cognitive and physical development (piagets)

Question 1

define cognitive development

Answer 1

refers to the changes in thinking perceiving, remembering , language over a persons lifespan

Question 2

what were piagets limitations to his study

Answer 2

-piagets underestimated young minds
-not distinguishing competence from performance
-failure to consider educational or cultural backgound.

Question 3

what were piagets strengths to his study

Answer 3

-long lasting impact on our understanding of human cognitive development
- the cognitive development theory is supported by empirical evidence collected through research
- real life application of piagets theory to real word settings
- very influential in education and child rearing practises.

Question 4

what is a schema?

Answer 4

a category of knowledge that helps us understand and interpret the world

Question 5

what is assimilation?

Answer 5

the process of using an existing schema to deal with a new object of situation

Question 6

what is accomodation?

Answer 6

the altering existing schemas, or the formation of a new schema, as a result of new information or experiences

Question 7

what is equilibrium ?

Answer 7

when a persons background knowledge allows them to deal with new information through assimilation

Question 8

what is disequilibrium?

Answer 8

the state that occurs when a person is unable to fit a new information into their existing schemas.

Question 9

what are piagets theory of development?

Answer 9

sensorimotor 0-2
pre-operational 2-7
concrete operational 7-11
formal operational 11 +

Question 10

describe the sensorimotor stage

Answer 10

infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences.
they learn about the world through exploratory play.

Question 11

what is object permanence

Answer 11

is the realisation that objects still exist, even if they cannot be perceived in any way

Question 12

what is the description of development of object permanence in 1-4 months and what is the test to determine it

Answer 12

an infant chances on a new behaviour and repeats it over and over, aiding in the development of a schema (repeating to develop a schema)
- no test

Question 13

what is the description of development of object permanence in 4-8 months and what is the test to determine it

Answer 13

interact more with their surroundings
test- if an object leaves their sight they will look where the object fell
- simple hiding task

Question 14

what is the description of development of object permanence in 8-12 months and what is the test to determine it

Answer 14

true object permanence start to emerge
test- infant could find a toy hidden at point A, when hidden at point B, infant will look at point A
-test- change hiding place in front of baby

Question 15

what is the description of development of object permanence in 12- 18 months and what is the test to determine it

Answer 15

invisible displacement test
test- infant watches researcher hand hide a toy from view , researcher hand then puts toy under napkin. baby will look for toy in hand.
- invisible displacement task.

Question 16

what age did piagets claim that babies development basic object permanence and what is the critique of this claim

Answer 16

8 months
- piaget underestimated young minds, recently researchers have shown that as young as 4 months. mistaking lack of performance for lack of attainment the baby physically isn’t coordinated to pick up an object yet.

Question 17

what is involved in piagets pre-operational stages

Answer 17

egocentrism, animism, symbolic thinking, seriation, centration.

Question 18

describe egocentrism

Answer 18

the inability to perceive the world from another perspective
e.g. young boy stands in front of TV blocking others view, assuming if he can see it, everyone else can see it

Question 19

describe animism

Answer 19

the belief that in animate objects have human feelings and intentions.

Question 20

describe symbolic thinking

Answer 20

children begin to engage in symbolic play and learn to manipulate symbols
- child can use objects to represent something else.
- role playing.

Question 21

describe seriation

Answer 21

arranging things according to a graduated order.
size, colour, taste, touch

Question 22

describe centration

Answer 22

the focusing of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others.
-applying focus on one aspect of an event or problem even when multiple aspects are important.

Question 23

describe the 3 mountains test.

Answer 23

experimenter shows child a model of 3 mountains that have landmarks. child sits on one side and the dolly sits on the other.
child is asked to describe what the doll would see, child is given a photograph depicting the view from each location around the table and is asked to choose the view the doll would see.
- egocentric child will describe what they see and select photo on their own experience with the view.

Question 24

what are 3 critique on the mountain test

Answer 24

• complicated language
• unfamiliar context
• unfamiliar materials

Question 25

define conservation

Answer 25

is the understanding that things stay the same in quantity even though their appearance changes - centration- focusing on one aspect of a situation - decentration- analysing the situation in more than one way.

Question 26

what are the conservation tests?

Answer 26

volume, mass, number, length

Question 27

what is the response of preoperational child who is still using centration to the volume and what is the response of concrete operational child who has decentred and conserve.

Answer 27

centration- would point to the taller container concrete- would say they are the same

Question 28

what is the response of preoperational child who is still using centration to the mass and what is the response of concrete operational child who has decentred and conserve.

Answer 28

centration- when one changes shape child will pick that one to have more mass decentred- would say they are equal

Question 29

what is the response of preoperational child who is still using centration to the number and what is the response of concrete operational child who has decentred and conserve.

Answer 29

centration- bottom line has more dots if they are more spaced out decentred- would say they are equal

Question 30

what is the response of preoperational child who is still using centration to the length and what is the response of concrete operational child who has decentred and conserve.

Answer 30

centration- if they move one to be in front of the other stick the child you say one is longer, if both were in the same position they would say they are the same decentred- still say they are the same

Question 31

describe piagets formal operational stage.

Answer 31

in this thinking stage of piagets cognitive development theory, children are capable of more abstract thinking. abstract concepts such as the future, justice and values are engaging and easily understood. children reflect internally can use hypothetical thinking -

Question 32

what test was there for formal operational stage?

Answer 32

pendulum test -used to test hypothetical and reasoning and abstract thought - shows the ability to think abstractly, measuring mass, force, strength, speed, height, length IV- mass DV- height of swing CV- string length, force, height dropped

Question 33

critique the pendulum problem test as a test for abstract thought and hypothetical reasoning attainment.

Answer 33

- sample- aboriginal children from remote communities and those with exposure to white culture. -findings- white children and aboriginal demonstrated similar cognitive abilities at similar ages but only if they had similar educational experiences as provided through exposure to white culture - cross cultural evaluations in cognitive development

Question 34

define physical development

Answer 34

refers to the changes that occur to the body overtime

Question 35

define gross motor skills. and examples

Answer 35

large bodily movements made with arms, legs, feet or entire body e.g holding up head, crawling. running

Question 36

define fine motor skills and examples

Answer 36

involves small muscle movements usually the synchronisation of hands and fingers with the eyes using precision grip between thumb and fingers e.g. drawing, writing, holding fork and knife