Accommodation
One of the processes that helps create equilibrium. According to Piaget, the process by which existing mental structures (schemas) and
... [Show More] behaviors are modified to adapt to new experiences
Adaptation
Changing of existing knowledge structures (schemas) to fit new conditions. Either through: assimilation or accommodation
Anorexia Nervosa
An eating disorder characterized by very limited food intake
Assimilation
According to Piaget, the process by which new ideas and experiences are absorbed and incorporated into existing mental structures and behaviors
Bulimia
An eating disorder characterized by overeating/binge eating (and a fear of not being able to stop eating) followed by purging by self-induced vomiting or laxatives.
Centration
A young child's tendency to focus only on his or her own perspective of a specific object and a failure to understand that others may see things differently.
Conservation
the realization that a change in the appearance of an object does not necessarily change the characteristics of the object.
Constructivist Theories
belief that children are not passive in the learning process; each learner constantly and actively seeks information and meshes old knowledge with new to make it meaningful in building or constructing his or her knowledge.
egocentrism
In Piaget's theory, the inability of the preoperational child to take another's point of view.
equilibration
the constant innate search for a balance between what we already know and a new activity, skill, or social experience
Imaginary Audience
Adolescents' belief that they are the focus of everyone else's attention and concern.
maturation
internally determined to change
metacognitive ability
the ability to think about one's own cognitive thinking processes and to use this process to facilitate learning.
organization
continual process of arranging and connecting information, objects, and events within meaningful mental systems (schemata)
personal fable
An adolescents belief that they are special in the sense of being unique, invulnerable, and omnipotent, so few can understand them
Prepubescence
the period of life immediately before puberty, often marked by accelerated physical growth
Puberty
the stage of adolescence in which an individual becomes physiologically capable of sexual reproduction
Seriation
ability to arrange objects in an orderly fashion (in a series) using a quantitive dimension (size, for example)
Stages of Cognitive Development
(Piaget) 1. sensorimotor 2. preoperational 3. concrete operational 4. formal operational
Acculturation
successful application of new knowledge and use of new norms from another culture while retaining one's own native culture and language
basic interpersonal communication skills (BCIS)
as a language learner, being able to use conversational, everyday language (can take up to two years) [Show Less]