Chat with AIExam 6: C: Theories of Cognitive Development
Describe three characteristics of preoperational thinking.
(41) 
VerifiedA good answer will include the following key points:
· Egocentrism: Young children have difficulty in seeing the world from another's outlook.
· Animism: Young children sometimes believe that inanimate objects have lifelike properties.
· Centration: Narrow focus; concentrating on one aspect of a problem while ignoring other relevant aspects.
You are the parent of two young children, ages four and six years. They have been playing outside and they come running inside asking for a drink. All of the drinking glasses in the house, except two, are dirty. One of these glasses is tall and narrow and the other is short and squat. You KNOW that your children will argue with each other if one thinks that the other child is getting more to drink. Based on your knowledge of conservation of liquid in preoperational children, what should you do to avoid an argument? Explain your answer.
(34) VerifiedA good answer will be similar to the following:
Both of your children are in the preoperational period of cognitive development. You know from your knowledge of Piaget's theory that children who are in the period of preoperational thinking cannot do conservation of liquid tasks. These children will focus narrowly on the height of the liquid without considering the circumference of the container. If you give your children equal amounts of juice but use the tall, thin glass and the short, squat glass, they will focus on the height of the juice and will conclude that the child with the tall, narrow glass received more juice than the other child. To avoid an argument, fill the glasses so that the height of the liquid is the same in both glasses.
You have been watching your friend Deb trying to teach her son Sean how to do a puzzle. Sean has done this puzzle many times and he usually just needs help with the pieces that are in a difficult area that is all black. Deb is trying to help Sean but her instructions would be appropriate for a child who has never done the puzzle before. What can you tell Deb about Vygotsky's theory, in general, and scaffolding, in particular, that might help her teach Sean in more effective ways?
(47) VerifiedA good answer will be similar to the following:
According to Vygotsky's principle of zone of proximal development, Sean will do better on the puzzle if he is assisted by someone who has more puzzle-building expertise than he does. Deb does have more puzzle-building experience so she could be a good teacher. However, according to the concept of scaffolding, a skilled teacher will gauge her instruction to the learner's needs. In other words, a beginner should get more instruction than someone who is close to mastering a task. Sean is close to mastering this puzzle and Deb should stop giving so much instruction and should only provide help on the section where Sean needs help.
Your friend Andre is the father of a 12-month-old daughter, Brooke. Mealtime has become a very frustrating time for Andre because Brooke repeatedly pushes her sippy cup and different foods that she is eating off the high chair and onto the floor. The first time that she did this it appeared to Andre that it was an accident but now he is convinced that his daughter is deliberately pushing her cup and food onto the floor to annoy him. Based on what you know about infants being active experimenters, what can you tell Andre that might make him feel better?
(33) Describe the ways Vygotsky's perspective can be implemented in classrooms.
(37) Recently your friend Martha took her sons to a hands-on children's museum. Martha noticed that her eight-year-old son and her 12-year-old son interacted with some of the displays in very different ways. One display involved opening doors to safes by determining the correct combination. Each safe had three, four, or five buttons that had to be pressed in a particular order to open the door. Martha's eight-year-old son randomly pushed the buttons and never found the correct combinations to any of the safes. Martha's 12-year-old son approached the task in a very systematic manner, trying all possible combinations of buttons until the doors opened. Now Martha is concerned that there is something wrong with her younger son. What can you tell Martha about the differences in concrete operational and formal operational thought that might explain her sons' behaviour?
(33) Compare and contrast the information-processing approach and Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
(33) Explain the change in behaviour on the false-belief task that occurs from three and a half years of age to four years. Is this pattern of behaviour more typical of North American children?
(28) What are five forms of developmental change that occur with age proposed by information-processing theorists?
(37) Name and briefly describe the key elements of children's naïve theories of biology:
(29) Distinguish between assimilation and accommodation and give an example of each.
(27) 
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