Critical Thinking Questions

1. Piaget’s theory has been prominent for more than 80 years. Do you think it will continue to be prominent for the next 20 years as well? Why or why not?
2. Do you think that the term egocentric is a good description of preschoolers’ overall way of seeing the world? On the basis of what you learned in this chapter and your own experience, explain your answer and indicate in what ways preschoolers are egocentric and in what ways they are not.
3. Information-processing analyses tend to be more specific about cognitive processes than are analyses generated by other theories. Do you see this specificity as an advantage or a disadvantage? Why?
4. Do new behaviors, like new species, grow out of the processes of variation and selection, as depicted within dynamic-systems theories?
5. Imagine that you are trying to help a 6-year-old learn a skill that you possess. Using the ideas of guided participation and social scaffolding, describe how you might go about this task.
6. Dynamic-systems theories reflect influences of each of the other theories reviewed in this chapter. Which theoretical influence do you think is strongest: Piagetian, information-processing, or sociocultural? Explain your reasoning.