Theories of Human Development Exam Study Guide

Theories of Human Development Exam Study Guide Growth - answerIncrease in physical size of whole or any of its parts or increase in number and size of cells. Maturation - answerChange in complexity of body structures. Development - answerContinuous, orderly series of conditions leading to activities and patterns of behavior; increase in function and complexity. Enhances survival Learning - answerChanges in behavior due to maturation and experience Jean Piaget - answerDevelopmental theorist that studied how children learn. 4 stages of development. Children learn by assimilation/accomodation Assimilation - answerInterpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing knowledge. Accomodation - answerChanging a pre-existing mental idea in order to fit new information. Eg: A child may create a new idea to categorize truck after realizing trucks do not belong in the category of cars. Sensorimotor stage - answerIn 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 Object permanence - answerThe awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. (sensorimotor stage) (just because I can't see mommy when she leaves the room doesn't mean mommy no longer exists) Preoperational stage - answerIn Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic. Egocentricism - answerA child only sees the world from their point of view. (preoperational stage) Magical thinking - answerThinking based on assumptions that don't hold up to rational scrutiny (preoperational stage)