PSYC 20651 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Cognitive Development, Egocentrism, Railways Act 1921
27 Feb 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Cognitive development: the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Infants gain knowledge of the world from the physical actions they perform on it. Coordination of sensation and two types of schemes: habits (reflex) and primary circular reactions (reproduction of an event that initially occurred by chance). Infant manipulates a stick in order to bring an attractive toy within reach: teritary circular reactions, novelty and curiosity, 12-18 months. Internalization of schemes: 18-24 months, shift to symbolic thinking. Preoperational stage: 2-7 years, children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings, mental reasoning develops, magical beliefs are constructed, egocentrism is present, symbolic function substage, 2-4 years. Important thought limitation: egocentrism: the inability to distinguish between one"s perspective and someone else"s perspective. Initial presentation: two identical balls of clay are shown to the child.
