PSYCH CHAPTER 6 (Book)

Piaget’s Constructivist Theory

A theory that describes how children construct knowledge through active exploration and interaction with their environment.

Cognitive Development Stages

Four stages outlined by Piaget where children develop increasingly complex cognitive schemes.

Active Exploration

The process by which children learn by interacting with their environment rather than passively receiving information.

Assimilation

The process of integrating new experiences into existing cognitive structures.

Accommodation

The process of adjusting cognitive structures to incorporate new experiences.

Zone of Proximal Development

The difference between what a child can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance.

Private Speech

A form of verbal communication where children talk to themselves to guide their own actions.

Neuroconstructivism

An approach that connects cognitive skill development to changes in neural structures due to experience.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not in sight.

Symbolic Capacity

The ability to use one thing to represent something else, forming the basis for language and pretend play.

Egocentrism

The inability to see the world from a perspective other than one's own, common in preoperational children.

Concrete-Operational Stage

The stage where children can think logically about concrete events and perform operations like conservation.

Formal-Operational Thought

The final stage of cognitive development characterized by abstract reasoning and hypothetical problem-solving.

Imaginary Audience

A form of adolescent egocentrism where individuals believe that they are the center of everyone else's attention.

Relativistic Thinking

Understanding that knowledge and truth can vary based on different perspectives and contexts.

Dialectical Thinking

The ability to detect and reconcile contradictions in ideas.

Limited Education

A factor that may negatively impact cognitive performance in older adults, rather than simply age-related decline.