L3 - Piaget's and Kohlberg's Theories of Development Flashcards

Flashcards on Piaget's and Kohlberg's Theories of Development

Jean Piaget

Swiss psychologist who systematically studied the acquisition of understanding in children and considered a major figure in 20th-century developmental psychology.

Piaget’s Clinical Method

A clinical method combining observation with flexible questioning used by Piaget to understand how children think.

Piaget's View of Children in Learning

Children take an active role in the learning process, acting like little scientists who perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world.

Organization and Adaptation

Two processes by which children's cognitive construction of the world happens.

Organization (Piaget)

The tendency to create categories by observing the characteristics that individual members of a category have in common.

Schemes

Increasingly complex cognitive structures, ways of organizing information about the world that govern the way the child thinks and behaves in a particular situation.

Adaptation (Piaget)

Piaget’s term for how children handle new information in light of what they already know.

Assimilation

Taking in new information and incorporating it into existing cognitive structures.

Accommodation

Adjusting one’s cognitive structures to fit the new information.

Equilibration

A constant striving for a stable balance, which dictates the shift from assimilation to accommodation.

Operations

Internalized mental actions that allow children to do mentally what they previously could only do physically.

Sensorimotor Stage

Infants deal with the world directly through their perceptions (senses) and actions (motor skills).

Object Permanence

Knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden.

Preoperational Stage

Preschooler has now developed the capacity for symbolic thought but is not yet capable of logical problem solving.

Conservation

The recognition that certain properties of an object or substance do not change when its appearance is altered in some superficial way.

Concrete Operational Stage

Children use a trial-and-error approach to problem solving and do well on problems that involve thinking about concrete objects.

Formal Operational Stage

Children develop the ability to think about abstract concepts and logically test hypotheses.

Lawrence Kohlberg

Psychologist known for his theory on moral development.

Pre-Conventional Morality

Moral reasoning is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules; authority is outside the individual.

Pre-Conventional Level

Moral code is shaped by standards of adults and consequences of following the rules.

Obedience and Punishment Orientation (Stage 1)

The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished; obeying rules is important to avoid punishment.

Individualism and Exchange (Stage 2)

Different individuals have different viewpoints; children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs.

Conventional Level

Moral standards of valued adult role models are internalized; authority is internalized but not questioned.

Good Interpersonal Relationships (Stage 3)

Child/individual is good in order to be seen as a good person by others; answers relate to the approval of others.

Maintaining the Social Order (Stage 4)

Child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society; judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and avoid guilt.

Post-Conventional Morality

Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice.

Social Contract and Individual Rights (Stage 5)

Aware that rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, but there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals; members of the society should agree upon these standards.

Universal Principles (Stage 6)

People have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law; principles apply to everyone.