Psych: Piaget, Cognitive Development

Active child

child’s efforts to understand and influence surroundings key

schemas

cognitive structures for processing, organizing, interpreting information

Assimilation

new information  altered to fit  existing schema

Accommodation

existing schema altered to fit new info

Sensorimotor

capable of coordinating the activities of the senses with motor activities

preoperational

capable of symbolic representations, such as in language, but with limited ability to use mental operations

concrete operations

capable of using mental operations, but only in concrete, immediate experience; difficulty thinking hypothetically

formal operations

capable of thinking logically and abstractly; capable of formulating hypotheses ands testing them systematically thinking is more complex, including ability to think about thinking (metacognition)

object permanence

things exist when not in direct sensory contact - 8-12 months

deferred imitation

ability to repeat something that we observe later (18 months)

categorization

brain groups objects, events, or experiences into classes based on physical interaction, movement possibilities, and bodily feedback rather than just static visual appearance

Conservation

The amount of a physical substance remains the same, even if its appearance changes

Egocentrism

Inability to distinguish between self and others’ perspectives

Classification

understanding that an object can be part of more than one group/category

seriation

Ability to order according to logic

Pragmatism

“real world” complexities, inconsistencies, limitations that cannot be addressed with the logic of formal operations

Dialectical thinking

• there may not be a “right” answer

  • More than one truth can exist

 Animism

attribute human feelings/thoughts (often own) to inanimate objects