DEP 3053 EXAM 2 QUESTIONS AND ACCURATE
ANSWERS
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - Answers - sought to discover how children
at different points in development think and how systematic changes in children's
thinking occur. Children build mental structures that help them adapt
Assimilation - Answers - interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing
schemas
Accomidation - Answers - adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to
incorporate new information
Equilibration - Answers - A mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children
shift from one stage of thought to the next.
Sensorimotor stage - Answers - in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years
of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions
and motor activities
Simple reflexes - Answers - Piaget's first sensorimotor substage, which corresponds to
the first month after birth. In this substage, sensation and action are coordinated
primarily through reflexive behaviors.
First habits and primary circular reactions - Answers - Piaget's second sensorimotor
substage, which develops between 1 and 4 months of age. In this substage, the infant
coordinates sensation and two types of schemes: habits and primary circular reactions.
Secondary circular reactions - Answers - typically lasts from about 4 - 8 months. Now
babies repeat pleasurable actions that involve objects as well as actions involving their
own bodies.
Coordination of secondary circular reactions - Answers - Instead of simply prolonging
interesting events, babies now show signs of an ability to use their acquired knowledge
to reach a goal.
Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity - Answers - These differ from
secondary circular reactions in that they are intentional adaptations to specific
situations. The infant who once explored an object by taking it apart now tries to put it
back together.
Internalization of schemes - Answers - In this substage, the infant develops the ability to
use primitive symbols. For Piaget, a symbolis an internal-ized sensory image or word
that represents an event.
, A-not-B error - Answers - occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting a familiar
hiding place (A) rather than a new hiding place (B) as they progress into substage 4 of
the sensorimotor stage.
Questioning Piaget's Theory - Answers - Data do not always support Piaget's claim that
certain processes are crucial in transitions from one stage to the next.
Several theorists argue that infants' perceptual abilities are highly developed very early
in life
Baillargeon study - Answers - research showing that infants have an intuitive awareness
of physical laws such as solidity, containment, and occlusion at a young age.
Possible and impossible events paradigm - Answers - PossibleEvent
- Consistent with expectation being tested
Impossible Event
- Inconsistent with expectation being tested
Preoperational stage - Answers - children begin to represent the world with words,
images, and drawings.
- Lasts from approximately 2 to 7 years of age.
- Form stable concepts and begin to reason.
Two substages of preoperational stage - Answers - symbolic function and intuitive
thought
Symbolic function substage - Answers - Piaget's first substage of preoperational
thought, in which the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not
present (between about 2 and 4 years of age).
Intuitive thought substage - Answers - second substage of preoperational thought, in
which children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all
sorts of questions (between 4 and 7 years of age)
Egocentrism - Answers - inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and
someone else's perspective.
Animism - Answers - Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events,
like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
Conservation - Answers - awareness that altering the appearance of an object or
substance does not change its basic properties.
Concrete operational stage - Answers - children can perform concrete operations and
they can reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete
examples.
ANSWERS
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development - Answers - sought to discover how children
at different points in development think and how systematic changes in children's
thinking occur. Children build mental structures that help them adapt
Assimilation - Answers - interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing
schemas
Accomidation - Answers - adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to
incorporate new information
Equilibration - Answers - A mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children
shift from one stage of thought to the next.
Sensorimotor stage - Answers - in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years
of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions
and motor activities
Simple reflexes - Answers - Piaget's first sensorimotor substage, which corresponds to
the first month after birth. In this substage, sensation and action are coordinated
primarily through reflexive behaviors.
First habits and primary circular reactions - Answers - Piaget's second sensorimotor
substage, which develops between 1 and 4 months of age. In this substage, the infant
coordinates sensation and two types of schemes: habits and primary circular reactions.
Secondary circular reactions - Answers - typically lasts from about 4 - 8 months. Now
babies repeat pleasurable actions that involve objects as well as actions involving their
own bodies.
Coordination of secondary circular reactions - Answers - Instead of simply prolonging
interesting events, babies now show signs of an ability to use their acquired knowledge
to reach a goal.
Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity - Answers - These differ from
secondary circular reactions in that they are intentional adaptations to specific
situations. The infant who once explored an object by taking it apart now tries to put it
back together.
Internalization of schemes - Answers - In this substage, the infant develops the ability to
use primitive symbols. For Piaget, a symbolis an internal-ized sensory image or word
that represents an event.
, A-not-B error - Answers - occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting a familiar
hiding place (A) rather than a new hiding place (B) as they progress into substage 4 of
the sensorimotor stage.
Questioning Piaget's Theory - Answers - Data do not always support Piaget's claim that
certain processes are crucial in transitions from one stage to the next.
Several theorists argue that infants' perceptual abilities are highly developed very early
in life
Baillargeon study - Answers - research showing that infants have an intuitive awareness
of physical laws such as solidity, containment, and occlusion at a young age.
Possible and impossible events paradigm - Answers - PossibleEvent
- Consistent with expectation being tested
Impossible Event
- Inconsistent with expectation being tested
Preoperational stage - Answers - children begin to represent the world with words,
images, and drawings.
- Lasts from approximately 2 to 7 years of age.
- Form stable concepts and begin to reason.
Two substages of preoperational stage - Answers - symbolic function and intuitive
thought
Symbolic function substage - Answers - Piaget's first substage of preoperational
thought, in which the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not
present (between about 2 and 4 years of age).
Intuitive thought substage - Answers - second substage of preoperational thought, in
which children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all
sorts of questions (between 4 and 7 years of age)
Egocentrism - Answers - inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and
someone else's perspective.
Animism - Answers - Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events,
like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
Conservation - Answers - awareness that altering the appearance of an object or
substance does not change its basic properties.
Concrete operational stage - Answers - children can perform concrete operations and
they can reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete
examples.
