4: Theories in Cognitive Development Flashcards
1
Q
Piaget… why is he important?
A
- founder of the study of cognitive development
- insight that children are actively contributing to or “constructing” their development
2
Q
Piaget
A
- The child is a ‘scientist’ and ‘problem solver’, and uses the above processes to construct knowledge and understanding through active experience and engagement with environment
- As a result, the child’s mental model (i.e., scheme, or way of thinking) of the world changes as new experiences occur. Development proceeds as the child’s mental model of the world increasingly resembles reality
- Development occurs in stages: certain ways of thinking predominate in a given stage, then a qualitative shift occurs and the child operates under a new way of thinking at a new stage
3
Q
assimilation
A
- the incorporation of new information into already existing ways of thinking about the wold (schemes)
- taking info that is compatible with what one already knows
4
Q
accommodation
A
new information is not incorporated into existing schemes
- existing schemes are modified to adapt to and better fit new information
- changing existing knowledge based on new knowledge
5
Q
equilibration
A
- the attempt to keep existing schemes in balance, and avoid disequilibrium, which is the feeling that current schemes do not fit with reality.
- force that drives assimilation and accommodation, and is the key mechanism of development according to Piaget
- feeling of imbalance
6
Q
disequilibrium can be restored by
A
- ignoring : new info is discarded, existing schema is not altered
- assimilation
- accommodation
7
Q
how does cog. dev. actually occur according to Piaget
A
- when equilibration forced accommodation developmental change occurs
- new way of thinking is formed = dev, change
8
Q
object permanence
A
the ability to continue thinking about an object that is no longer in view (out of sight but NOT out of mind)
9
Q
how do we test object permanence and what are the findings
A
- infants play with object
- experimenter hides object under a blanket
- infants in stage 3 do not search for object hidden :out of sight out of mind
- infants in stage 4: do search for objects once hidden, out of sight, but NOT out of mind
10
Q
how might Piaget explain the transition from failing to passing obj. perm tasks
A
- Infant is in equilibrium in stage 3: “things I can’t see don’t exist!”
- Infant interacts with the world, begins to become more mobile, crawl around, bump into/trip on objects that are covered or not initially visible.
- new experience doesn’t fit with scheme of “things I can’t see don’t exist” child is in disequilibrium
- Infant can only ignore this experience and attempt to assimilate ill-fitting existing schemes for so long… eventually, must accommodate scheme account for this new experience
- Infant adjusts scheme (accommodation) to restore equilibrium: “things I can’t see DO still exist!”
- This new scheme offers a globally new way of thinking that extends across multiple contexts (domain-general). Infant now in stage 4!
11
Q
looking time measures
A
- show baby an initial event until they habituate to it (become bored with it and look away)
- show baby other events, similar to habituation event, but with some critical differences
- compare looking times
- similar looking time to initial habituation event = baby didn’t notice a difference btw events
- longer looking time= baby noticed difference
12
Q
Baillargeon & DeVos research question and method
A
- Do very young infants have object permanence (do they think that objects continue to exist even when out of sight?)
- short carrot and tall carrot pass through barrier = babies habituated to expect to not be able to see it
- tall carrot pass through barrier with window, when they don’t see the tall carrot they look longer bc they expect to be able to see it though the window
13
Q
Baillargeon & DeVos results and conclusions
A
- infants look longer when a tall object that disappears behind a windowed barrier does not appear in the window
- Even infants as young as 3.5 months seem to understand object permanence (well before the age at which object permanence first appears, according to Piaget)
14
Q
Piagetian Theory summarize
A
Equilibration (Assimilation & Accommodation)
-Child interacts with world to discover new information and construct new knowledge and new ways of thinking
15
Q
Biological Theory summarized
A
- Cognitive phenomena caused by neurological/biological processes
- As the brain matures and develops, it can support new cognitive achievements
