PSYC1001 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Card Sorting, Peekaboo, Object Permanence
Memory/cognitive development
Continuity vs discontinuity
Aims
• Explore the issue of continuity AND discontinuity by looking closely at Piaget's stage theory of
cognitive development
Is the nature of human development
• Continuous
o Gradual and uniform
o Quantitative - amount of skill, behaviour
o Rovee-Collier's theory
▪ Infant memory development
• Discontinuous
o Abrupt and step-like
o Qualitative - kind of skill, behaviour
o Piaget's stage theory
▪ Cognitive development
Cognitive development
• What do infants and young children know?
• Innate or learned knowledge?
o Tabula rasa - blank canvas - learn everything
Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
• Swiss philosopher/natural scientist
• Studied his own children's development
• Theorised how children acquire knowledge
How do infants learn
• Constructivist approach
o Construct knowledge by mixing experiences with own ideas
• Schema
o Mental structures, models that we create to represent, organise and interpret our
experience
• Changing knowledge
o Assimilate
▪ Fitting reality into existing schema
o Accommodation
▪ Adjusting schemas to fit with reality
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Aims: explore the issue of continuity and discontinuity by looking closely at piaget"s stage theory of cognitive development. Is the nature of human development: continuous, gradual and uniform, quantitative - amount of skill, behaviour, rovee-collier"s theory. Infant memory development: discontinuous, abrupt and step-like, qualitative - kind of skill, behaviour, piaget"s stage theory, cognitive development. Innate or learned knowledge: tabula rasa - blank canvas - learn everything. Studied his own children"s development: theorised how children acquire knowledge. How do infants learn: constructivist approach, construct knowledge by mixing experiences with own ideas. Schema: mental structures, models that we create to represent, organise and interpret our experience, changing knowledge, assimilate. Fitting reality into existing schema: accommodation, adjusting schemas to fit with reality. Three mountain problem: unable to figure out the view of the doll, centration. Fixate on a single feature of an object. Fails conservation tasks: volume of water, number of coins.
