Chapter 6

Question 1

scheme

Answer 1

Piaget’s word for the basic actions of knowing, including both physical actions and mental actions.

A scheme is not the category, but the action of categorizing.

Question 2

What is the role of schemes in cognitive development?

Answer 2

Piaget assumed that the child was an active agent in his own development, constructing his own understandings and adapting to the environment.

Each stage involves a different type of scheme.

The schemes are hierarchical in that each stage builds on the schemes that were constructed in earlier stages.

Question 3

True or False. A baby begins life with a small repertoire of schemes and continues to build upon them throughout adulthood.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

organization

Answer 4

The process of deriving generalizable schemes from specific experiences

Question 5

figurative schemes

Answer 5

Mental representations of the basic properties of objects in the world

Question 6

operative schemes

Answer 6

Mental representations of the logical connections among objects in the world

Question 7

adaptation

Answer 7

The processes through which schemes change

Assimilation
Accomodation
Equilibration

Question 8

assimilation

Answer 8

absorbing new experiences or information into existing schemes.

an active process

Question 9

True or False. We tend to pay attention to all aspects of an experience, even those for which we do not already have schemes.

Answer 9

False

Question 10

accomodation

Answer 10

modifies existing schemes as a result of new experiences or creates new schemes when old ones no longer handle the data

Question 11

equilibration

Answer 11

a periodic restructuring of schemes to create a balance between assimilation and accommodation

Question 12

What are the four causes of cognitive development proposed by Piaget?

Answer 12

Ernie Makes Special Erasers

E - Equilibration (inborn, automatic response)

M - maturation (individual differences due to different rates of brain maturation resulting from either inborn differences or environment)

S - social transmission (info child gets from other people)

E - experience (child’s own opportunities to act on the world and observe the results of those actions)

Question 13

How did Piaget describe cognitive development in the first 2 years of life?

Answer 13

Piaget’s first stage is the sensorimotor period; the infant begins with a small repertoire of basic schemes, from which she moves toward symbolic representation in a series of six substages.

In each stage, the infant uses sensory and motor abilities to act on the world and to test hypotheses about the results of such actions.

These tests involve repetitive behaviors, or circular reactions.

The major milestones of this stage include object permanence, means-end behavior, and representational thought.

Question 14

operation

Answer 14

Term used by Piaget for a complex, internal, abstract scheme, first seen at about age 6.

Question 15

sensorimotor stage

Answer 15

Piaget’s term for the first major stage of cognitive development, from birth to about 24 months, when the child uses sensory and motor skills to act on the environment.

Question 16

preoperational stage

Answer 16

Piaget’s term for the second major stage of cognitive development, from about 24 months to about age 6, marked by the ability to use symbols.

Question 17

concrete operations stage

Answer 17

Piaget’s term for the stage of development between ages 6 and 12, during which children become able to think logically.

Question 18

formal operations stage

Answer 18

Piaget’s name for the fourth and final major stage of cognitive development, occurring during adolescence, when the child becomes able to manipulate and organize ideas or hypothetical situations as well as objects.

Question 19

True or False. All of the causal factors must interact and support one another in order for cognitive development to proceed.

Answer 19

True

Question 20

Six Stages of the Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 20

See Chart Sensorimotor Stage

Birth, 1 mo, 4 mo, 8 mo, 12 mo, 18 mo

Roger Plays Slow Crazy Tall Banjos

Question 21

primary circular reactions

Answer 21

Piaget’s phrase to describe a baby’s simple repetitive actions in substage 2 of the sensorimotor stage, organized around the baby’s own body; the baby repeats some action in order to have some desired outcome occur again, such as putting his thumb in his mouth to repeat the good feeling of sucking.

Question 22

secondary circular reactions

Answer 22

Repetitive actions in substage 3 of the sensorimotor period, oriented around external objects; the infant repeats some action in order to have some outside event recur, such as hitting a mobile repeatedly so that it moves.

Question 23

object permanence

Answer 23

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be directly perceived.

Question 24

tertiary circular reactions

Answer 24

The deliberate experimentation with variations of previous actions, characteristic of substage 5 of the sensorimotor period, according to Piaget.

Question 25

What have researchers discovered about infants’ ability to remember and to imitate others’ actions?

Answer 25

Post-Piagetian studies of infant cognition show infants’ memory skills to be far more advanced than Piaget thought. Infants can imitate in the earliest weeks but do not show deferred imitation for several months.

Question 26

What did Carolyn Rovee-Collier's research reveal?

Answer 26

A 3 month old baby learned to activate a mobile which was attached to her leg with a string by moving the leg. Within minutes, leg movements became much more rapid. Several days later, she remembered this connection between kicking and the mobile.

Question 27

What are infants in the various substages of the sensorimotor stage likely to learn from watching television?

Answer 27

In substages 1 through 5, infants learn little from television because they do not understand the symbolic nature of media. The appealing sensory characteristics of video that has been designed to appeal to infants may reinforce the behavior of watching television. Such reinforcement may make infants likely to watch the television screen regardless of what type of program is playing.

Question 28

True or False. Piaget was probably wrong in his assertion that very young infants are capable of imitation.

Answer 28

True

Question 29

deferred imitation

Answer 29

a child sees some action and then imitates it at a later time when the model is no longer visible Piaget believed this was possible only in substage 6. Current research reveals this can happen much sooner.

Question 30

What are the characteristics of children’s thinking during the preoperational stage?

Answer 30

In Piaget’s preoperational period, from 2 to 6 years, the child is able to use mental symbols to represent objects to himself internally. Despite this advance, the preschool-aged child still lacks many sophisticated cognitive characteristics. In Piaget’s view, such children are still egocentric, rigid in their thinking, and generally captured by appearances.

Question 31

egocentrism

Answer 31

A cognitive state in which the individual (typically a child) sees the world only from his own perspective, without awareness that there are other perspectives.

Question 32

conservation

Answer 32

The understanding that the quantity or amount of a substance remains the same even when there are external changes in its shape or arrangement.

Question 33

centration

Answer 33

The young child’s tendency to think of the world in terms of one variable at a time.

Question 34

decentration

Answer 34

Thinking that takes multiple variables into account.

Question 35

True or False. Piaget insisted that children rarely exhibit a true understanding of conservation before age 5 or 6.

Answer 35

True

Question 36

How has recent research challenged Piaget’s view of this period?

Answer 36

Research on the cognitive functioning of preschoolers makes it clear that they are much less egocentric than Piaget thought. By age 4, children can distinguish between appearance and reality in a variety of tasks.

Question 37

What two levels of perception taking ability were described by John Flavell?

Answer 37

Level 1 - the child knows that another person experiences something differently. Level 2 - the child develops a whole series of complex rules for figuring out what the other person sees or experiences

Question 38

false belief principle

Answer 38

The understanding that another person might have a false belief and the ability to determine what information might cause the false belief. A child’s understanding of the false belief principle is one key sign of the emergence of a representational theory of mind.

Question 39

theory of mind

Answer 39

Ideas that collectively explain other people’s ideas, beliefs, desires, and behavior.

Question 40

How does theory of mind develop?

Answer 40

Preschoolers develop a surprisingly sophisticated theory of mind—that is, ideas of how other people’s minds work. They understand that the actions of others are often based on thoughts and beliefs. The development of a theory of mind is influenced by general cognitive and language development. Correlated to the development of a specific neural network in the cerebral cortex. Engaging in pretend play with others seems to facilitate its development as well.

Question 41

What does research indicate about the correlation between culture and theory of mind?

Answer 41

Cross-cultural studies suggest that the development of the false belief principle and other features of theory of mind may be universal milestones of early childhood cognitive development.

Question 42

sibling advantage

Answer 42

children with siblings perform better on theory of mind tasks than those who had none or twin only siblings

Question 43

How do the theories of the neo-Piagetians and Vygotsky explain cognitive development?

Answer 43

Recent theorizing about the preschool period has been influenced by neo-Piagetian theories that explain Piaget’s stages in information-processing terms. Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the role of social interactions in children’s cognitive development. Moreover, Vygotsky suggested that language provides the framework necessary to support many of the general concepts children acquire in the preschool years.

Question 44

neo-Piagetian theory

Answer 44

A theory of cognitive development that assumes that Piaget’s basic ideas are correct but that uses concepts from information-processing theory to explain children’s movement from one stage to the next.

Question 45

short-term storage space

Answer 45

A neo-Piagetian term for working memory capacity. A younger child has only room for one scheme at a time. An older child's more efficient STSS allows them to think about shape and color at the same time.

Question 46

operational efficiency

Answer 46

A neo-Piagetian term for the number of schemes an individual can place into working memory at one time.

Question 47

What are two important principles of Vygotsky's theory?

Answer 47

1. zone of proximal development | 2. scaffolding

Question 48

What are concrete operations, and how do they represent an advance over earlier forms of thought?

Answer 48

In Piaget’s third stage—concrete operations—occurring from age 6 to age 12, the child acquires powerful new mental tools called operations, such as reversibility.

Question 49

reversibility

Answer 49

One of the most critical of the operations Piaget identified as part of the concrete operations period: the understanding that actions and mental operations can be reversed.

Question 50

class inclusion

Answer 50

The principle that subordinate classes of objects are included in superordinate classes.

Question 51

inductive logic

Answer 51

Reasoning from the particular to the general, from experience to broad rules, characteristic of concrete operational thinking.

Question 52

deductive logic

Answer 52

Reasoning from the general to the particular, from a rule to an expected instance or from a theory to a hypothesis, characteristic of formal operational thinking.

Question 53

horizontal decalage

Answer 53

Piaget’s term for school-aged children’s inconsistent performance on concrete operations tasks.

Question 54

What does Siegler’s research suggest about concrete operational thinking?

Answer 54

Recent research on this period confirms many of Piaget’s descriptions of sequences of development but calls into question his basic concept of stages. Siegler’s work shows that cognitive development is less steplike than Piaget proposed; children may use a variety of different strategies, varying in complexity, on the same kind of problem. Still, the repertoire of strategies does become more complex with age.

Question 55

relational complexity

Answer 55

The number of elements in a problem and the complexity of the relationships among the elements.

Question 56

transitivity

Answer 56

The ability to make inferences about logical relationships in an ordered set of stimuli.

Question 57

seriation

Answer 57

The ability to use a rule to put an array of objects in order.

Question 58

What are the key elements of formal operational thinking?

Answer 58

Piaget’s fourth stage—formal operations—is said to develop from age 12 onward and is characterized by the ability to apply basic operations to ideas and possibilities as well as to actual objects and by the emergence of systematic problem solving and hypothetico-deductive logic.

Question 59

hypothetico-deductive reasoning

Answer 59

Piaget’s term for the form of reasoning that is part of formal operational thought and involves not just deductive logic but also the ability to consider hypotheses and hypothetical possibilities.

Question 60

How does adolescent egocentrism affect teenagers’ development?

Answer 60

Psychologist David Elkind proposed that adolescent egocentrism leads teens to develop a personal fable that prevents them from realistically assessing risks. In addition, Elkind proposed that teens perform for an imaginary audience of peers. The imaginary audience leads them to think that others are constantly assessing their appearance and behavior. As a result, they become excessively focused on and critical of themselves.

Question 61

How do children’s source monitoring skills influence their responses to leading questions?

Answer 61

Children are more susceptible to leading questions than adults are. The reason for this difference is that children are less likely to track information sources as they encode information in memory. Consequently, when they retrieve a piece of information from memory, they are unlikely to be able to determine if it came from their own memory of an event or from a leading question posed by an interviewer.

Question 62

How do cognitive processing capacity and efficiency change with age?

Answer 62

Most theorists agree that there are age-related changes in the capacity of the mental “hardware” as well as improvements in speed and efficiency.

Question 63

automaticity

Answer 63

The ability to recall information from long-term memory without effort.

Question 64

What kinds of improvements in strategy use happen across childhood and adolescence?

Answer 64

Processing efficiency improves because of increasing use of various types of processing strategies with age, including strategies for remembering. Preschoolers use some strategies, but school-aged children use them more often and more flexibly. In adolescence, the number of strategies and the efficiency with which they are used improve substantially.

Question 65

memory strategies

Answer 65

Ways of manipulating information that increase the chances that it will be remembered.

Question 66

production deficiency

Answer 66

A pattern whereby an individual can use some mental strategy if reminded to do so but fails to use the strategy spontaneously.

Question 67

clustering

Answer 67

putting items to be learned or remembered into some meaninfful organization

Question 68

utilization deficiency

Answer 68

Using some specific mental strategy without deriving benefit from it.

Question 69

metamemory

Answer 69

Knowledge about one’s own memory processes.

Question 70

metacognition

Answer 70

General and rather loosely used term describing knowledge of one’s own thinking processes: knowing what one knows, and how one learns.

Question 71

executive processes

Answer 71

Cognitive skills that allow a person to devise and carry out alternative strategies for remembering and solving problems.

Question 72

response inhibition

Answer 72

The ability to control responses to stimuli.

Question 73

How does expertise influence memory function?

Answer 73

Studies of expertise show that prior knowledge contributes to both individual and age-related differences in memory functioning and strategy use.

Question 74

True or False. Michelene Chi showed that expert chess players can remember the placement of chess pieces on a board much more quickly and accurately than can novice players.

Answer 74

True