Complete List of Terms and Definitions for PSYCH 2040

Terms Definitions
cognition the activity of knowing and the processes through which knowledge is acquired
cognitive development changes that occur in mental activities such as attending, perceiving, learning, thinking, and remembering
genetic epistemology the experimental study of the development of knowledge, developed by Piaget
intelligence in Piaget’s theory, a basic life function that enables an organism to adapt to its environment
cognitive equilibrium Piaget’s term for the state of affairs in which there is a balanced, or harmonious, relationship between one’s thought processes and the environment
constructivist one who gains knowledge by acting or otherwise operating on objects and events to discover their properties
scheme an organized pattern of thought or action that one constructs to interpret some aspects of one’s experience (also called cognitive structure)
organization an inborn tendency to combine and integrate available schemes into coherent systems or bodies of knowledge
adaptation an inborn tendency to the demands of the environment
assimilation the process of interpreting new experiences by incorporating them into existing schemes
accommodation the process of modifying existing schemes in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences
invariant development sequence a series of developments that occur in one particular order because each development in the sequence is a prerequisite for those appearing later
sensorimotor stage Piaget’s first intellectual stage, from birth to 2 years, when infants are relying on behavioural schemes as a means of exploring and understanding the environment
reflex activity first substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; infants’ actions are confined to exercising innate reflexes, assimilating new objects into these reflexive schemes, and accommodating their reflexes to these novel objects
primary circular reactions second substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; a pleasurable response, centered on the infant’s own body, that is discovered by chance and performed over and over
secondary circular reactions third substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; a pleasurable response, centered on an external object, that is discovered by chance and performed over and over.
coordination of secondary circular reactions forth substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; infants begin to coordinate two or more actions to achieve simple objectives. This is the first sign of goal-directed behaviour
tertiary circular reaction fifth substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; an exploratory scheme in which the infant devises a new method of acting on objects to reproduce interesting results
inner experimentation sixth substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; the ability to solve problems on a mental, or symbolic, level without having to rely on trail-and-error experimentation
deferred imitation ability to reproduce a modelled activity that has been witnessed at some point in the past
object performance the realization that objects continue to exist when they are no longer visible or detectable through the other senses
A-not-B error tendency of 8- to 12-month-olds to search for a hidden object where they previously found it even after they have seen it moved to a new location
neo-nativism idea that much cognitive knowledge, such as the object concept, is innate, requiring little in the way of specific experiences to be expressed, and that there are biological constraints in the mind/brain is designed to process certain types of information in certain ways
"theory" theories theories of cognitive development that combine neo-nativism and constructivism, proposing that cognitive development processes by children generating, testing, and changing theories about the physical and social world
preoperational period Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, lasting from about age 2 to age 7, when children are thinking at a symbolic level but are not yet using cognitive operations
symbolic function the ability to use symbols (for example, images and words) to represent objects and experiences
representational insight the knowledge that an entity can stand for (represent) something other than itself
dual representation (dual encoding; dual orientation) the ability to represent an object simultaneously as an object itself and as a representation of something else
animism attributing life and lifelike qualities to inanimate objects
egocentrism the tendency to view the world from one’s own perspective while failing to recognize that others may have different points of views
appearance/reality distinction ability to keep the true properties or characteristics of an object in mind despite the deceptive appearance that the object has assumed; notably lacking among young children during the preconceptual period
centration (centered thinking) in Piaget’s theory, the tendency of preoperational children to attend to one aspect of a situation to the exclusion of others; contrasts with decentration
conservation recognition that the properties of an object or substance do not change when its appearance is altered in some superficial way
decentration in Piaget’s theory, the ability of concrete operational children to consider multiple aspects of a stimulus of situation; contrasts with centration
reversibility the ability to reverse or negate an action by mentally performing the opposite action (negation)
identity training an attempt to promote conservation by teaching nonconservers to recognize that a transformed object or substance is the same object or substance, regardless of its new appearance
theory of mind a person’s concepts of mental activity; used to refer to how children conceptualize mental activity and how they attribute intention to and predict the behaviour of others; see also belief-desire reasoning
belief-desire reasoning the process whereby we explain and predict what people do based on what we understand their desires and their beliefs to be
false-belief task a type of task used in theory-of-mind studies, in which the child must infer that another person does not possess knowledge that he or she possesses (that is, that other person holds a belief that is false)
concrete operations Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, lasting from about age 7 to 11, when children are acquiring cognitive operations and thinking more logically about real objects and experiences
mental seriation a cognitive operation that allows one to mentally order a set of stimuli along a quantifiable dimension such as height or weight
transitivity the ability to recognize relations among elements in a serial order (for example, if A is more than B and B is more than C, then A is more than C)
horizontal decalage Piaget’s term for a child’s uneven cognitive performance; an ability to solve certain problems enough though one can solve similar problems requiring the same mental operations
formal operations Piaget’s fourth and final stage of cognitive development, from age 11 or 12 and beyond, when the individual begins to think more rationally and systematically about abstract concepts and hypothetical events
hypothetic-deductive reasoning in Piaget’s theory, a formal operational ability to think hypothetically
sociocultural theory Vygotsky’s perspective on cognitive development, in which children acquire their culture’s values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society
ontogenetic deveopment development of the individual over his or her lifetime
microgrenetic development changes that occur over relatively brief periods of time, in seconds, minutes, or days, as opposed to larger-scale changes, as conventionally studied in ontogenetic development
phylogenetic development development over evolutionary time
sociohistorical development changes that have occurred in one’s culture and the values, norms, and technologies such as history has generated
tools of intellectual adaptation Vygotsky’s term for methods of thinking and problem-solving strategies that children internalize from their interactions with more competent members of society
zone of proximal development Vygotsky’s term for the range of tasks that are too complex to be mastered alone but can be accomplished with guidance and encouragement from a more skillful partner
scaffolding process by which an expert, when instructing a novice, responds contingently to the novice’s behaviour in a learning situation, so that the novice gradually increases his or her understanding of a problem
guided participation adult-child interactions in which child’s cognitions and modes of thinking are shaped as they participate with or observe adults engaged in culturally relevant activities
context-independent learning learning that has no immediate relevance to the present context, as is done in modern schools; acquiring knowledge for knowledge’s sake
egocentric speech Piaget’s term for the subset of a young child’s utterances that are non-social—that is, neither directed to others nor expressed in ways that listeners might understand
private speech Vygotsky’s term for the subset of a child’s verbal utterances that serve a self-communicative function and guide the child’s thinking
cognitive self-guidance system in Vygotsky’s theory, the use of private speech to guide problem-solving behaviour
development systematic continuities and changes in the individual over the course of life
developmental continuities ways in which we remain stable over time or continue to reflect our past
developmental psychology branch of psychology devoted to identifying and explaining the continuities and changes that individual display over time
developmentalist any scholar, regardless of discipline, who seeks to understand the developmental process (for example, psychologists, biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, educators)
maturation developmental changes in the body or behavior that result from the aging process rather than from learning, injury, illness, or some other life experience
learning relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioural potential) that results from one’s experiences or practice
normative development developmental changes that characterize most or all members of a species; typical patterns of development
ideographic development individual variations in the rate, extent, or direction of development
holistic perspective unified view of the developmental process that emphasizes the important interrelationships among the physical, mental, social, and emotional aspects of human development
plasticity capacity for change; a developmental state that has the potential to be shaped by experience
original sin idea that children are inherently negative creatures who must be taught to rechannel their selfish interests into socially acceptable outlets
innate purity idea that infants are born with an intuitive sense of right and wrong that is often misdirected by the demands and restrictions of society
tabula rasa the idea that the mind of an infant is a “blank slate” and that all knowledge, abilities, behaviours, and motives are acquired through experience
baby biography a detailed record of an infant’s growth and development over a period of time
theory a set of concepts and propositions designed to organize, describe, and explain an existing set of observations
hypothesis a theoretical prediction about some aspect of experience
scientific method the use of objective and replicable methods to gather data for the purpose of testing a theory or hypothesis. It dictates that, above all, investigators must be objective and must allow their data to decide the merits of their thinking
reliability the extent to which a measuring instrument yields consistent results, both over time and across observers