Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Piaget's theory of cognitive development as presented in the lecture notes.

Genetic Epistemology

Piaget's framework for studying how knowledge develops in individuals, influenced by biology and philosophy, focusing on how thinking changes with experience.

Schema

A cognitive structure that organizes ideas and guides interpretation; a mental framework.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating a new experience into an existing schema.

Accommodation

Modifying an existing schema or creating a new one in response to new information.

Equilibration

The process of achieving balance between assimilation and accommodation, driving cognitive development.

Sensorimotor Stage

Birth to infancy; knowledge gained through senses and motor actions; includes object permanence.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when not visible.

Pre-Operational Stage

Approximately ages 2-7; development of symbolic thought, pretend play; characterized by egocentrism and centration.

Symbolic Function

The ability to use symbols to represent objects or events.

Egocentrism

Tendency to view the world from one's own perspective; difficulty seeing others' points of view.

Centration

Focusing on one aspect of a situation while neglecting other important features.

Reversibility

Inability to reverse thinking or mental operations (e.g.,1+4 vs 4+1) in the pre-operational stage.

Animism

Attributing human characteristics to inanimate objects.

Transductive Reasoning

Reasoning from particular to particular, connecting events without a general rule; often illogical.

Concrete-Operational Stage

Ages ~8-11; logical thinking about concrete objects; development of decentering and reversibility.

Decentering

Ability to consider multiple aspects of a problem rather than focusing on a single feature.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance (e.g., tall/narrow vs short/wide glasses).

Seriation

Ability to order items along a dimension such as size or weight.

Formal Operational Stage

Ages ~12 onward; abstract thinking, hypothetical-deductive reasoning.

Hypothetical Reasoning

Ability to form and test hypotheses, weigh data, and reason about what-if scenarios without concrete objects.

Analogical Reasoning

Ability to perceive relationships and apply them to new situations; making analogies.

Deductive Reasoning

Reasoning from general principles to specific conclusions.

Cognitive Disequilibrium

A state when new information does not fit current schemas, prompting accommodation to regain balance.