Chapter 6
Object Permanence – The Piagetian term for one of an infant’s most important
accomplishments: understanding that objects and events continue to exist even
when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched
Conservation – The awareness that altering the appearance of an object or a
substance does not change its basic properties
Animism – A facet of preoperational thought- the belief that inanimate objects
have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
Transitivity – The ability to logically combine relations to understand certain
conclusions. Piaget argued that an understanding of transitivity is characteristic
of concrete operational thought
Operations – Reversible mental actions that allow children to do mentally what
before they had done physically
Sensorimotor Stage – The first of Piaget’s stages, which lasts from birth to about
2 years of age; infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating
sensory experiences (such as seeing and hearing) with physical, motoric actions
Preoperational Stage – The second Piagetian developmental stage, which lasts
from about 2 to 7 years of age; children begin to represent the world with words,
images, and drawings
Concrete Operational Stage – Piaget’s third stage, which last from approximately
7 to 11 years of age; children can perform concrete operations, and logical
reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning as long as the reasoning can be applied to
specific, concrete examples
Formal Operational Stage – Piaget’s fourth and final stage, which occurs between
the ages of 11 and 15; individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in
more abstract and logical ways
Pragmatics – The appropriate use of language in different contexts
Piagetian approach to education – emphasis on facilitation rather than directing
learning, considering the child’s level of knowledge, using ongoing assessment,
promoting the student’s intellectual health, and turning the classroom into a
setting of exploration and discovery
Chapter 7
Sustained Attention – The ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for
a prolonged period of time
Selective Attention – Focusing on a specific aspect of experience that is relevant
while ignoring others that are irrelevant
