3.4- Cognitive Development across the Lifespan

Cognition

Mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering

Schema

A blueprint that organizes and interprets info, acting as a guide for perception, understanding and memory

Event script

An organized sequence of expected actions or behaviors for a common event

Assimilation

Fitting new experiences or info into existing schema without changing those schema

Accommodation

Adjusting current schemas to make sense of new info, to see it differently

Sensorimotor stage (birth-2)

Understanding the world through senses and actions

Object permanece

Aware that things exist even when you can’t see it (under a blanket)

Preoperational stage (2-7)

understanding the world by language and mental images

Conservation

Mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the form of objects

Reversibility

Ability to mentally undo an action or series of steps

Egocentrism

Unable to see in others perspectives

Theory of the mind

It’s hard for kids to under stand empathy. Putting themselves into other peoples shoes

Concrete operational stage (7-11)

Understanding the world through logical thinking + categories

Formal Operational stage (12+)

Understanding the world through hypothetical thinking + scientific reasoning

Conservation

Mass and volume remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Reversibility

Ability to mentally undo an action or series of steps

Egocentrism (2-7)

Unable to see in others perspectives

Theory of mind

It’s hard for kids to understand empathy

Concrete Operational stage (7-11)

Understands world through logical thinking + categories

Formal operational stage (12+)

Understands world through hypothetical thinking and scientific reasoning

Lev Vygotsky

Kids can take hard classes, if depends on the teacher they have

Scaffold

Adjust the level of guidance and support to fit the students current performance level (teaching how to write a claim)

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Distance between a students ability to perform a task under adult guidance or a friends collaboration and the students ability to solve things on their own