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Piaget and Early Language Development
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Piaget and Early Language Development
Week 2 Flashcards
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1
Question
What did Jean Piaget believe about how children acquire knowledge?
Page 1
Answer
Children actively construct knowledge rather than simply absorbing information. Cognitive development occurs through interaction with the environment.
2
Question
What are Piaget's four cognitive developmental stages in order with their ages?
Page 1
Answer
Sensorimotor (birth–2 years), Preoperational (2–7 years), Concrete Operational (7–11 years), and Formal Operational (12+ years).
3
Question
What is the major characteristic of the sensorimotor stage?
Page 1
Answer
Learning through senses and movement.
4
Question
What develops during the preoperational stage from ages 2 to 7?
Page 1
Answer
Symbolic thought and language develop.
5
Question
What kind of thinking appears in the concrete operational stage?
Page 1
Answer
Logical thinking about concrete objects.
6
Question
What kind of thinking defines the formal operational stage?
Page 1
Answer
Abstract and hypothetical thinking.
7
Question
What is a schema in Piaget's theory?
Page 1
Answer
A mental framework used to organize knowledge and interpret experiences.
8
Question
What four things do schemas allow children to do?
Page 1
Answer
Organize information, understand new experiences, predict what will happen, and solve problems.
9
Question
What is assimilation according to Piaget?
Page 2
Answer
Adding new experiences into an existing schema without changing the schema.
10
Question
How does accommodation differ from assimilation?
Page 2
Answer
Accommodation changes an existing schema because new information does not fit. Assimilation fits new experiences into an unchanged schema.
11
Question
What is Piaget's learning cycle from new experience to restored balance?
Page 2
Answer
New experience → disequilibrium (confusion) → accommodation → equilibrium restored.
12
Question
What is the biggest achievement of the sensorimotor stage?
Page 3
Answer
Development of mental representation, allowing children to think about objects without directly interacting with them.
13
Question
What characterizes Substage 1 (Reflexes) from birth to 1 month?
Page 3
Answer
Behavior is controlled almost entirely by inborn reflexes such as sucking, grasping, rooting, and looking. Babies cannot intentionally solve problems.
14
Question
What do primary circular reactions involve from 1 to 4 months?
Page 3
Answer
Infants accidentally discover enjoyable actions involving their own body and repeat them, such as thumb sucking, kicking legs, smiling, and making noises.
15
Question
How do secondary circular reactions differ from primary circular reactions?
Page 4
Answer
Focus shifts from the infant's own body to the outside world. Infants repeat behaviors that affect objects, such as shaking a rattle or hitting toys.
16
Question
What is means-end behavior in Substage 4 (8–12 months)?
Page 4
Answer
Using one behavior (means) to achieve another goal (end). Children intentionally combine actions, such as moving a pillow to grab a hidden toy.
17
Question
Why did Piaget call babies in Substage 5 little scientists?
Page 5
Answer
From 12–18 months they experiment instead of repeating identical behaviors, such as dropping toys from different heights or testing ways to make sounds.
18
Question
What develops in Substage 6 from 18 to 24 months?
Page 5
Answer
Mental representation: the ability to think about objects and events without directly experiencing them. This leads to pretend play, symbolic thinking, language explosion, and true object permanence.
19
Question
What is object permanence?
Page 5
Answer
Understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.
20
Question
How does object permanence typically progress from birth through 8 months?
Page 6
Answer
Birth–2 months: no object permanence. 2–4 months: surprise if an object disappears but generally no search. 4–8 months: searches for partially hidden objects.
21
Question
What is the A-not-B error and when does it most often occur?
Page 6
Answer
After finding a toy under Box A repeatedly, the infant still searches Box A even after watching it moved to Box B. It occurs most often at 8–12 months and disappears around 18–24 months.
22
Question
What abilities mark full object permanence by about 18–24 months?
Page 6
Answer
Children understand invisible objects still exist, correctly search the newest hiding location, and no longer make the A-not-B error.
23
Question
How did Renée Baillargeon challenge Piaget's timeline for object permanence?
Page 7
Answer
Using the violation-of-expectation method, she measured looking time and surprise. Babies looked longer at impossible events, suggesting some object permanence may exist by 2–4 months.
24
Question
What major criticisms have researchers raised about Piaget's infant theory?
Page 7
Answer
Infants know more than Piaget thought; motor limitations hid knowledge; development is more gradual than stage-like; and experience influences development more than he recognized.
25
Question
What are the three major theories of language development named in the guide?
Page 7
Answer
Behaviorist theory (Skinner), generative/nativist theory (Chomsky), and interactionist/statistical learning theories (including Slobin's ideas).
26
Question
What is the main idea of Chomsky's generative/nativist theory?
Page 8
Answer
Language is biologically programmed. Children are born with an innate ability to learn language and develop it naturally with normal exposure to speech.
27
Question
What is the Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and what does it allow children to do?
Page 8
Answer
An inborn mental system that helps children learn language. It allows them to recognize speech sounds, identify grammar patterns, learn vocabulary rapidly, and understand sentence structure.
28
Question
What is universal grammar according to Chomsky?
Page 8
Answer
The idea that all human languages share certain grammatical principles, such as nouns, verbs, sentence structure, and grammar rules. The LAD is thought to contain these principles.
29
Question
Why does a child's sentence like I goed support Chomsky's theory?
Page 9
Answer
The child is not copying adults but applying a grammatical rule that past tense means add -ed. This shows children actively construct language.
30
Question
What are key strengths and weaknesses of Chomsky's language theory?
Page 9
Answer
Strengths include explaining rapid learning, grammar acquisition, similar milestones across cultures, and new sentence creation. Weaknesses include incomplete explanation of environment, social interaction, and why exposure matters so much.