Unit 3 - Chapter 6/7

Question 1

Describe Piaget’s concept of Schema and give an example

Answer 1

Mental framework.
Cognitive structure.
Mental model of how world works.

e.g. Baby has schema “doggie” for furry four-legged animals.

Question 2

Describe Piaget’s concept of Equilibration and give an example

Answer 2

Development proceeds as child seeks balance between existing schemas and novel experiences.

• Current schema is in equilibrium when it fits novel experience.
  e.g. Baby calls Fido “doggie.”
  Mommy calls Fido “doggie.”
  Baby’s “doggie” schema is in equilibrium.

Question 3

Describe Piaget’s concept of Assimilation and give an example

Answer 3

Child incorporates new information into existing schema.
* Novel experience is assimilated into current schema.
e.g. Baby doesn’t know what Rover is.
Mommy calls Rover “doggie.”
Baby assimilates Rover into “doggie” schema.

Question 4

Describe Piaget’s concept of Accommodation

Answer 4

Child modifies schema to fit novel experience.
* Current schema is accommodated or changed when novel experience does not match existing schema.

e.g. Baby calls Sylvester “doggie.”
Mommy calls Sylvester “kitty.”
Baby accommodates “doggie” schema to exclude Sylvester.

Question 5

What are Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Answer 5

Sensorimotor (0-2), Preoperational (2-7), Concrete Operations (7-11), Formal Operations 11+

Question 6

Describe Piaget’s Cognitive Development Stage of Sensorimotor

Answer 6

0–2 years
How children learn: Senses, movement

eg. Shake rattle, put in mouth

Main Learning achievement: Object permanence

Limitations: Mental representation, symbols

Question 7

Describe Piaget’s Cognitive Development stage of Pre-Operational

Answer 7

Age - 2-7
How they learn: Symbols, language, pretend play
eg. Use broom as horse

Main Learning Achievement: Language

Limitations: One dimension at a time, egocentrism, no conservation

Question 8

Describe Piaget’s Cognitive Development Stage of Concrete Operations

Answer 8

Age 7–11 years
How they Learn: Rules, logic,

eg. Math, geometry

Main learning achievements: Conservation

Limitations: Abstract concepts

Question 9

Describe Piaget’s Cognitive Development Stage of Formal Operations

Answer 9

Age 11+
How they learn: Abstract, hypothetical thinking

eg. Algebra, car mechanic

main learning achievement: Abstract concepts

Limitations: Adolescent egocentrism

Question 10

In Piaget’s theory of development, the two processes that together control how someone deals with new experiences are

Answer 10

assimilation and accommodation

Question 11

Three-year-old Tammy thought that her neighbour’s pet was a dog until it said “meow” instead of “bow-wow.” Tammy then also noticed that there were a number of other differences between her dog and the neighbour’s pet. She learned to call the neighbour’s pet a cat. The change in Tammy’s understanding illustrates which of Piaget’s concepts?

Answer 11

accommodation

Question 12

The major difference between children in the concrete operational stage and children in the preoperational stage of development is that in the concrete operational stage, children:

Answer 12

understand the concept of conservation

Question 13

According to Siegler, an information processing theorist, three mechanisms work together to create changes in children’s cognitive skills. What are they?

Answer 13

a. Encoding
b. Automaticity
c. Strategy construction

Question 14

What do the subtest and composite scores of the Wechsler scales allow the examiner to do?

Answer 14

Determine the areas in which the individual is strong or weak

Question 15

A scheme is best thought of as a

Answer 15

simple organized pattern of knowledge

Question 16

What is a strong statement of Vygotsky’s ideas on private speech?

Answer 16

Children who use private speech do so to govern their behaviour and guide themselves.

Question 17

What is the formula for the intelligence quotient?

Answer 17

IQ = CA/MA × 100

Question 18

Internalized sets of actions that allow children to do mentally what before they had done physically are called

Answer 18

Operations

Question 19

Language is made up of basic sounds called

Answer 19

phonemes

Question 20

Two-year-old Gannon says, “I go park” to his mother to convey, “I want to go to the park.” This language is called _____ speech.

Answer 20

telegraphic

Question 21

What approach to thinking analyzes how children manipulate information, monitor it, and create strategies for handling it?
Select one:

Answer 21

Information-processing

Question 22

Identify two basic issues that characterize connections between language and cognition.

Answer 22

One of the basic issues is whether or not cognition is needed for language. According to research and expert opinions, cognition is actually not needed for language development. Some aspects of language development follow the assumption of certain cognitive skills, but it isn’t clear that language is dependent on any particular cognitive abilities.

The second basic issue is whether or not language is needed for cognition. Studies with deaf children have helped address this. in a series of problem solving and thinking skills children who were deaf (even with no acquired sign language yet) were able to perform as well as children with no hearing problems. The conclusion is that language is not needed for cognitive development.

Question 23

fuzzy trace vs. schema memory

Answer 23

Constructing memory is not like a tape recording. According to schema theory, people fit memory into information that is already within their minds. It is done by ‘schemas’ which are mental structures for sorting information and concepts. An example given is someone overhearing a conversation about a sport they are not familiar with. The person overhearing is more likely to interpret this conversation in terms of their schema of a sport they are familiar with. This is more likely to create a false memory of the conversation being overheard. Schemas affect how people infer and retrieve information and therefore people can distort information or fill in gaps with pieces of memory.

The Fuzzy trace theory says that memory can be considered in two types of ways, 1) verbatim - or precise detail and 2) fuzzy trace (gist). The example given is of entering a pet store with a specific amount of each animal, for example 8 cats and 4 dogs. Verbatim memory (more prevalant in preschoolers) will be able to recall the precise number of cats. Fuzzy trace memory will remember the gist of the information - that there were more cats than dogs. This is more common in elementary school children. The theory is that children start remember more in gist or fuzzy trace because it lasts longer than verbatim memory.

Question 24

Jean Piaget’s idea of the adaptation process includes three terms: assimilation, accommodation, and disequilibration. Explain through the use of an example how a child can go through the adaptation process. Label each term in your answer.

Answer 24

Assimilation is when a child adds in new information to an already in place schema. Accommodation is when a child changes their schemes to expand to fit new information.
Change happens when a child experiences disequilibrium (which is a conflict in cognition) in trying to make sense of the world around them. Eventually they resolve this and come back to balance, or equilibrium.
A child watches from the window and sees a car drive by. The parent calls this a car. The child assimilates that information. Soon every vehicle that goes by is labelled as “car” to the child, including trucks, motorcycles and vans. The child hears the mother say that is a motorcycle when a motorcycle goes by. This causes a cognitive conflict, or disequilibrium. Soon the child adjusts his schema (or accommodates) and recognizes that cars have four wheels and doors and motorcycles have two wheels and no doors, making an accommodation or adjustment to their schema of ‘Car”.

Question 25

Describe the zone of proximal development and one example of this form of learning.

Answer 25

For Vygotsky, this term refers to tasks on a scale of lower and upper limits. The lower limits of this scale are tasks that the child can accomplish by working on their own, while the upper limit of this range are tasks that they cannot do without help or instruction from a more skilled child or adult. An example from the school I work at is children knitting. In grade one the children start knitting. They cannot accomplish this task without instruction and assistance, it is in the upper range of their zone of proximal development. By grade 3 the children are able to assist the grade 1’s with this task.

Question 26

Describe and give an example of both divergent and convergent thinking.

Answer 26

Convergent thinking is. the kind of thinking that arrives at one defined or correct answer, such as in a math problem. Divergent thinking is open ended. It is the kind of thinking that comes up with many answers to one question and has a characteristic of creativity. One example would be how many uses a person could come up with for a paperclip.

Question 27

organization

Answer 27

Piaget says children make sense of the world by organizing their experiences. vague idea how to use hammer, vague idea how to use other tools - learning to use both - relates them, groups them, organizing his knowledge

Question 28

What are the 6 substages of sensorimotor stage according to Piaget

Answer 28

1) simple reflex
2) first habits and primary circular reactions
3) secondary circular reactions
4) coordination
5) tertiary circular reactions novelty curiosity
6)internalization of schemes

Question 29

example of simple reflex

Answer 29

sucking, rooting

Question 30

example of first habits and primary circular

Answer 30

coordinates sensation and two schemes - habit based on a reflect - suck even if no bottle is present & circular reaction - accidentally sucks hands near mouth…later searches for his finger to suck again but fingers do not cooperate yet. infants body is centre of attentino

Question 31

example of secondary circular reactions

Answer 31

4-8 months of age - object oriented, moves beyond preoccupation with self eg. shake a rattle, repeating the action for fascination

Question 32

example of coordination

Answer 32

8-12 months must coordinate vision and touch - visually and tactile inspection of an object

Question 33

example of tertiary circular reactions novelty & curiousity

Answer 33

12-18 months eg a block can be made to fall, spin, hit another object, slide..exploring new possibilities with objects

Question 34

example of internalizing schemes

Answer 34

18-24 months, primitive symbols - e.g. seeing a matchbox open and close - mimic the event by opening and closing her mouth

Question 35

object permanence

Answer 35

The Piagetian term for one of an infant’s most important accomplishments: understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard or touched

Question 36

A-not-B error

Answer 36

occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting the familiar hiding place (A) to locate an object, rather than looking in a new place (B) as they progress into substage 4 of piaget’s sensorimotor stage

Question 37

core knowledge approach

Answer 37

States that infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge systems, such as space, number sense, object permanence and language - nature - proponents of this say that Piaget greatly underestimated the cognitive abilities of infants

experiment - 5 months olds who had the ‘impossible event’ looked longer than those who had the possible event

Question 38

egocentrism

Answer 38

important feature of preoperational thought: the inability to distinguish between one’s own and someone else’s perspective

Question 39

symbolic function substage

Answer 39

First substage of preoperational thought, occurring roughly between the ages of 2 and 4. young child gains the ability to represent mentally an object that is not present e.g. scribbles to represent people, houses, cars etc.

Question 40

animism

Answer 40

a facet of preoperational thought, the belief that inanimate objects have life like qualities and are capable of action. e.g. the tree pushed the leaf off.

Question 41

intuitive thought substage

Answer 41

second substage of preoperational thought - occuring between 4-7. years of age, when children begin to use primitive reasoning e.g. why questions

Question 42

centration

Answer 42

focusing attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others

Question 43

conservation

Answer 43

realization that altering an objects or substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties (the glass pouring)

Question 44

horizontal decalage

Answer 44

Piaget’s concept that similar abilities do not appear at the same time within a stage of development, e.g mastering length before mass in conservation

Question 45

Classification

Answer 45

e.g. concrete operational child can master a family tree and see that a family member can be brother, son, uncle at the same time. The ability to divide things into sets and subsets and understand their relationship

Question 46

seriation

Answer 46

concrete operation that involves ordering stimuli along a quantitative dimension such as length (e.g. lining up sticks)

Question 47

transitivity

Answer 47

principle that says if a relation holds between a first and second object, and holds between a second and third object, then it holds between the first and third object. sticks of different lengths. A is longest b middle c shortest. A is longer than B, and B is longer than C - does the child understand that A is longer than c?

Question 48

scaffolding

Answer 48

Vygotsky used this term to describe the practice of changing the level of support provided over the course of a teaching session with the more-skilled person adjusting guidance to fit the child’s current performance level

Question 49

Apply Piaget Theory for school

Answer 49

How it’s applied to teaching:
1) take a constructivist approach. - children learn best when they are active and seek solutions for themselves. - students learn best by discoveries, reflecting on them, rather than blinding imitating
2) Facilitate rather than direct teaching - effective teacher designs allow students to learn by doing. Teachers watch, listen and question students help them to gain understanding
3) Consider the child’s knowledge and level of thinking: Students don’t have empty minds - they have concepts of space, time, quantity, causality - these differ from the ideas of adults - teachers need to interpret what a student is saying and respond in a way that is not too far from the students level. Examine the mistakes in their thinking, not just in their answers
4) Promote the students intellectual health Children should not be pressured to achieving too early, before they are maturationally ready.
5) Turn the classroom into a setting of exploration and discovery. Not using workbooks and predetermined assignments; teachers observe students interest. i.e. counting lunch money, dividing supplies among students, games for mathematical thinking

Question 50

Contribution of piaget theory

Answer 50

Contribution: giant in development psychology - founder of field for children’s cognitive development.
Assimilation, Accommodation, object permanence, egocentrism, conservation etc.

vision of children as active constructive thinkers

theory that created a huge volume of research on cognitive development

Importance of things to look for in cognitive development - shift from preoperation to concrete operation thinking for example.

Gradual movement of cognitive thinking. concepts do not emerge suddenly - but develop.

Adapt information to their schemes and adapt their schemes to fit their experience

Question 51

Critique of Piaget Theory

Answer 51

• some cognitive abilities emerge earlier than Piaget thought. e.g. object permanence , even 2 year olds are non-egocentric in some cases ,Conservation of number has been demonstrated as early as 3 although Piaget thought 7.
• Some cognitive abilities develop later than Piaget thought.

*Some of his developmental stages do not arrive in synchrony - eg children do not learn to conserve at the same time they learn to cross-classify.

*His argument about training before a child is mature enough is superficial - but children can be trained to reason at a higher cognitive stage

• underestimated the role culture and education can play on cognitive development - certain cultures can acquire conversation skills earlier or younger for example

Question 52

What is Neo-Pagetianism

Answer 52

Developmentalists who have elaborated on Piaget’s theory, believing that children’s cognitive development is more specific in many respects than Piaget thought and giving more emphasis to how children use memory, attention, and strategies to process information

Question 53

Vygotsky’s theory for teaching

Answer 53

1) Asses the child’s ZPD. Vygotsky and Piaget agree that formal standardized tests are not the best way to assess children’s learning. V. thought to assess the child’s ZPD
2) Use the child’s ZPD in teaching. teaching should begin toward the zone’s upper limit so that the child can reach the goal with help and move to a higher level of skill and knowledge. Offer just enough assistance. “what can I do to help you?” or observe child’s intentions and attempts and provide support when needed. When the child hesitates, offer encouragement.
3) Use more skilled peers as teachers. Remember that it is not just adults who are important in helping children learn. Children also benefit from the support and guidance of a more-skilled child.
4)Monitor and encourage children’s use of private speech. Be aware of the developmental change from externally talking to oneself when solving a problem to privately talking to oneself in the early elementary years.
5) Place instruction in meaningful context. Teachers move away from abstract presentations of material, provide students with opportunities to experience learning in real world settings. for example instead of just memorizing math formulas, children work on math problems with real world implications
6) What does a v classroom look like? - many learning activities take place in small groups. spend time in centre’s. Scaffolding is used to improve children’s literary skills. The instructor asks questions, responds to students queries, build on the ideas that students generate.

Question 54

social constructivist approach

Answer 54

emphasis on the social contexts of learning and the construction of knowledge through social interaction. v theory reflects this approach

Question 55

Compare and contrast Piaget and Vygotsky:
Sociocultural context

Answer 55

V - strong emphasis
P - little emphasis

Question 56

Compare & Contrast V & P
Constructivism

Answer 56

V - social constructivist

P - cognitive constructivist

Question 57

Compare & Contrast V&P
stages

Answer 57

V- no general stages of development

P- strong emphasis on stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational)

Question 58

Compare & contrast V&P
Key processes

Answer 58

V- ZPD, language, dialogue, tools of the culture

P - Schema, assimilation, accommodation, operations, conservation, classification

Question 59

Compare & contrast V&P
role of language

Answer 59

V - major role, language plays a powerful role in shaping thought

p- language has a minimal role, cognition primarily directs language

Question 60

Compare & contrast V&P
view on education

Answer 60

V - central role, helping children learn the tools of the culture

P - education merely refines the child’s cognitive skills that have already emerged.

Question 61

Compare & Contrast V&P
Teaching implications

Answer 61

V - teacher is a facilitator and guide, not a director. establish many opportunities for children to learn with the teacher and more skilled peers

P - also views teacher as a facilitator and guide, not a director. Provides support for children to explore their world and discover knowledge

Question 62

Information Processing Approach

Answer 62

An approach that focuses on the ways children process information about their world - how they manipulate information, monitor it, and create strategies to deal with it

Question 63

Encoding

Answer 63

The mechanism by which information gets into memory

Question 64

automaticity

Answer 64

The ability to process information with little or no effort

Question 65

Strategy contstruction

Answer 65

the creation of new procedures for processing information.

Question 66

metacognition

Answer 66

Cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing

Question 67

How does information process theory compare to Piaget?

Answer 67

Piaget - distinct stages of thinking develops, qualitatively different schemas in each stage

information processing theory - constructivist like Piaget , see children directing their own cognitive development. Like Piaget they see children with capabilities and limitations at various points in development.

Unlike Piaget - do not see development occurring abruptly in distinct stages with a brief transition period from one stage to the next. IPT sees individuals develop a gradually increasing capacity to process knowledge which allows them to acquire increasingly complex knowledge and skills.

Main difference: IPT - focuses on more precise analysis of change such as encoding and strategies to that change.

Question 68

What is attention?

Answer 68

attention is concentrating and focusing mental resources

Question 69

What are the 4 types of attention

Answer 69

1) Selective
2) Divided
3) sustained
4) executive

Question 70

Selective attention

Answer 70

focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant while ignoring others that are irrelevant. Focusing on one voice among many in a crowded room for example.

Question 71

Divided attention

Answer 71

concentrating on more than one activity at the same time. Listening to music or tv while reading for example

Question 72

Sustained attention

Answer 72

ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time. Also called focused or vigilance

Question 73

Executive attention

Answer 73

involves planning actions, allocating attention to goals, detecting and compensating for errors, monitoring progress on tasks and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances

Question 74

Attention the first year of life:

Answer 74

Dominated by orienting/investigative process. - Directing attention to important locations in environment, recognizing objects and their features (such as color and form)

Question 75

Habituation

Answer 75

decreased response to a stimulus after repeated presentation - researches study habituation to determine the extent to which infants can see, hear, smell taste and experience touch

Question 76

dishabituation

Answer 76

recovery of a habituated response after a change in stimulus

Question 77

Joint attention

Answer 77

individuals focusing on the same object or event; requires the ability to track another’s behaviour, one person directing another’s attention, and reciprocal interactions

Question 78

memory

Answer 78

retained information over time

Question 79

short term memory

Answer 79

limited capacity memory system in which information is usually retained for up to 30 seconds.

Question 80

long term memory

Answer 80

a relatively permanent and unlimited type of memory

Question 81

working memory

Answer 81

a mental workbench where individuals manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken language

Question 82

schema theory

Answer 82

states that when people reconstruct information, they fit it into information that already exists in their minds

Question 83

schemas

Answer 83

mental frameworks that organize concepts and information

Question 84

implicit memory

Answer 84

memory without conscious recollection, memory of skills and routine procedures that are performed automatically

Question 85

explicit memory

Answer 85

conscious memory of facts and experiences

Question 86

Thinking

Answer 86

transforming and manipulating information in memory. Individuals think in order to reason, reflect, evaluate ideas, solve problems, and make decisions

Question 87

concepts

Answer 87

cognitive groupings of similar objects, events , people, or ideas

Question 88

executive function

Answer 88

an umbrella-like concept that consists of a number of higher -level cognitive processes linked to the development of prefrontal cortex. Executive function involves managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal directed behaviour and to exercise self-control .

Question 89

Executive function in middle-late childhood that are most important for school success in 4-11 year olds

Answer 89

1) self control/inhibition
2) working memory
3) flexibility

Question 90

critical thinking

Answer 90

to think reflectively and productively and evaluating the evidence

Question 91

mindfulness

Answer 91

being alert, mentally present and cognitively flexible while going through life’s everyday activities and tasks

Question 92

metamemory

Answer 92

knowledge about memory

Question 93

Theory of mind

Answer 93

Awareness of own mental processes and the mental processes of others