of exec. function: the ability to stop/inhibit a response and resist distractions to pay attention

Cognitive flexibility

Type of exec. function: the ability to switch focus as needed

Example: Piaget’s A not B task

Strategy use

Type of exec. function: the ability to select the appropriate strategy and monitor the effectiveness of it, shifting as needed

Encoding

Basic thinking process. We put information into our system and it gets better and faster as we grow older

Speed of processing

How quickly we can process information and perform actions. Improves with age.

Rehearsal

A strategy for improving memory. Involves repeating information over and over again. The speed of rehearsal is linearly related to the # of words remembered.

Semantic organization

A strategy for improving memory. Involves storing information in a way that is meaningful and easier to remember.

Example: grouping things together by different categories

Elaboration/elaborative rehearsal

A strategy for improving memory. Involves making connections between the info that we want to remember and associating them with more meaningful things.

Example: Numbers behind a locker combo. have symbolic meaning, so it’s easier to remember.

Knowledge base

As children gain more knowledge about people and events in the world, they are able to remember more.

Seigler’s overlapping waves approach

Some strategies work better, and some don’t. The strategies that work get used more often, and vice versa. Researchers interested in this approach looked into children’s strategy for solving simple addition problems.

Core knowledge perspective

There are specialized domains of evolutionary significance, including: Language, knowledge of objects, understanding people, numbers, and spatial relationships.

Performance in one domain should be similar to performance in another because this perspective suggests that they are all tied to the same cognitive structures.

Nativist view of the core knowledge perspetive

Children are born with substantial knowledge in the evolutionary significant domains.

Constructivist view of the core knowledge perspective

Children are born with basic innate knowledge (not the significant domains) that helps to explain the world, allowing them to generate theories and learn from them.

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

Children are products of their culture, and their social environment shapes the way that kids think. In order to improve cognitive development, the environment must have intersubjectivity, guided participation, ZPD, scaffolding, and private speech.

Private speech

A concept in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. A form of self-guidance and behaviour regulation, as language is the foundation for all higher cognitive processes. Piaget believed that egocentric speech disappears, but Vygotsky claims it changes to inner speech.

Intersubjectivity

A concept in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Involves a mutual shared understanding amongst participants in an activity, such as joint attention and mutual eye gaze between child and parent.

Guided participantion

A concept in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. Children’s cognitive growht results from structured activities with other people who are more skilled (ex. parent, teacher, peers, etc.)

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Children’s learning takes place here in the zone of “what children can do with help”, establishing the difference between what a child can do on their own and what they can do with help.

Scaffolding

A concept in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. A teaching style that matches the degree of assistance to the learner’s individual needs.