Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Deck (20)
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1
Q

What did Piaget state?

A

Children don’t know less than adults, they just simply think in different ways

2
Q

What model did Piaget put forward?

A

The stages of intellectual development

3
Q

What is a schema?

A

A mental structure containing our understanding of an object, person, or idea

4
Q

What did Piaget say about children’s schemas?

A

Born with a small number of schemas, which develop as they construct more detailed and complex mental representations of the world

5
Q

What did Piaget say about motivation?

A

We are motivated to learn when our existing schemas don’t allow us to make sense of something new

6
Q

What are 2 ideas associated with motivation to learn?

A

Disequilibrium and equilibration

7
Q

What is disequilibrium?

A

An imbalance between what is understood and what is encountered

8
Q

What do we achieve when we escape disequilibrium?

A

A state of equilibration

9
Q

What 2 processes allow adaption to take place?

A

Assimilation

Accommodation

10
Q

What is assimilation?

A

When we understand a new experience, we equilibrate by adding new information to our existing schemas

11
Q

What is accommodation?

A

When we form new schemas in response to dramatically new experiences

12
Q

What is equilibration?

A

Occurs when we have encountered new information and built it into our understanding of a topic, either by assimilation or accommodation

13
Q

What is research support for Piaget?

A

Howe et al.

14
Q

What did Howe et al. study involve?

A

Children 9-12 were put in groups to discuss movement of objects down a slope.
Their understanding of the topic was assessed before and after.

15
Q

What did Howe et al. find?

A

The children increased their level of understanding, but had not come to the same conclusions

16
Q

What does Howe et al. research support?

A

The idea that children learn by forming their own, personal mental representations

17
Q

What is an application of Piaget?

A

Styles of teaching
Children learn by actively exploring their environment. Children now engage in tasks in lessons to allow them to construct their own understandings, rather than copying from the board.

18
Q

What is a weakness of Piaget?

A

Piaget may have underplayed the role of other people in learning. They weren’t the main focus, unlike Vygotsky.

19
Q

What is a research limitation of Piaget?

A

Non-scientific methods used
Observation/interviews are open to biased interpretation.

Researcher bias. Only one observe (Piaget). Subjective interpretation. Unreliable.

20
Q

Why may Piaget have reached inaccurate conclusions?

A

Used interviews. Not suitable for children because they may not understand the questions or be able to express themselves very well.