Piaget's theory

Piaget's theory

1. A01

   • Piaget believed that children construct their understanding of the world through active engagement, trying out actions and seeing what effects they have.
   • Building blocks
     • Schemas: mental ideas about actions
     • assimilation: using an existing schema to deal with a new situation
     • accommodation: modifying old schema to deal with new situation
     • equilibrium: a state in which an existing schema can be used to deal with a new situation
     • disequilibrium: a state in which old schemas do not fit a new situation so must be altered
     • operations: a combination of schemas
   • He believed that cognitive development of children does not take place at a steady rate but in leaps and bounds which are loosely linked to age. Children are seen to think in similar ways, with major changes or cognitive restricting taking place when children move from one stage to the next. A stage cannot be missed out as the development to the next stage depends on the skills acquired from the last.
   • 4 Stages
     • first stage is sensorimotor period (0-2 years) it starts around 6 weeks old when the child discovers the world around them, it ends at age of 2 when language begins to develop. Before 9 months, object permanence develops, this is where the child believes when a toy is hidden it is literally gone.
       • next stage is pre-operational period (2-7 years), this is where the children think that their toys have human thoughts and feelings (animism), the child cannot view things from another persons viewpoint other than their own (egocentric), also the child is unable to converse therefore they fail to understand that when an object changes shape or appearance the quantity stays the same.
         • The third stage is concrete operational period (7-11 years) these children could focus on more than one aspect at once (decentre),
           • The final stage is the formal operation period (11 years+), the child in the period develops logical reasoning and abstract thoughts; deductive reasoning occurs whereby they can generate a hypothesis and test them systematically to find a solution

2. A02

   • Supports object permanence- found that children below 9 months had no interest in the hidden object as it was out of sight.This supports idea that object permanence starts to develop at the age of 9 months, this is because those researched were younger and showed no signs of trying to find the hidden toy at all.
     • Contradictory research to this found that when a teddy is presented to a 4 month old child, if the lights are turned off he still reached for the teddy. This challenges the idea of object permanence as it disproves the theory that it begins to develop at the age of 9 months, but also, it disproves the idea that when the toys are hidden the child believes it is actually gone as he reached for the teddy although he could not see it. This proves contradictory evidence for the theory of object permanence.
   • contradictory evidence for conversation not occurring until after theage of 7: Mexican children whom were raised in pottery families (families that produced pottered goods) were researched. They found that those children could conserve (identity that quantities stayed the same even though the shape and appearance had changed) as early as the age of 6. This contradicts the idea that conservation would not happen until after the age of 7. Ths theory must be questioned when applying it to younger children as many have developed there cogntive ability faster in different cultures as shown in this research
   • Supporting evidence for formal operational period came from the pendulum task. Had to Measure the speed that pendulum swung. changed the independent variable e.g. length of string it swung on. They found that when they asked children over 12 they would solve it through a systematic approach; supports idea that in the formal operational period children 12+ would start to solve problems using a systematic approach, which the evidence supports.
     • However, further evidence identifies that only 30% of 16 year old's within the UK had reached early formal operaions, this shows that not sll 12+ fulfil full development into al sages, in fact majority don't, this could be because children are raised in different environments therefore may not fully develop into any stage due to lack of education or family support e.g. orphans

3. IDA'S

   • Culture bias: Piaget used his own children to research evidence for his theory, although they were raised in a western individualistic culture. This may not be the same for children who are reared in an eastern collectivist culture. In countries like Israel it could be hard to develop skills as they are raised in Kibbutz therefore don't receive one to one from an older person which can help them develop through stages quickly. People may argue that Piaget's theory is culturally bias as it does not consider any other culture other than a western one.
   • Only addresses one side of nature/nurture argument. Piaget does suggest how the cognitive development of a child could be helped by the support of an adult, who has already progressed through the stages. Piaget only suggests that a child can cognitively develop if they have the correct cognitve characteristics and ability to do so. Therefore, Piaget's theory reduces the cognitive development of a child down to nature and does not take into account how the nurturing of a child could affect this e.g. environment and culture they are brought up in. Thus, leading to questioning on how effective Piaget's theory of cognitive development is as it does disclose multiple factors which can affect a child cognitive development, for example, playing with an older sibling.