CH 5- lifespan exam 1

Piaget's Cognitive Developmental Theory

children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world

Piaget's stages of cognitive development

1. sensorimotor

2. pre-operational

3. concrete operational

4. formal operational

Schemes

In Piaget's theory, actions or mental representations that organize knowledge.

adaptation, assimilation, accommodation

Involved building schemes through direct interaction with the environment

• assimilation- we use our current schemes to interpret the external world

• accommodation- We create new schemes or adjust to old ones after noticing that our current ways of thinking do not capture the environment completely

organization

• A process that occurs internally, apart from direct contact with the environment

• Once children form new schemes, they rearrange them, linking them with other schemes to create a strongly interconnected cognitive system

Equilibrium / disequilibrium (Piaget)

balance between assimilation and accommodation

sensorimotor stage

Spans the first two years of life. Piaget believed that infants and toddlers "think" with their eyes, ears, hands, and other sensorimotor equipment. They cannot yet carry out many activities inside their heads.

circular reaction

in Piaget's theory, a means of building schemes in which infants try to repeat a chance event caused by their own motor activity

intentional or goal-directed behavior

coordinating schemes deliberately to solve simple problems

object permanence

the understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of view

• babies don't have this awareness

A-not-B search error

If a baby reaches several times for an object at a first hiding place (A), then see it moved to a second (B) they still search for it in the first hiding place

mental representation

the ability to form internal images of objects and events

deferred imitation

the ability to remember and copy the behavior of models who are not present

make-believe play

children act out everyday and imaginary activities

inferred imitation

requires inferring others' intentions; more likely to imitate purposeful rather than accidental behaviors

problem solving

finding a way around an obstacle to reach a goal

symbolic understanding

the realization that words can be used to cue mental images of things not physically present

violation of expectation method

A visual preference research method that assesses infants' ability to distinguish between an expected and an unexpected event.

Baillargeon carrot study

core knowledge perspective

babies are born with a set of innate knowledge systems, or core domains of thought. Each of these prewired understandings permits a ready grasp of new, related information and therefore supports early, rapid development

Vygotsky's Theory

A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development.

zone of proximal development

phase of learning during which children can benefit from instruction