PSYO 2090 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Arnold Gesell, Language Acquisition Device, Cognitive Development
Document Summary
Scheme: a cognitive structure that helps individuals organize and understand their experiences. Schemes change over time and involve 2 processes. Accommodation: changing the existing knowledge to fit the new information. Organization: concept of grouping isolated behaviours and thoughts into a higher-order system. A boy who only has a vague idea about how to use a hammer may also have a vague idea about how to use other tools. After learning how to use each one, he relates these uses, organizing his knowledge. Equilibrium: a mechanism to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next. One: simple reflexes: (birth- 1 month) - sensation and action are coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviour. Soon develops behaviours that resemble reflexes in the absence of the usual stimulus for the reflex. Two: first habits and primary circular reactions: (1-4 months) - the infant coordinates sensation and 2 types of schemes: habits and primary circular reactions.