Developmental Psychology

• The preoperational stage is the second stage, characterized by the development of symbolic thinking and egocentrism.
• Children during this period have difficulty understanding reversibility, which means they cannot mentally reverse actions or events.
• Piaget believed that children at this age are unable to understand other people's perspectives or take into account different points of view.
• Children develop theory of mind around age four or five years old.
• Theory of mind is the ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives different from one's own.
• The sensorimotor stage is the first stage of Piaget's theory, during which infants learn about the world through their senses and motor actions.
• The concrete operational stage is the third stage, marked by the ability to think logically about concrete objects and events.
• Concrete operational stage (7-12 years): Children can think logically about concrete objects but still struggle with abstract concepts.
• Formal operational stage (adolescence onwards): Ability to reason abstractly and hypothetically develops.
• During the concrete operational stage (ages 7-12), children begin to think logically about concrete objects but still struggle with abstract concepts.
• Concrete operational stage begins between ages seven and eleven when children can think logically about concrete objects but not abstract concepts.
• Infants begin to explore objects using all their senses, including vision, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
• Concrete operations involve logical reasoning based on real experiences rather than hypothetical situations.
• Formal operational stage occurs between ages twelve and sixteen when adolescents begin to use logical reasoning with abstract ideas.
• During the preoperational stage (ages two to seven), children begin to use symbols such as words but still struggle with logical thinking.
• They also use their bodies to interact with objects, such as reaching out to grab them.
• Logical thought involves using rules consistently and systematically.
• As babies grow older, they become more skilled at manipulating objects and coordinating their movements with what they see and hear.
• Cognitive development refers to changes in mental processes over time, including perception, memory, language, problem-solving, decision making, and reasoning.
• Piaget believed that children progress through stages of cognitive development at specific ages.
• Vygotsky proposed that social interaction plays an important role in cognitive development.
• Children at this age are able to understand conservation tasks such as volume or weight, but they may have difficulty understanding reversibility.
• Children at this age are able to perform simple arithmetic operations such as addition and subtraction.
• They also start to understand conservation, meaning they realize that quantities remain constant even if their appearance changes.
• Assimilation involves fitting new information into existing schemas, while accommodation involves modifying or expanding those schemas to fit new information.
• Children's understanding of cause and effect increases as they gain more experience with objects.
• Piaget believed that infants are born with innate reflexes and instinctual behaviors.