Cognitive Development in the Preschool Years

Front

According to Jean Piaget, the stage of cognitive development that lasts from ages 2 to 7 during which children's use of symbolic thinking grows, mental reasoning emerges, and the use of concepts increases.

Back

Preoperational Stage

Front

According to Piaget, the ability to use a mental symbol, a word, or an object to represent something that is not physically present.

Back

Symbolic function

Front

The process of concentrating on one limited aspect of a stimulus and ignoring other aspects.

Back

Centration

Front

The knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical appearance of objects.

Back

Conservation

Front

The process whereby one state is changed into another.

Back

Transformation

Front

Thinking that does not take the viewpoint of others into account.

Back

Egocentric thinking

Front

Thinking that reflects preschoolers' use of primitive reasoning and their avid acquisition of knowledge about the world.

Back

Intuitive thought

Front

Memory of particular events from one's own life.

Back

Autobiographical memory

Front

Broad representations in memory of events and the order in which they occur.

Back

Scripts

Front

According to Lev Vygotsky, the level at which a child can almost, but not fully, comprehend or perform a task without assistance?

Back

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)