4. Cognitive Skills & Development - Piaget

Question 1

Genetic Epistemology

Answer 1

Piaget’s experimental study of the development of knowledge
Genetic meaning developmental

Question 2

Intelligence

Answer 2

A basic life function enabling an organism to adapt to its environment
Goal of intellectual activity: to achieve cognitive equilibrium

Question 3

Cognitive Equilibrium

Answer 3

A balanced/harmonious relationship between our thought processes and the environment

Accommodation over assimilation

Question 4

Cognitive Disequilibria

Answer 4

• Children are continuously challenged by new stimuli and events
• This leads them to make mental adjustments, enabling them to restore equilibrium by coping with these new, confusing experiences

Assimilation over accommodation

Question 5

Constructivists

Answer 5

A person who gains knowledge through action towards objects/events, allowing them to discover more about them
Constructing knowledge yourself
Children are constructivists (Piaget)

Question 6

Schemas/Schemes

Answer 6

Patterns of thought or action seen as base knowledge which we use to interpret the world
- Mental systems underlying intelligence
- Representations of reality

Two Types:
Behavioural - physical activities
Mental - cognitive activities

Enable you to get used to new situations quicker (e.g. new teacher but knowing classroom etiquette remains the same)

Question 7

Construction & Modification of Schemas

Answer 7

1. Organisation
2. Adaption
   2.a. Assimilation
   2.b. Accommodation

Question 8

Organisation

Answer 8

• Combining existing schemas to form new and more complex schemas
• e.g. gazing, reaching & grasping reflexes are combined to form visually directed reaching (a more complex structure)
  Isolated behaviours grouped into a higher order

Goal: to promote adaptation

Question 9

Adaption

Answer 9

• The process of adjusting based on what the environment demands
• Adaptation occurs through two activities (complimentary)

Question 10

Assimilation

Answer 10

• Children use their existing schemas to interpret new experiences
• e.g. connecting a horse & a dog because they both have 4 legs, thinking they are the same animal

Question 11

Accommodation

Answer 11

• We modify existing schemas based on new experiences
• e.g. recognizing that there are key differences between a horse and a dog and asking what the horse is

Cognitive dissonance

Used when assimilation doesn’t help us understand

Question 12

Piaget’s Stages of Development

Answer 12

1. Sensorimotor (0-2)
2. Pre-operational stage (2-7)
3. Concrete operational stage (7-11)
4. Formal operational stage (11+)

Question 13

Sensorimotor Stage Breakdown

Answer 13

1. Reflex activity/simple reflexes
2. First habits & primary circular reactions
3. Secondary circular reactions
4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions
5. Tertiary circular reactions
6. Symbolic problem solving/internalization of schemes

Question 14

Sensorimotor - 1. Reflex activity/simple reflexes

Answer 14

Birth to 1 month
Developing of basic reflexes

Question 15

Object permanence

Answer 15

Knowing something still exists despite not being able to see it
Simple problem solving

Question 16

Sensorimotor - 2. first habits & primary circular reactions

Answer 16

1-4 months
Creation of first habits e.g. continue sucking despite no longer breastfeeding

Circular reactions

Question 17

Circular reactions

Answer 17

reproduction of event which was initially occurred by chance, becomes a habit
e.g. crying, receiving a reward, crying more

Question 18

Sensorimotor - 3. Secondary circular reactions

Answer 18

4-8 months
Similar to primary but with less important events?
Infants become more object oriented
Focus: physical world
Child wants to repeat satisfying experience
e.g. squeezing a rubber duck, discovering it makes a sound, repeating

Question 19

Sensorimotor - 4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions

Answer 19

8-12 months
Intentional actions increase while random actions decrease
- Slowly gets more control of their behaviours
Coordination of vision and touch
- Hand-eye coordination
A not B error

Question 20

A not B error

Answer 20

Mistake of selecting a familiar place to find an object even when it’s been moved

Lack of object permanence

Question 21

Sensorimotor - 5. Tertiary circular reactions

Answer 21

12-18 months
Reproducing actions in different ways
Leads to children becoming better problem solvers
Improves object permanence & A to B search
Example: rubber duck, try throwing or stomping on it to create a new satisfying reaction

Question 22

Sensorimotor - 6. Symbolic problem solving/internalization of schemes

Answer 22

18-24 months
Completion of object permanence
Beginning of mental representations i.e. schemes
Gaining control of your schemas
Mental representations are possible due to the completion of object permanence

Question 23

Sensorimotor Criticism

Answer 23

Too much focus on nature rather than nurture
- First stage was completely innate
- Environment is ignored
Divided into stages
- Process of development is continuous
First stage was based on his own children
- Tiny sample, bias
No supporting evidence for A to B error
Underestimation of babies’ cognitive strength

Question 24

Pre-operational stage

Answer 24

2-7 years old
Begin thinking symbolically
Imitation begins
Focused on children’s limitations

Deferred imitation
Inferred imitation

Make-believe play

2 substages:
1. Symbolic function stage
2. Intuitive thought stage

Question 25

Deferred imitation

Answer 25

e.g. having a tantrum as a result of seeing another child having a tantrum But also without their presence once it has been witnessed Result of object permanence

Question 26

Inferred imitation

Answer 26

Imitation of behaviour directly in front of you

Question 27

Pre-operational - symbolic function stage

Answer 27

2-4 years Can mentally represent an object without its presence Limitations: Egocentrism Animism Artificialism

Question 28

Egocentrism

Answer 28

Can only see the world from their own point of view, cannot imagine the perspective of other people 3 mountains task - can't imagine that someone else would see anything different to you

Question 29

Animism

Answer 29

Giving lifelike qualities to inanimate objects/concepts e.g. believing dolls are alive

Question 30

Artificialism

Answer 30

Believing you have control over something you do not e.g. the rain

Question 31

Pre-operational - intuitive thought stage

Answer 31

4-7 years old 'Why' stage Belief that caregivers know everything Limitations: (lack of) Reversibility Centration Conservation

Question 32

Reversibility

Answer 32

Mentally reversing an action or imagining alternate scenarios to what has actually happened Lack of - cannot do this

Question 33

Centration

Answer 33

Infant only focuses on one aspect/characteristic of an object, ignoring other important aspects

Question 34

Conservation

Answer 34

Knowing an object keeps it’s qualities despite superficial changes e.g. to appearance Water example

Question 35

Pre-operational Criticism

Answer 35

3 mountains task - too difficult for children Underestimated developmental speed

Question 36

3. Concrete operational stage

Answer 36

7-11 years Conservation Logical reasoning replaces intuition Horizontal decalage Classification Transitivity Cognitive map Spacial reasoning Seriation

Question 37

Horizontal decalage

Answer 37

Understand certain concepts before others e.g.conservation - mass before volume Similar abilities do not appear at the same time

Question 38

Classification

Answer 38

Ability to classify things & see the relationships between them e.g. division into sets/subsets

Question 39

Transitivity

Answer 39

Ability to reason about and logically combine relationships A is bigger than B, B is bigger than C, therefore A is bigger than C

Question 40

Cognitive map

Answer 40

Being able to create mental representations of known areas Related to spatial reasoning

Question 41

Seriation

Answer 41

The ability to put something into a sequence Putting something in order E.g. able to say the alphabet in order but not backwards or from the middle

Question 42

4. Formal operational stage

Answer 42

11+ Not everyone reaches this stage (criticism of this stage), ⅓ manage to reach this stage Decision making (differs between adults & adolescents) *Hypothetical deductive reasoning Inductive reasoning Propositional thought Internal reflection Consequences of self-reflect

Question 43

Whole Theory Criticism

Answer 43

Nature over nurture Small, biased sample Continuous development, not stages Role of language is ignored Not a universal theory - not everyone goes to the last stage Timing - incorrect

Question 44

Education

Answer 44

Teacher observes child and asks relevant questions PBL style Constructivist approach/Cognitive constructivism - Discussion over imitation