PSYC 335 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Object Permanence, Cognitive Development, Sensory Memory
19 Jun 2018
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Piaget's Theory: Sources of Continuity
Three processes work together from birth to propel development forward.
o Assimilation: Process by which people translate incoming information into a form they can
understand
o Accommodation: Process by which people adapt current knowledge structures in response
to new experiences
accomodating from breastfeeding to bottle
o Equilibration: Process by which people balance assimilation and accommodation to create
stable understanding
eg. child with schema of dad staying at home, may be confused by a child with dad
that works
This is DISequilibrium
SOURCES OF DISCOOUNTINUITY
1. Sensory motor stage (0-2)
2. Preoperational Stage (2-7)
3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-12)
4. Formall Operational Stage (12-beoynd)
Piaget's Theory: Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-Age 2)
Sensorimotor stage
o At first, infants' activities center on their own bodies; later, their activities include the world
around them.
o Early goals are concrete; later goals often are more abstract.
o Infants become increasingly able to form mental representations.
object permanence (8 months)
A not B error (12 m)
deffered imitation (18 m)
Piaget's Theory: Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs)
Preoperational stage
eg. the "which glass has more liquid" experiment, child will focus on the taller feature of
the glass aan believe it contains more liquid
o Toddlers and preschoolers begin to represent experiences in language and mental imagery.
o symbolic representation, the use of one object to stand for another, which makes a variety
of new behaviors possible (new characteristic)
o egocentrism, the tendency to perceive the world solely from one's own point of view
(limitation)
eg. three mountains task and liquid concervation task
o centration, the tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or
event (limiatation)
Piaget's Theory: Concrete Operational Stage (7-12 yrs)
Concrete operational stage
eg. child will now understand that both glasses contain same amouunt of liquid,
regardless of which is taller
o Children begin to reason logically about concrete objects and events in their world.
They can solve conservation problems
