PIAGET

PIAGET

1. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

   • 1. Children actively construct their understanding of the world by “experimenting” on it
     • 2. Processes that underlie this cognitive construction:  adaptation (assimilation and accommodation)
       • 3. Children become less egocentric as they develop, learning to take perspectives other than their own

2. 4 stages of cognitive development,

   • Sensorimotor (Birth-2 years)- Infants “think” by acting on the world with their senses and motor skills, and discovering physical properties of the world.
     • Preoperational (2-7 years)- Children begin to use symbols to represent their earlier discoveries (e.g. language, pretend play), but lack developed logic.
       • Concrete Operations(7-11 years)- Children are able to think logically, but only in relation to concrete physical objects
         • Formal Operations (11- adulthood)- Children/adults are able to perform hypothetical, abstract reasoning without the need for concrete objects

3. Schemas- a mental structure that represents some aspect of the world.

4. Classification- the ability to group objects together on the basis of common features.

5. Class Inclusion- the understanding that some classes or sets of objects are also subjesets of a larger class. (Ex. Dogs..animals..)

6. Stage- a period in a child's development.

7. Operation- the process of working something out in your head.

8. Egocentrism- The belief that you are the center of the universe and everything revolves around you.

9. Decentration- the ability to move away from one system of classification to another.

10. Conservation- the realization that objects stay the same even when they are changed and made look different.