Developmental Psychology

Piaget - Cognitive developmental psychologist

General notes Piaget studied the interaction between children and the people and objects with which they come in contact A child cannot master a new intellectual concept before he or she has reached the correct stage of maturation Children adapt as fast as their biological development permits (maturation)

4 stages of cognitive development Sensory – Motor Pre - operational Concrete - Operational Formal - Operational

Sensory - Motor Birth – two years of age Children begin to distinguish themselves from those around them Curiosity develops Coordinates sensory experiences with sucking, reaching, and grasping

Milestone for the Sensory - Motor phase OBJECT CONSTANCY Objects no longer exist when they disappear from sight OBJECT PERMANENCE The (cognitive) understanding things continue to exist even though I cannot see them

Pre - Operational Ages 2-7 Children focus on their own desires, pleasures, pains Use language as a tool for understanding and controlling their world Ages 2-4 generalization Age 4-5 ability to distinguish

Concrete - Operational Ages 7-11 Specialized skills develop Grouping – classification system that allows them to place similar objects together (dogs, turtles, fish, = pets)

Formal Operational Early adolescence Understand abstract political, moral, religious, and scientific ideas

Schema An idea or mental framework that helps one organize and interpret date Schemas are ever changing

Conservation The understanding of different laws of conservation happens between the ages of 5 and 9 The principle that the properties of substances remain the same despite changes in their shape or arrangement