Cognitive Development

what stage of development are children in during middle childhood according to Piaget?

the concrete operational stage 

what is the concrete operational stage?

beginnings of capacity for adult logic → involves tangible (concrete objects), not abstract ideas

what is the concrete operational stage characterized by?

reversibility and flexibility

less egocentric than preoperational children 

decentration, compared to preoperational children 

reversibility

deflated ball can be reinflated. its still the same ball

5-3 = 2, but also 2+3 = 5 

less egocentric

view the world from other ppls perspectives 

decentration

can focus on more than one aspect of the problem at once (pay attention to height, but also width of water in glasses)

the concrete operational stage occurs b/w the ages of what?

7-11

the concrete operational stage is characterized by active and appropriate use of ______

logic

what is seriation?

something that comes w the concrete operational stage

ordering along a quantitative dimension 

what is transitivity?

something that comes w the concrete operational stage

the ability to logically combine relationships to understand that a third item is related in the same way as the first two

• ex: A>B, B>C, then A>C 

being in the concrete operational stage allows the child to consider _________ characteristics rather than focus on _________

several; a single property of an object

• ex: height and width 

• a person can be both a father and a son 

children in the concrete operational stage still have difficulty with:

deductive reasoning → can’t understand when the rules don’t seem true to them

ex: the feather breaking a glass cup 

what is conservation?

child understanding that: 

• an object can have several properties or dimensions 

• child can de-center and focus on more than one dimension 

ex: child playing with a ball of dough squishes it, but understands that its the same amount of dough

we are able to assess a child transitivity though ________ tasks

seriation

• systematically compare an array of objects 

• decentration ability allows seriation in two dimensions at once 

give an example of a seriation task

placing objects in a specific order → an array of sticks from longest to shortest 

a preschooler asked to do a seriation tasks would do what?

place the objects in a random order

6-7 year olds will do what when asked to accomplish a seriation task?

put the objects in order, but with a lot of trial and error

7-8 year olds will do what when asked to accomplish a seriation task?

put them in order without trial and error because they understand transitivity and seriation 

when given an array of leaves how would you expect a preoperational child to organize them?

by their size OR brightness in color

when given an array of leaves how would you expect a concrete operational child to organize them?

put them in order by size AND brightness

what is an exception of a class inclusion task that a concrete operational kid wouldn’t be able to accomplish?

can correctly answer if there are more blue cars or more cars, but if asked in abstract terms they will not be able to answer it

how can we apply Piaget’s theory to educational practices?

learning involves active discovery → find stimulating materials instead of imposing knowledge 

instruction geared to student’s level → consider the level of cognitive development 

encourage development of perspective taking → encourage group discussions and peer interaction 

what is an example of allowing for active discovery?

allow children to participate in activities to learn things instead of just memorization

what is an example of student level?

if young child, allow them to divide things into pieces instead of just trying to lecture on fractions

what are the criticisms of Piaget’s theory?

piaget tended to underestimate children’s abilities

development of cognitive skills may be more independent and continuous than in stages 

underestimate: conservation might develop earlier and we’re just asking it in complicated ways

what are the strengths to Piaget’s theory?

sequences of development appear to remin the same

what is Piaget’s view on the development of moral reasoning?

there are two overlapping stages of moral development 

• Moral realism 

• Autonomous morality 

what is Moral Realism according to Piaget?

“objective morality”

• AKA heteronomous morality 

• emerges at about age 5 

• behavior is correct when it conforms to authority or rules 

  • rules are absolutes 

• punishment is inevitable 

  • immanent justice or automatic retribution 

  • do not excuse accidental behavior 

T or F: don’t try the “yes, but” with a 5 year old. If you did it, you’re guilty, even if it was an accident.

True

What is Autonomous Morality according to Piaget?

“autonomous reality”

• AKA autonomous cooperation 

• emerges between ages 9 and 11

• social rules are arbitrary agreements that can be changed

  • circumstances can req breaking rules

• consider the intentions of the wrongdoer

  • decentration and increased empathy

• develops as a result of cooperative peer relationships

would a child that only has moral realism be ok with talking to a stranger that is a cop?

NO, stranger danger

would a child that has autonomous morality be ok with talking to a stranger that is a cop?

Yes, ok to talk to a stranger if that stranger is a cop and your lost 

would a child that has moral reality think its ok to eat candy for breakfast on easter?

no, you can’t have candy for breakfast its against the rules 

would a child that has autonomous morality think its ok to eat candy for breakfast on easter?

yes, its ok to eat candy for breakfast in this situation

how does Kohlberg view the development of moral reasoning?

emphasis on taking on the perspective of others

moral reasoning follows the same sequence in all children 

three levels, with two stages w/n each level 

development is fostered by opportunities to take the perspective of others and experience conflicts between current thinking and higher stage 

uses moral dilemma interviews to assess moral reasoning 

what is the first level of moral development?

pre-morality

• stage 1: punishment and obedience orientation: doing what is right bc of fear of punishment. 

• stage 2: hedonistic orientation: doing what is right for personal gain, perhaps a reward

what is level two of moral development?

conventional morality

• stage 3: interpersonal concordance orientation: doing what is right according to the majority to be a good boy/girl 

• stage 4: law and order orientation: doing what is right bc it is your duty and helps society 

what is level three of moral development?

post conventional morality

• stage 5: social contract or legalistic orientation: doing what is right even if it is against the law bc the law is too restrictive 

• stage 6: universal ethical principles orientation: doing what is right bc of our inner conscious which has absorbed the principles of justice and equality and sacredness of life

preconventional level of moral development until about what age?

10 

conventional level of moral development occurs when?

through the rest of middle childhood after about age 10

postconventional level of moral development occur when?

in adolescence or adulthood

according to Kohlberg, what is characteristic of being in the preconventional level?

obedience and punishment 

good bx allows you to satisfy your own needs and perhaps, the needs of others 

according to Kohlberg, what is characteristic of being in the conventional level?

good-boy/ good-girl orientation

judgements based on rules that maintain social order 

according to Kohlberg, what is characteristic or being in the postconventional level?

based on person’s own moral standards

universal ethical principles orientation 

what occurs during the two stages during preconventional morality level?

stage 1: heteronomous morality

• punishment-obedience orientation 

• “will I get into trouble?” 

• concern for the self and avoiding punishment 

stage 2: individualism 

• instrumental relativist orientation

• “what’s in it for me?”  

if a child is in stage 1 of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, what will their take on the Heinz dilemma be?

Heinz should not steal the drug bc he might be caught and go to jail/his wife might scold him 

if a child is in stage 2 of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, what will their take on the Heinz dilemma be?

Heinz should steal the drug so his wife can come back and cook for him

It’s not fair to the doctor since he spent lots of money and a lot of time developing the cure

what occurs during the two stages of the conventional morality level?

stage 3: mutual interpersonal expectation, relationships, and interpersonal conformity 

• “what will others think of me?” 

stage 4: social systems morality - law, justice, duty 

• a community is effective when protected by laws 

• nobody is above the law 

if a child is in stage 3 of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, what will their take on the Heinz dilemma be?

heinz should steal the drug so ppl think he’s a good person 

officer brown should not report it bc his friend would be pleased 

if a child is in stage 4 of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, what will their take on the Heinz dilemma be?

Heinz has a duty to steal the drug as a husband, but should be prepared to go to jail 

the judge should sentence him to jail - stealing is against the law 

what occurs during the the postconventional level?

stage 5: social contract or utility and individual rights

• protecting the individuals rights

• laws can be examined in terms of the degree to which they preserve and protect fundamental human rights and values 

stage 6: universal ethical principles 

• when faced with a conflict b/w law and conscience, the person reasons that conscience should be followed, even tho the decision may bring risk 

• removed from Kohlberg moral judgment scoring manual 

if a child is in stage 5 of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, what will their take on the Heinz dilemma be?

heinz should steal the drug bc everyone has the right to life regardless of the law - the law should be reinterpreted

if a child is in stage 6 of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, what will their take on the Heinz dilemma be?

Heinz should steal the drug bc preserving human life is a higher moral obligation than preserving property 

what are the research findings on morality?

moral reasoning develops in stages and w age

• cross-sectional and longitudinal 

the stages are invariant 

the development of moral reasoning is slow and gradual 

postconventional morality at stage 6 is so rarely found that Kohlberg believed few ppl ever attained it and its existence is speculative 

when subjects generate real-life moral dilemmas, they tend to score at a lower stage than when reasoning about hypothetical dilemmas 

moral reasoning is highly correlated with what three factors?

• IQ 

• level of education 

• perspective-taking skill 

how can peer experiences influence moral reasoning?

they enhance it

• students who participate in peer discussion and role-playing moved partially or totally to the next moral stage compared with those students who did not participate in the class interventions  

ppl in what types of societies progresses thru Kohlberg’s stages more rapidly?

technologically advanced, urban cultures

• playing video games facilitated moral reasoning more than discussions 

what are the criticisms of Kohlberg’s theory?

too much emphasis on thought, not enough on bx

• self justification occurs b4 actual bx 

based solely on observations of members of western cultures

Kohlberg argued that family processes are unimportant 

• evidence that parental practices help enhance moral reasoning 

_____ of students who reasoned at postconventional morality cheated on tests when given the opportunity

15%

what were the cross-cultural research finds regarding Kohlberg’s theory?

first 4 stages (mostly) replicated cross culturally

members of more industrialized, technologically advanced cultures move thru the stages more rapidly than members or non industrialized countries 

nature of morality may differ in diverse culture 

AND: advanced societies have courts and laws; less advanced societies may value relationships b/w ppl more 

what did the research find for how the parents influenced the child’s moral development?

supportive, listened well, asked clarifying questions, praised, had a sense of humor, and used higher level reasoning → children with highest levels of moral reasoning 

lectured, used threats, or made sarcastic remarks → children who changed little or not at all 

what did Carol Gilligan propose in regards to moral development?

believed Kohlberg’s theory was gender based 

• based on male norm that elevates abstract principles above relationships and concern for others 

what did Gilligan think boys viewed morality in terms of?

“justice perspective” - emphasized justice and impartiality

what did Gilligan think girls viewed morality in terms of?

“care perspective” - relationships take priority over justice

• responsibility and compassion toward individuals and a willingness to sacrifice for relationships 

  • compassion more prominent 

  • take into account what would be best for other - move away from selfishness 

what seems to be a key factor in closing the gender gap proposed by Gillian?

education

• with more education women change from care perspective to justice perspective 

what is information processing theory?

cognitive development akin to computer systems

• info input, storage, retrieval, output 

what are the key elements needed for information processing theory to occur?

selective attention

capacity for storage and retrieval of information 

strategies 

how do children develop selective attention

pay attention to relevant features of a task

• ability to focus attention and screen out distractions improves 

• attend to multiple aspects of a problem 

how do we develop the ability to ignore distractions?

given a task where you have to sort smth by shape, but there wa irrelevant info on the card (vertical or horizontal lines) 

• this task took preschoolers a lot longer to try yo ignore the info, but was easier for older children

• older adults have a harder time ignoring irrelevant info then younger adults

what developments occur in storage and retrieval of info?

processes of storing and retrieving info are called “memory” for convenience

what is sensory memory?

sensory register

• impression of sensory info that lasts a fraction of a second 

• applies to all senses 

what is working (short-term) memory?

info in working memory is retained by attention on a stimulus in sensory register

• central executive, phonological loop, episodic buffer, visuospatial sketch pad

working memory can last for about ______ seconds

30 

phonological loop

at work when we recite or think of info to keep it in our memory. Why ppl use jingles in commercials

visuospatial sketchpad

allows ppl to temporarily hold and manipulate visual images. for example, if you needed to rearrange the clothes, shoes, and other junk in your closet, this would be at work

central executive system

in change of directing and dividing focus and attention. if you are listening to the TV, talking on the phone, and trying to read for this class, your central executive is trying to manage and divide attention to these tasks 

episodic buffer

all the info in the STM comes together to be integrated in ways that allow it to be passed to LTM more easily

how many chunks of info can adults hold onto in STM?

capacity is 7 chunks 

how many chunks of info can the typical 5-6 year old hold onto?

two chunks of info at a time

what is a cognitive strategy that can be used to promote learning?

rote learning: how we learned the alphabet. repeat it over and over until eventually “m” triggers “n” which then triggers “o” and so on

T or F: memorizing the alphabet requires that children keep 26 chunks of info in mind at once

False

Working memory involves the ________ of memory

manipulation

what are some tasks we can do to test children’s working memory

give children increasingly longer sequences of numbers and then ask them to repeat them backwards 

• preschoolers struggle with sequences above 2, but older kids can go much longer

what is the limit to LTM?

no known limit of info

how do we move info from STM to LTM?

rehearsal

elaborative strategy 

extended semantic codes 

elaborative strategy

relate new memory to already est. meaningful memories. so to learn new vocab, use it in sentences about your friends

extended semantic code

semantic codes are types of elaborative learning that involve some meaning of information

recall memory is improved by the ability to ______________

process information (scan and categorize)

• memory is a good overall indicator of cognitive ability 

what is meant by the categorical structure of LTM?

if you can get organized info into your memory, its much easier to recall than are lots and lots of tiny pieces of disorganized info

what is source monitoring?

the process of making inferences about the origins of memories

what is the misinformation effect?

occurs when participants recall of an event they witness is altered by introducing misleading postevent information

• intentionally wording questions in different ways

when does a source-monitoring error occur?

when a memory derived from one source is misattributed to another source

what do children understand about their cognitive functioning?

metacognition ame metamemory

as children develop, they utilize more strategies for memory 

metacognition

being aware of the process required to solve a problem, activating cognitive strategies, focus on the problem, checking answer

• knowing what strategies you need to get thru a math test

metamemory

know how to test take advantage of their memory. know that they need to write down a phone number before they start their math homework or they’ll forget it. I know that i need to put everything on my calendar or ill forget it. 

what is achievement?

what a child has learned by experience

specific content area 

is intelligence the same thing as achievement?

NO, it can influence achievement tho

what is intelligence

not just your IQ

child’s underlying learning ability 

cognitive basis for academic achievement 

psychologist disagree ab the nature and origins or a child’s underlying competence or learning ability 

what is spearman’s theory of intelligence?

behaviors we consider intelligence have a common factor

• spearman: g or “general intelligence” 

  • broad reasoning and problem solving abilities - generally if you’re good at one thing, you’re good at others

• spearman: s or “specific capacities” 

  • accounts for individual abilities 

• factor analysis: statistical technique used to determine whether test items are measuring the same things 

• thurstone: primary mental abilities - used factor analysis to tease apart different aspect of intelligence. Visual-spatial abilities, perceptual speed, numerical ability, ability to learn meanings of words, ability to bring to mind the right word, ability to reason, etc.

what is sternberg’s triarchic theory ot intelligence?

three-pronged theory of intelligence

• analytical intelligence: academic ability

• creative intelligence: ability to cope w novel situations

• practical intelligence: ability to adapt to demands of the environment