Developmental theories and milestones
Introduced| English |
|---|
| object permanence/ˈɒbdʒekt ˈpɜːmənəns/ |
| theory of mind/ˈθɪəri ɒv maɪnd/ |
A decision before an answer
- A child who can lie convincingly has passed a deeper milestone than a child who cannot: lying requires modelling another mind.
- Your goal: Order the major stage theories and their defining tasks.
Order the stage theories
- Piaget's stages are defined by what a child can do. Sensorimotor (birth to about 2): object permanence. Preoperational (about 2 to 7): symbolic play but egocentrism and failure of conservation.
- Concrete operational (about 7 to 11): conservation and reversible operations on concrete material. Formal operational (about 11 up): hypothetico-deductive reasoning, as in the pendulum task, where the solver holds one factor constant while varying another. Ages are approximate; the reasoning profile defines the stage.
A participant solves the pendulum problem by holding factor X constant while varying factor Y, then reversing. According to Piaget, this is:
Systematic hypothesis testing with controlled variables is formal-operational reasoning.
Match the milestones
- Kohlberg ordered moral reasoning into preconventional (consequences to self), conventional (approval and rules) and postconventional (principles) levels.
- Erikson framed eight lifespan psychosocial crises, from trust versus mistrust in infancy to integrity versus despair in late adulthood; identity versus role confusion belongs to adolescence. Stage theories describe common sequences, not fixed timetables.
In the strange situation, an infant who clings to the caregiver yet is not comforted at reunion shows which pattern?
Clinging without comfort defines the resistant (ambivalent) pattern; avoidant infants keep distance.
Read the attachment patterns
- Attachment research uses the strange situation: secure infants use the caregiver as a base and are comforted at reunion; avoidant infants keep distance; resistant (ambivalent) infants cling yet are not easily comforted.
- Caregiver sensitivity predicts the pattern, and early patterns relate to later relationships without determining them.
A child who solves the pendulum problem by holding X constant while varying Y shows formal-operational reasoning. Conserving liquid volume across containers marks concrete operations. An infant who is easily comforted at reunion shows a secure pattern. Expecting a searcher to look where the object really is fails the false-belief task.
Conservation of quantity first appears in Piaget's ____ operational stage.
Reversible operations on concrete material define the concrete operational stage (about 7 to 11).
Test the model of mind
- Theory of mind is understanding that others hold beliefs, including false ones. The false-belief task is its standard test: a child who expects a searcher to look where the object really is, rather than where the searcher saw it, has not yet passed.
- Intentional lying presupposes modelling what another person believes, so deceptive lying marks a change in mental representation.
Assigning a stage by age alone, or treating a developmental sequence as a fixed timetable; the reasoning profile, not the birthday, defines the stage.
Which answer fits this case?
Order the major stage theories and their defining tasks
A child who fails a false-belief task lacks the understanding that others can hold false beliefs.
Expecting the searcher to look where the object really is shows the absence of false-belief reasoning.
Keep the distinctions
- object permanence 客体永久性 — Knowing that objects continue to exist when out of sight, gained in the sensorimotor stage.
- theory of mind 心理理论 — Understanding that others hold beliefs, including beliefs that are false.
- Order the major stage theories and their defining tasks.
- Match cognitive milestones to Piaget's stages.
- Distinguish attachment patterns and theory-of-mind evidence.
Match each term with its precise meaning in this lesson.
Keep the distinctions stated in the teaching example.
Put this lesson’s reasoning or event sequence in order.
The order follows the stated process; check each stage before the next.