Chapter 6 - Theories of Cognitive Development

Question 1

Piaget’s theory is an influential theory because:

Answer 1

it is learning that the acquisition of knowledge is interacting with the world

Question 2

Children come into the world with a general _____________ that prepares them to acquire information

Answer 2

species-specific nervous system

Question 3

We are born with an ____________ to take in information

Answer 3

innate capacity

Question 4

Learning is a:

Answer 4

cognitive activity that takes place as children use these innate tools to investigate and interpret the world

Question 5

The process of learning allows:

Answer 5

information to enter the mind and to form a cognitive structure of thought and understanding that accurately reflects where we are in the cognitive spectrum.

Question 6

What is a scheme or schema?

Answer 6

The basic action of knowing, including physical and mental actions.

Question 7

Schemas are _______

Answer 7

unobservable

Question 8

Schemes build on a small:

Answer 8

repository of simple sensory or motor information

Question 9

What is organization?

Answer 9

As people act on their environments, an inborn mental process causes them to derive generalizable schemes from specific experiences

Question 10

children are naturally _______ and create theories about how the world works. This is why Piaget sees children as little scientists

Answer 10

curious

Question 11

Schemes are:

Answer 11

continuously changing

Question 12

Explain assimilation

Answer 12

exposed to a new stimulation you haven’t seen before. The scheme was changed as you gained new information. Adapt the scheme.

Question 13

What is accommodation?

Answer 13

Creating a new scheme for a new stimulation

Question 14

What was Piaget’s most central assumption?

Answer 14

The child is an active participant in the development of knowledge, constructing their own understanding

Question 15

Assimilation and accommodation are usually in:

Answer 15

balance or equilibrium

Question 16

What is the process Piaget called equilibration?

Answer 16

When the balance is upset between assimilation and accommodation, children reorganize their theories to restore equilibrium

Question 17

Equilibration results in:

Answer 17

qualitatively different and more advanced schemas

Question 18

What are the 4 stages of cognitive development?

Answer 18

Maturation, Physical environment, social transmission, equilibration

Question 19

What is the sensorimotor stage?

Answer 19

spans from birth to approximately 2 years of age
Begins with reflexive responding and ends with using symbols

Question 20

What is object permanence?

Answer 20

Understanding that objects exist independently

Question 21

What is the pre-operational stage?

Answer 21

Spans from ages 2 to 7 years
Develops the ability to have symbolic thoughts
Children use symbols but there are many errors in thinking

Question 22

What is egocentrism?

Answer 22

The idea that children see everything in the world from their point of view

Question 23

What is animism?

Answer 23

Children in this period tend to think everything around them is alive

Question 24

What are primary circular reactions?

Answer 24

Simple, repetitive behaviours involving the infants body

Question 25

What are secondary circular reactions?

Answer 25

Repeating actions involving objects Making interesting actions last

Question 26

What are tertiary circular reactions?

Answer 26

Tries out variations of actions

Question 27

What is Piaget's 3 mountain tasks?

Answer 27

In this experiment, they present the child with two pictures and ask the child to pick out a photo of how the mountain looks to the adult. The child can see the small mountain and the adult cant.

Question 28

What is conservation?

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Typically, children do not have the understanding of conservation until around age __

Answer 29

5

Question 30

What is the concrete-operational stage?

Answer 30

Spans ages 7 to 11 years Thinking based on mental operations (strategies and rules that make thinking more systematic and powerful) Operations can be reversed Breaking down steps you can follow to make it to a step Focus on the real and concrete, not the abstract

Question 31

What is the formal-operational stage?

Answer 31

Spans from roughly age 11 to adulthood Increasingly able to think abstractly Adolescents can think hypothetically

Question 32

What is systematic problem solving?

Answer 32

Better use of strategies and more organization in problem-solving

Question 33

What were Piaget's contributions to child development?

Answer 33

- The study of cognitive development itself - A new, constructivist view of children - fascinating, often counterintuitive, discoveries

Question 34

What are the teaching applications of Piaget's theory?

Answer 34

- Facilitate rather than direct learning - recognize individual differences - be sensitive to readiness to learn - emphasize exploration and interaction

Question 35

Weaknesses of Piaget's theory:

Answer 35

- Underestimates cognitive competence infants, overestimates in adolescence - Some components are to vague to test - the stage model doesn’t account for variability - undervalues influence of sociocultural forces

Question 36

What is information processing?

Answer 36

How information is in general processed in a more in-depth way

Question 37

What is the social-cultural perspective?

Answer 37

Cognitive development is inseparable from social and cultural contexts

Question 38

What is intersubjectivity?

Answer 38

The parent, teacher, and child are all learning from each other

Question 39

What is the zone of proximal development?

Answer 39

the difference between what you can do versus with help

Question 40

What is scaffolding?

Answer 40

a learning/teaching style that matches how much help your going to get with what the learner needs

Question 41

What is private speech?

Answer 41

the things we tell ourselves to regulate our own behaviour

Question 42

Vygotsky's term for 'thought' was:

Answer 42

inner speech

Question 43

What is internalization?

Answer 43

learn the language and culture of their community

Question 44

What is mediation?

Answer 44

Interpret the childs behaviour

Question 45

What is proximal development?

Answer 45

the relationship between student and teacher is formal

Question 46

Educational applications of Vygotsky's theory:

Answer 46

Scaffold learning Emphasize learning opportunities that are social and cooperative, encouraging children to teach and learn from each other.