Divided attention

Schema: Mental models Used to guide and interpret experiences Inaccurate early in childhood Become more adult-like throughout childhood How Schema Change Assimilation: Fitting New experiences into already existing schemataExample: Seeing a rabbit for the first time and Classifying it as a cat Accommodation: Changing Existing schemata to accommodate new experiencesExample: Creating a new category called “rabbits” Piaget’s First Stage: The Sensorimotor PeriodBirth to about age 2 Schemas revolve around babies’ sensory & motor abilitiesEarly in first year, babies lack object permanence: They fail to realize That objects still exist when out of sight Reason:Babies are unable to represent objects symbolically By age 1: Can remember, represent objects Symbolically Piaget’s Second Stage: The Preoperational PeriodAbout ages 2 through 7 Schemas become more sophisticatedBut: Some errors still persistEgocentrism: Seeing world from own perspective Only Difficulty understanding conservation of massThe mass of an object remains the same despite Changes in appearanceWhy do children have difficulty with conservation?Centration: center attention on one aspect (ex. Glass height), while Ignoring others (ex. Glass width)Difficulty understanding reversibilityPiaget’s Third Stage: The Concrete Operational PeriodAbout ages 7 through 11 Now have the ability to verbalize, visualize, and mentally manipulate ObjectsUnderstand reversibility, conservation Can perform elementary logical tasks (math, problem solving), but…Difficulty with true abstract thinkingPiaget’s Fourth Stage: The Formal Operational PeriodApproximately adolescence (age 11 toadulthood) Can consider imaginary concepts,hypothesize, think in the abstract Can use systematic ways of solving problems Thinking is now adult-like