PSY 244 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Object Permanence, Cognitive Flexibility, Long-Term Memory
Document Summary
Developmental theories provide a framework for understanding important phenomena: theories of child development place particular experiences and observations in a larger context and deepen our understanding of their meaning. Developmental theories lead to a better understanding of children: theories stimulate new research that improves our understanding of children. No single theory accounts for all of childhood development. Children are mentally and physically active from birth, their activity greatly contributes to their own development. Constructivist- depicts children as constructing knowledge for themselves in response to their experiences. Children are generating hypotheses, performing experiments, and drawing conclusions (child as a scientist) Children learn many important lessons on their own, rather than depending on instruction from adults. Children are intrinsically motivated to learn, they do not need rewards from other people to do so. Nature and nurture: interact to produce cognitive development. Equilibrium- children are satisfied with their understanding of a particular phenomenon.
