1. Chpt 6 Learning Goals
1. Discuss the key processes and four stages in Piaget’s theory.
 What are the key processes in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?
 What are Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development?
 What are the main characteristics of the sensorimotor stage?
 What are the main characteristics of the preoperational stage?
 What are the main characteristics of the concrete operational stage?
 What are the main characteristics of the formal operational stage?
2. Apply Piaget’s theory to education, and evaluate Piaget’s theory.
 How can Piaget’s theory be applied to educating children?
 What are some key contributions and criticisms of Piaget’s theory?
3. Identify the main concepts in Vygotsky’s theory, and compare it with Piaget’s theory.
 What is the zone of proximal development?
 What is scaffolding?
 How did Vygotsky view language and thought?
 How can Vygotsky’s theory be applied to education?
 What are some similarities and differences between Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories?
4. Describe cognitive changes in adulthood.
 What is Piaget’s view of adult cognitive development?
 Do young adults retain the idealism of the formal operational stage?
 What is Perry’s view of cognitive changes from adolescence to adulthood?
 What characteristics have been proposed for a fifth, postformal stage of cognitive
development?
Key Terms
A-not-B error Formal operational stage Postformal thought
Accommodation Hypothetical-deductive reasoning Scaffolding
Adolescent egocentrism Imaginary audience Schemas (schemes)
Animism Intuitive thought substage Sensorimotor stage
Assimilation Neo-Piagetians Seriation
Centration Object permanence Social constructivist approach
Concrete operational stage Operations Symbolic function substage
Conservation Organization Transitivity
Egocentrism Personal fable Zone of proximal development
Equilibration Preoperational stage
Key People
Renee Baillargeon Barbel Inhelder William Perry
Elena Bodrova Gisela Labouvie-Vief Jean Piaget
David Elkind Deborah Leong K. Warner Schaie
Rachel Gelman Andrew Meltzoff Lev Vygotsky