Exam 2 Material Flashcards
(208 cards)
Piaget stressed that _______________________.
children actively construct their own cognitive worlds
-children build mental structures that help them adapt
-piaget sought to discover how children at different points in development think and how systematic changes in children’s thinking occurs
Schemas
actions or mental representations that organize knowledge
Babies’ schemas are structured by ________.
simple actions
Older childrens’ schemas include ______ and ________
strategies and plans for solving problems
Assimilation
using existing schemas to incorporate new information
Accommodation
adjusting schemas to fit new information and experiences
Organization
grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into higher-order, smoothly functioning cognitive system
-grouping schemes and behaviors into concepts
-continual refinements is part of development
Equilibration
shifting from one stage of thought to the next
Sensorimotor Stage
-birth-2 years
-infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (such as hearing and seeing) with physical, motor actions
-6 substages: simple reflexes, first habits and primary circular reactions, secondary circular reactions, coordination of secondary circular reactions, tertiary circular reactions, novelty, curiousity, and internalization of schemes
Simple Reflexes
-birth-1 month
-rooting, sucking and grasping reflexes; newborns suck reflexively when their lips are touched
First Habits and Primary Circular Reactions
-1-4 months
-repeating a body sensation first experienced by chance (ex. sucking thumb); then infants might accommodate actions by sucking their thumb differently from how they suck on a nipple
-usually brings pleasure and reward, so they keep doing it
Secondary Circular Reactions
-4-8 months
-an infant coos to make a person stay near; as the person starts to leave, the infant coos again
-come from outside, in the environment
Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions
-8-12 months
-infant manipulates a stick in order to bring an attractive toy within reach (using other things to get what they want)
Tertiary Circular Reactions, Novelty, Curiousity
-12-18 months
-a block can be made to fall, spin, hit another object, and slide across the ground
-children love to climb, try new things, and act on the world
Internalization of Schemes
-18-24 months
-an infant who has never thrown a temper tantrum before sees a playmate throw a tantrum; the infant retains a memory of the event, them throws one himself the next day
-deferred imitation
Object Permanence
-major task of sensorimotor stage
-the understanding that object continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched
A-not-B Error
occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting a familiar hiding place (A) rather than a new hiding place (B) as they progress into substage 4 (coordination of secondary circular reactions)
-older infants less likely to make this mistake because their concept of object permanence is more complete
Data does not always support Piaget’s claim that certain processes are crucial in ____________________.
transitions from one stage to the next
Several theorists argue that infants’ perceptual abilities are highly developed ___________.
very early in life
-certain cognitive abilities appear to be present much earlier than piaget’s theory predicts
Evidence suggests infants see objects as _______, _______, ________, and _________ from their background, possibly at birth or shortly thereafter
bounded, unitary, solid, and separate
-definitely by 3-4 months of age
-critics of these findings suggest infants have only a very rudimentary understanding
By 1.5-2 years old, infants start to develop _______.
symbolic thought
Core Knowledge Approach
infants are born w/ domain-specific innate knowledge systems
-space, number sense, object permanence, language
-strongly influenced by evolution, infants are prewired to make sense of their world
-preverbal infants may also have a built-in sense of morality (basically born w/ ability to sense and perceive the world)
-critics argue nativists neglect the infant’s social immersion to focus on what happens in the infant’s head apart from the environment; and morality may emerge through the infants’ early interactions
Preoperational Stage
-2-7 years
-children begin to recognize the world with words, images, and drawings
-form stable concepts and begin to reason
-2 substages: symbolic function substage, intuitive thought substage
-children in this stage do not yet form operations; reversible mental actions that allow children to do mentally what they previously only did physically
Symbolic Function Substage
the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present
-between ages 2-4, the child scribbles designs representing people, houses, cars, etc.; and begins to use language and pretend play