Chapter 2: Major Theories of Cognitive Development

What is Piaget’s Theory?

An assumtion that all children pass through four universal stages in a fixed order: Sensorimotor (0-2), Preoperational (2-7), Concrete Operational (7-11), and Formal Operational (11+)

What are the characteristics of the sensorimotor stage?

Birth- 2

Experiencing the world thru senses and action.

We develop object permanence and schemas.

What are schemas?

Mental categories where we store all related pieces of information.

Ex: A category of shapes, where we store all our knowledge of squares, triangles, and circles.

What are the characteristics of the preoperational stage?

2-7

We represent things with words and images & lack logical thinking.
We engage in pretend play
We’re egocentric
Language starts to develop

What are the characteristics of the concrete operational stage?

7-11

We can think logically about straightforward events or analogies

We can understand mathematical transformations (10+10 is 20, so 20-10 is 10) and the properties of conservation.

What are the characteristics of the formal operational stage?

11+

Can use abstract reasoning & logic

We can use moral reasoning

Not everyone reaches this stage- up to 25-60% of college students won’t!

How do reflexes differ from intentional behavior?

What are the for parts of the adaptation of a schema?

Assimilation, disequilibrium, accomodation, equilibrium

What does Piaget say about environmental adaptation?

We are not passive in our environment. Our brain is constantly organizing and creating new schemas so we are better adjusted to our world.

How does accommodation differ from assimilation?

Both are always present, BUT

One is when we process an event based on preexisting schema and one changes preexisting schemas (making a new schema or editing one) to absorb new, contradictory information.

What are the six substages of the sensorimotor stage?

Reflexes

Primary circular reactions

Secondary circular reactions

Coordination of secondary reactions

Tertiary circular reactions

Mental combinations

What happens in the Mental Combinations stage?

Solving problems (We want to play with a phone, but a banana is a good enough substitute)

What are tertiary circular reactions?

Repeating an action in different ways to see what changes take place>

What is the coordination of secondary reactions?

Having an “action plan”; reaching for things, walking to preferred people

What is object permanence?

Knowing that objects continue to exist even when it can’t be sensed.

What’s the difference between primary and secondary circular reactions?

Using our body to do something pleasurable repeatedly vs. making fun last

What serves as the basis for planning, remembering, and forming strategies?

What is centration?

The cognitive tendency of young children to focus on one aspect while disregarding others.

What is reversibility?

The understanding that actions can be reversed

What is decentration?

Thinking of multiple aspects of a situation at the same time.

What is tranitivity?

Understanding how different objects relate to each other (A sink has the drain, handles, and faucet. Together, they’re a sink).

What is conservation?

The knowledge that presentation doesn’t correlate with volume

What is symbolic function?

The ability to use something to represent an object that isn’t physically present.

What is egocentrism?

Thinking that doesn’t take in others’ viewpoints.

What is abstract thought?

The ability to think about concepts with no physical references, like love and freedom.

What is hypothetical reasoning?

The ability to think about “what if” scenarios and weight potential outcomes

What support is there for Piaget’s theory?

Descriptions are accurate

Studies show that kids DO learn by interacting with their environment

The theories gives a good framework

What criticism is there for Piaget’s theory

Development is continuous, not staged

Motor theories ignore sensation and perception

Object permanence and imitation occur earlier

Some development is culturally affected

How does Vygotsky frame the importance of culture on cognitive development?

As extremely important- we can’t seperate ourselves from our culture.

What is reflective abstraction?

According to Vygotsky, how does a child’s thinking develop?

Through social interaction, learning from more knowledgeable others, focusing on the zone of proximal development, and scaffolding.

What are cultural tools?

A tool that helps on hinders cognitive development.
Pens, laptops, and paper are examples.

What is the zone of proximal development?

The level at which a child can almost, but not fully, perform a task independently, but can do so with the assistance of someone more competent.

How can be build new skills according to the zone of proximal development?

Try a skill that is a bit harder than what we can do independently- this expands our zone of proximal development.

Compare Piaget with Vygotsky

stages vs. our outside world

age-bound vs. expereince-bound

Who makes up a child’s social environment

Caregivers, friends, siblings

What is scaffolding?

The support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth

Trying to find different ways to teach different students.

What is social activities?

Any situation in which some activity is leading

What is cooperative learning?

Working together to achieve a common goal

What is reciprocal teaching?

Students are taught to skim the content of a passage, raise questions, summarize, and predict.

Also includes peer-to-peer teaching

What’s the role of culture in cognitive development?

The ways you learn: In the West, we go to formal school and use laptops. In other places, we learn via apprenticeships.

What you learn: In the West, we learn the three R’s. In other cultures, kids might learn to hunt.

What are the 3 R’s?

Reading, writing, arithmetic

What’s private speech?

Inwardly-directed speech- kids share their private speech, adults usually filter it.

What’s inner speech?

Private speech that is not spoken out loud.

What skills do shooter video games develop?

Attention, visual processing, mental rotation abilities, and spatial skills.

What skills do non-shooter games enhance?

Problem-solving abilities.

What was Vygotsky’s idea of internalizing socially shared activities?