Module 3 - Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Question 1

what are Piaget’s core ideas?

Answer 1

1. right from birth, children are little scientists/active learners
2. children will learn without being taught
3. children are intrinsically motivated to learn

Question 2

what are the different kinds of learning that children can have?

Answer 2

continuos and discontinuos. The difference being a steady increase in growth or more like a star case in processes.

Question 3

define assimilation

Answer 3

incorporating new information into concepts you already have

ex. they already have defined what a fish is, then get introduced to a dolphin and since it meets the same categories as a fish, they call it a fish aswell

Question 4

define accommodation

Answer 4

adjusting understanding of the world in response to new information and experiences

ex. when they get introduced to a new category for a previously known item, and know they have to think about what they have put in that category before and see if it still fits

Question 5

define equilibrium

Answer 5

balancing an assimilating with accomodation to create stable understanding of the world

Question 6

define disequilibrium

Answer 6

when new information challenges old views and the child need to adjust their way of thinking to allow the new information to enter

Question 7

what is Piaget’s stage theory?

Answer 7

1. children at different stages don’t know less, they just think in qualitatively different ways
2. characteristics of each stage influence thinking across diverse topics and contexts
3. when transitioning between stages, you fluctuate between old and new ways of thinking
4. every child follows the same stage pattern

Question 8

define the sensorimotor stage

Answer 8

• birth to age 2
• learn about their bodies, the world, and the rules that govern their interaction
• sensorimotor intelligence
• object permanence
  ex. they will learn how to effectively suck on things such as a nipple and a pacifier
• deferred imitation

Question 9

define object permenance

Answer 9

babies start searching for objects that disappear, knowledge that objects continue to exist even when they are out of view

Question 10

define the A-not-B error

Answer 10

Tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather than the new location where it was last hidden
- the object is repeatably hidden in location A
- Baby searched and found it
- object placed in location B
- 8 month old looks in location A, 1 year old looks in location B

Question 11

define the preoperational stage

Answer 11

• age 2 to 7
• start to represent their experience in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought
• centration
• egotistic view
• conservation concept
• inability to perform certain mental operations such as considering multiple dimensions simultaneously

Question 12

define symbolic representation

Answer 12

using one thing to stand for another
- ex. pretend play, simple shapes to draw
- allows for rapid expansion of vocabulary
- children’s thinking is egocentric (can only consider their own point of view, 3 mountain task)

Question 13

define centration

Answer 13

tendency to focus on only one prominent feature of an object or event
- conservation fo liquid quantity (pouring liquid into a bigger glass, same amount fo liquid but looks like it is more to children)

Question 14

define conservation concept

Answer 14

idea that changing the appearance of an object does not necessarily change its other key properties

Question 15

define the concrete operational stage

Answer 15

• age 7 to 12 years old
• children becoming increasingly able to reason logically about concrete objects and events (things they can see and touch)
• still struggle with hypothetical, abstract, and systematic thinking
• Piaget’s pendulum problem

Question 16

describe Piaget’s pendulum problem

Answer 16

• kids needed to determine what factors are important in determining how long it would talk the pendulum to swing a complete arc
• piaget was more interested in how the children actually answered the question
• kids will try a few combos at random, fail to consider all the possibilities, draw faulty conclusions

Question 17

define the formal operational stage

Answer 17

• age 12 and onwards
• can reason about hypothetical situations, entertain multiple perspectives, engage in careful systematic thinking
• not everyone reaches this stage

Question 18

how would a child in the formal operational stage answer to the pendulum problem?

Answer 18

• systematically test hypothesis (ex. test all weights with one rope, move onto the next rope)
• land on a evidence based conclusion (length of the rope that matters)

Question 19

why is Piaget so important and what were some of is faults?

Answer 19

• most significant person in the history of developmental psychology
• his stage theory doesn’t explain why the changes occur, more so explains the behaviour in detail
• focused on children’s individual exploration, overlooked social learning
• his descriptions of behaviour did not remain consistent
• young children were more competent than Piaget recognized
• he states that children’s thinking as being more consistent than it actually is

Question 20

what did Piaget label children development as?

Answer 20

he called them constructivists, it shows how children construct knowledge for themselves in response to their experiences

Question 21

define nature and nuture

Answer 21

nurture includes nurturing provided from parents and other caregivers but also every experience that the child encounters. Nature refers to the child’s maturing brain and body, ability to perceive, act, and learn from experience.

Question 22

what are the sources that cause discontinuity in development?

Answer 22

1. qualitative change: how children at different ages just think in different ways
2. broad applicability: type of thinking characteristics at each stage influence thinking levels across topics and contexts
3. brief transitions: before entering a new stage, children go through a period of where they fluctuate between types of thinking between the old and the new
4. invariant sequence: everyone goes in the same order without skipping any

Question 23

define deferred imitation

Answer 23

the repetition of other people’s behaviour a substantial time after it originally occurs

Question 24

Explain how they did a study on children’s understanding of the concept of speed

Answer 24

• a child and experimenter were side by side and pushing a 7ft poll in 4 circle
• for two circle, the kid was on the inside and then swapped for the other two
• after each walk, they were asked if the inner or outer part of the bar moved faster
• the difference in speeds were so drastic, kids learn about problems involving circular motion