FTCE Professional Education Practice Exam

What is the active and interactive process of thinking, as described by Piaget?

1. Interpretation

2. Cognition

3. Reflection

4. Perception

The correct answer is: Cognition

The correct choice is cognition, which refers to the processes involved in gaining knowledge and comprehension. This encompasses a range of mental activities, including thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and problem-solving. Piaget's theory focuses on how children construct their understanding of the world through active engagement and interaction with their environment, making cognition a dynamic and ongoing process. Cognition is essential to Piaget's stages of development, wherein children move from simple to more complex levels of understanding as they grow. This development is marked by active exploration and interaction, both socially and physically, as children assimilate new information and accommodate it into their existing knowledge frameworks. The other terms, while related to mental processes, do not fully capture the comprehensive nature of Piaget's definition of the active and interactive process of thinking. Interpretation pertains more to the analysis of information rather than the holistic process of knowledge acquisition. Reflection suggests a retrospective evaluation of thoughts and experiences rather than the active engagement with new ideas. Perception involves the initial sensory experience of stimuli and does not encompass the deeper cognitive processes that Piaget describes.