Cognitive Development:

• What are the four stages of cognitive development according to Piaget?

  1. Sensori-motor (0-2 years)
  2. Pre-operational (2-7 years)
  3. Concrete operational (7-12 years)
  4. Formal operational (12+ years)
• What is the developmental period for the sensori-motor stage?

  0-2 years: infancy
• What is a characteristic of the sensori-motor stage?

  Failure to differentiate between self and surroundings
• What is the developmental period for the pre-operational stage?

  2-7 years: early childhood
• What is a key characteristic of the pre-operational stage?

  Mental imagery without principled thought
• What is the developmental period for the concrete operational stage?

  7-12 years: middle childhood
• What is a characteristic of the concrete operational stage?

  Principled thought is confined to real-life issues
• What is the developmental period for the formal operational stage?

  12+ years: adolescence and adulthood
• What is a key characteristic of the formal operational stage?

  Principled thought applied to abstract problems
• What does lack of mental imagery in the sensori-motor stage imply?

  The ability to imagine the existence of things not directly accessible to the senses
• What is solipsism in the context of cognitive development?

  The failure to distinguish between the self and the rest of the universe
• What does not having object permanence mean?

  Not understanding that things continue to exist even when they can't be sensed directly
• In the sensori-motor stage, how is perception related to action?

  Perception is subordinate to action
• What cognitive ability does an infant develop by 18-24 months?

  The ability to conceive the existence of an object independently of self
• What does the infant learn about the self and the world during cognitive development?

  There is a “self” and there is the “world” through the acquisition of mental imagery
• What are the characteristics of the pre-operational stage of development?

  • Mental imagery without principled thought
  • Egocentrism: difficulty taking another person’s perspective
  • Operational intelligence: solving problems through logical processes
  • Failure to decenter: fixating on one issue rather than considering multiple aspects
• What is conservation in cognitive development?

  Understanding that changing the form or location of an object doesn’t change its mass, volume, or amount
• What do children often provide when asked to reason logically?

  An intuitive answer rather than a correct response based on operational thought
• What is class inclusion in cognitive development?

  The ability to understand that objects can belong to multiple categories
• What is necessary for a child to overcome egocentrism?

  Operational intelligence
• What are the characteristics of the concrete operational stage (7-12 years)?

  • Correct answers in conservation tasks
  • Ability to provide logical justifications for answers
  • Confined to real-life issues
  • Struggles to apply principled thought to abstract problems
• What are the justifications children use in conservation tasks?

  Compensation, inversion, and identity
• What is a key characteristic of the formal operational stage?

  Systematic logical thinking and reasoning
• What type of thinking is emphasized in the formal operational stage?

  Abstract thinking
• What are the main issues with Piaget’s stage theory?

  • Alternative theory: social constructivism
  • Challenges to Piaget’s findings
  • Piagetian tasks may not make “human sense”
  • Children can pass conservation tasks earlier than Piaget suggested
• Who challenged Piaget’s theory and findings?

  Margaret Donaldson
• What was Donaldson's argument regarding Piagetian tasks?

  They didn’t make “human sense”
• What is the name of the experiment conducted by McGarrigle & Donaldson?

  Naughty Teddy experiment
• What did McGarrigle & Donaldson modify in their experiments?

  They modified a number of Piagetian tasks
• What did Rai and Mitchell (2006) find regarding 4-year-olds?

  They found evidence that even 4-year-olds can reason logically
• What do 4-year-olds appreciate according to the study?

  That an unfamiliar name belongs to an unfamiliar character
• What concept did Russel (1982) introduce?

  Inter-cognitive conflict
• What are the key ideas of Vygotsky's theory?

  • Emphasizes the role of the environment in development
  • Cognitive abilities are socially constructed
  • Learning is motivated by the need to interact with others
  • Culture and language are fundamental for development
• How does Vygotsky view the relationship between thinking and language?

  Thinking is a function of language
• What is the zone of proximal development?

  The child needs to be cognitively ready to learn something
• What is scaffolding in the context of learning?

  Support structures created by parents to help children's learning
• How do Piaget's and Vygotsky's views on cognitive development differ?

  • Piaget: cognitive constructivism, internal control of development, personal discovery
  • Vygotsky: social constructivism, external influences, social construction processes
• What are the strengths and limitations of Piaget's theory?

  Strengths:

  • Comprehensive account of development
  • Strong educational emphasis
  • Focus on process over end result

  
  

  Limitations:

  • Little emphasis on social/emotional factors
  • May underestimate children's abilities
  • Relies on subjective interpretation
  • Tasks may be too arbitrary and out of context