cognition and development

Question 1

which two influences did piaget believe cognitive development was a result of

Answer 1

1. maturation - the effect of the biological processes of ageing. as children age, certain mental process become possible
2. environment - through interactions with the environment, childrens understanding of the world becomes more complex

Question 2

what is a schema

Answer 2

a mental framework containing all of the information that we have about one aspect of the world.

Question 3

what did piaget believe about schema

Answer 3

children are born with a small number of schemas, just enough so they can interact with others. during infancy, we’re thought to construct new schema. one of these is a me-schema where all of the childs knowledge about themselves is stored. over time we develop more schema through interactions with the environment. they can be behavioural or cognitive. piaget thought there were 2 ways schema can become more complex: assimilation and accommodation

Question 4

what is assimilation

Answer 4

a child initially trying to understand any new information in terms of their existing knowledge about the world; when an existing schema is used on new object

Question 5

what is accommodation

Answer 5

a child must adjust to dramatically new experiences by radically changing current schema or forming new ones

Question 6

what is equilibration

Answer 6

• the driving force for adaptation of schema = equilibrium
• we’re motivated to learn when our existing schemas don’t allow us to make sense of something new
• if a new experience cant be assimilated into existing schema then the mind is in a state of disequilibrium and the individual seeks balance through equilibration

Question 7

what is cognitive development the result of

Answer 7

adaptation between the individual’s existing schemas and environmental demands for changes

Question 8

what are piagets 4 stages of cognitive development

Answer 8

1. sensorimotor period
2. preoperational period
3. concrete operational period
4. formal operational period

Question 9

ages of the sensorimotor stage

Answer 9

0-2 years

Question 10

ages of the preoperational stage

Answer 10

2-7 years

Question 11

ages of the concrete operational stage

Answer 11

7-11 years

Question 12

ages of the formal operational stage

Answer 12

11-adulthood

Question 13

what is object permanence

Answer 13

the ability to realise that an object still exists when it passes out of the visual field

Question 14

what is conservation

Answer 14

the ability to realise that quantity remains the same even when the appearance of an object or group of objects changes

Question 15

what is egocentrism

Answer 15

the child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view

Question 16

what is class inclusion

Answer 16

an advanced classification skill in which we recognise that classes of objects have subsets and are themselves subsets of larger classes

Question 17

child’s ability in the sensorimotor stage

Answer 17

• focus on physical sensations and basic coordination between what they see and their body movements