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3. Newborn(0-2) : The Eager Mind
The Sensorimotor Stage: A newborn learns and reasons solely through physical touch, sound, smells, and other senses, experiencing the world through objects, sounds, etc. As a newborn, I would frequently shake things, and hold onto interesting objects for a long time, feeling the texture of the object in my hand, or hearing it rattle as I shook it. This exemplifies the sense-based reasoning behind my actions at this time as the were determined by my mind in its sensorimotor stage of development. -
4. Newborn: Development of Social Bonds
Social Referencing: Seeking information on how to react to unfamiliar objects and situations by watching reactions of surrounding people. Those people become social references. On holidays and other special occasions I would look to my mom or dad for how to respond to the situation. On Christmas day I had no idea why we celebrated. I was too young. I knew that it was a happy day though, and I acted that way because that's what my mom and dad did. -
5. Early Childhood (2-6): Thinking during Early Childhood
Egocentrism: The term Piaget used to describe how small children interpret the world only from their perspective. Especially towards my brothers I always acted as if they should be helping me all the time. I had no understanding of their lives, and how I was not the centerpiece. I would fall chasing them, and when they kept going I thought they were being mean to me. -
6. Early Childhood: Teaching Right and Wrong
Empathy: The ability to comprehend another person's potentially different emotions and worries. At this age, my older brothers and I would mess around, and one time I hit one in the head with something heavy by accident, and I had empathy when I started crying because of how hurt he was. -
7. Middle Childhood (6-11): Cognition
Seriation: The idea that logical sequences can be made out of things, such as numbers forming a number line. In school, I was learning the alphabet, a form of seriation, and I had to alphabetize books by the author's last name afterward. I was not good at this, but I tried to make them into logical sequences like seriation. -
8. Middle Childhood: The Nature of the Child
Social Comparison: A tendency to assess one's accomplishments, esteem, and other attributes against those of others, especially friends. When I was this age, it was much more difficult to see myself fitting in with the people around me. This is because I was looking at my friends, looking at what they had, and what I didn't. For example, if they had a higher grade, it would make my grade look bad in my head. Social comparison made it hard to be confident around my friends. -
9. Adolescence (11-18): Adolescent Cognition
Invincibility Fable: The egocentric adolescent belief that they will not be hurt or overwhelmed by activities that would hurt a normal person. Currently, I exemplify this with reckless driving, and other activities with my friends. I do these things because I believe that I will be able to stop it if anything goes wrong, just like the Fable says. -
10. Adolescence: Close Relationships
Famililsm: The belief that members of a family should do anything for each other if needed to keep the family together, or protect it. Over Spring break I was on a trip, and had gone off to spend the last of my money buying myself breakfast, but I only had a tiny bit because no one else had breakfast either, so I had to share. Familism let us be one big happy family that morning.