UNDERSTAND MAJOR THEORIES OF HOW CHILDREN’S THINKING DEVELOPS. Piaget believed that development unfolds in four stages that infl uence all aspects of cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that diff erent children develop skills in diff erent domains at diff erent rates, and that social structuring on the part of the parent facilitates children’s learning and development. Researchers continue to debate whether learning happens in more general or domain-specifi c ways, whether learning is gradual or stagelike, and how much innate cognitive knowledge children possess.
21. According to Piaget, when children can no longer use ________to absorb a new experience into their current knowledge structures, they will engage in ________by altering an existing belief to make it more compatible with the new experience. (p. 368 )
22. Using the descriptions provided, complete the table to show Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development. (p. 369 )
23. What ability does Piaget’s three mountains task (below) measure? In what stage can children pass this task? (p. 369 )
24. Modern research suggests that cognitive development is (less/ more) continuous and (less/more) general than Piaget theorized. (p. 370 )
25. Whereas Piaget emphasized children’s exploration of the physical world, Vygotsky believed that ________and ________factors were children’s primary source of learning. (p. 371 )
26. Vygotsky identifi ed the zone of ________________ as the phase when a child is receptive to learning a new skill and can make use of ________, the structure provided by parents to aid the child’s learning. (p. 371 )