PSYCO105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Cognitive Test, Cognitive Development, Egocentrism

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCO105
• Professor: Davina Rousell

Document Summary

Intrigued by the patterns of errors children made on test questions, with children of the same age, often making similar mistakes. Came to conclusion that the key issue in understanding how children think was not whether they got the right answers, but how they arrived at their answers. For a child to achieve understanding, brain builds schemas which are organized patterns of thoughts and action. Whe(cid:374) a (cid:272)hild sa(cid:455)s (cid:862)doggie(cid:863) to des(cid:272)(cid:396)i(cid:271)e the fa(cid:373)il(cid:455) pet this (cid:449)o(cid:396)d (cid:396)efle(cid:272)ts a(cid:374) underlying schema a concept or framework that the child is using to understand this particular experience. Assimilation is the process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas. Whe(cid:374) a (cid:272)hild sees a ho(cid:396)se, (cid:373)ight sa(cid:455) (cid:862)(cid:271)ig doggie(cid:863), (cid:271)e(cid:272)ause h(cid:396)ose has fou(cid:396) legs a(cid:374)d a tail so the child tries to make sense of this new experience by applying her familiar s(cid:272)he(cid:373)a (cid:862)doggie(cid:863) Accomodation is the process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change.