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PPR Study Guide

Terms in this set (40)

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist, developed a theory of how cognition develops and changes over time. Piaget proposed that a child's intellect progresses through four stages: 1. Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years) 2. Preoperational (2 to 7 years) 3. Concrete operational (7 to 11 years) 4. Formal operational (11 years to adulthood) Children learn through active interaction and manipulation of the environment. The stage the child is in determines how they see the world. Piaget believed all students pass through the stages in order and cannot skip any stage.
Schemes
Mental patterns that guide behavior; cognitive structures that help children process and organize information to make sense of the environment
Assimilation
Understanding new experiences in terms of existing schemes
Accommodation
Modifying existing schemes to fit new situations in the environment. When old ways of dealing with the environment don't work, a child modifies an existing scheme stimulated by new information or a new experience
Adaptation
The process of adjusting schemes in response to the environment through assimilation or accommodation. According to Piaget, this is how learning occurs.
Equilibration
The process of restoring balance between present understanding and new experiences. According to Piaget, learning depends on this process so it is important for teachers to confront students with new experiences or data to advance their cognitive development.
Disequilibrium
An imbalance between what a child understands and what the child encounters through new experiences.
Sensorimotor Stage
The earliest stage (birth to 2 years) of cognitive development during which infants learn about the environment by using their senses and motor skills. Children develop "object permanence" and progress from reflexive behavior to goal-directed behavior.
Object Permanence
The fact that objects are physically stable and exist even when the objects are not in the child's physical presence. This enables the child to start using symbols to represent things in their minds so they can think about them.
Preoperational Stage
The second stage (2 to 7 years) of cognitive development in which children learn to represent things in their mind. During this stage students develop the ability to use symbols to represent objects in the world. Thinking remains egocentric and centered.
Egocentric
Believing that everyone sees the world as you do.
Conservation
The concept that certain properties of an object remain the same regardless of changes in other properties.
Centration
Paying attention to only one aspect of an object or situation; what is commonly called tunnel vision.
Reversibility
The ability to perform a mental operation and then reverse thinking to return to the starting point.
Class Inclusion
The ability to think simultaneously about a whole class of objects and about relationships among subordinate classes; a framework for thinking.
Concrete Operational Stage
The third stage (7 to 11 years) of cognitive development in which children develop the capacity for logical reasoning and understanding of conservation but can use the skills only in dealing with familiar situations. New abilities include operations that are reversible. Thinking is decentered, allowing them to understand that others may have different perceptions, and problem solving is less restricted by egocentrism. Abstract thinking is not possible.
Inferred Reality
The ability to understand stimuli in the context of relevant information. Preschoolers see what they see with little ability to infer the meaning behind what they see. Students in the concrete operational stage respond to inferred reality and see things in the context of other meanings.
Seriation
Arranging objects in sequential order according to one aspect, such as size, weight, volume, etc. Seriation involves arranging things in a logical progression such as from smallest to largest or shortest or tallest.
Transivity
A skill learned during the concrete operational stage in which children can mentally arrange and compare objects. Transitivity is the ability to infer a relationship between two objects on the basis of knowledge of their respective relationships with a third object. (If a>b and b>c, then a>c)
Inversion
A mental transformation that requires reversible thinking. (+X is reversed by -X)
Reciprocity
A mental transformation that requires reversible thinking. (MM)
Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development
Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, developed a theory of cognitive development based on two key ideas. He proposed children understand the world based on social interactions within their culture and the sign systems that represent ideas. These systems include symbols used to think, solve problems, and communicate. Vygotsky's theory highlights the socio-cultural nature of learning.
Self-regulation
According to Vygotsky's theory, self-regulation is the ability to think and solve problems without the help of others. Learning is a social process and learning occurs when self-regulation is achieved.
Sign Systems
Symbols that cultures create to help people think, solve problems, and communicate.
Private Speech
Inner speech or children's self-talk that guides thinking and actions; an important consideration in Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development.
Zone of Proximal Development
Level of development immediately above a student's present level. The tasks within the zone of proximal development require assistance from the teacher or a more knowledgeable other. Students cannot perform tasks alone within the zone of proximal development. Activities designed within this zone are guided activities.
Scaffolding
Support for learning and problem solving that include clues, reminders, examples, or encouragement. Scaffolding allows a student to make a learning connection and become independent as a learner.
Cooperative Learning
Strategies in which students work together to help one another learn by sharing perspectives and providing models of slightly advanced thinking.
Developmentally Appropriate Education
Instruction intentionally adapted to the current developmental level of students rather than planned according their chronological age or grade level.
Psychosocial Theory
A set of principles that relates social environment to psychological development.
Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
Trained by Freud as a psychoanalyst, Erikson proposed people pass through eight psychosocial stages of development. A psychosocial crisis is resolved at each stage.
Piaget's Theory of Moral Development
Part of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development addresses children's moral reasoning. Piaget proposed that as children's thinking becomes more advanced their understanding of moral problems deepens. 1. Heteronomous Morality (based on rules and consequences) 2. Autonomous Morality (based on mutual respect and recognition)
Heteronomous Morality
According to Piaget's theory of moral development, the younger stage when children think rules are unchangeable and that breaking rules leads to punishment.
Autonomous Morality
According to Piaget's theory of moral development, the older stage when children understand that rules are created and that punishments are not automatic.
Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Reasoning
Lawrence Kohlberg proposed students pass through three levels and six stages of moral reasoning: I. Preconventional Level Stage 1 Punishment and Obedience Orientation Stage 2 Instrumental Realist Orientation II. Conventional Level Stage 3 "Good boy-Good girl" Orientation Stage 4 "Law and Order" Orientation III. Postconventional Level Stage 5 Social Contract Orientation Stage 6 Universal Ethical Principle Orientation
Preconventional Level of Morality
Stages 1 and 2 of Kohlberg's model of moral reasoning in which children make moral decisions in their own interests to avoid punishments. Safety is the main consideration.
Conventional Level of Morality
Stages 3 and 4 of Kohlberg's model of moral reasoning during which children make moral decisions in consideration of others. Fairness is the main consideration.
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
Social class defined in terms of income, occupation, education, possessions, and prestige in society. A measure of prestige within a social group.
Ethnicity
A culture, history, and sense of identity shared by a group of people; a way of life. A shared cultural heritage and traditions often based on race, religion, language, or national identity.
Bilingual Education
Instructional programs for students who speak little or no English in which instruction is provided in the native language as well as English. The four types of programs include: language immersion; transitional; paired bilingual; and two-way bilingual.
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