Piaget

Piaget

1. Cognitive development

   • Stages
     • concrete operational (7-11 years)
       • a child becomes capable of performing logical operations but only in the presence of actual, concrete, objects
       • A little less egocentric
         • begin to incorporate more relativity into their viewpoints
       • learn that quantities can take different forms
         • glasses example
     • formal operational (11 years on)
       • children begin to manipulate ideas and are able to reason purely on the basis of verbal statements
         • no longer need to refer to concrete objects & can follow an argument
       • begin to think hypothetically
         • logical thought and deductive reasoning emerge
       • less egocentric
         • they are able to discuss abstract ideas
     • preoperational (2-7 years)
       • children begin to think symbolically
       • begin to learn to use words and pictures to repesent objects
       • egocentric
         • struggle to seethings from the perspective of others
       • while they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend to think about things in very concrete terms
       • begin to arrange objects logically
     • sensorimotor (birth-2 years)
       • babies learn about the world through touch and their other SENSES, and physical action or movement
       • object permanence
         • when a child comes to realization that objects will continue to exist even if they are not seen or heard by the child
       • egocentric
         • they are able to see the world only from their viewpoint
     • children move through four stages of development autonomously & independently
   • Schemas
     • basic units of knowledge
       • each relates to one part of the world
         • actions, objects, concepts ..
     • each is a series of linked representation of the world
       • used to understand and respond to a particular situation
     • some are genetically programmed into children
       • baby's impulse to suck things
     • stored so that can be applied later on
     • Example: a parent shows a child a picture of a dog, the child will create a schema of what a dog looks like (four legs, a tail ..)
   • Transition; from one stage into another
     • intellectual growth is the result of
       • the need to be in a state of EQUILIBRIUM
         • when a child can explain what he perceives with existing schemas
       • ADAPTATION
         • ASSIMILATION
           • using an schema that already exists and applying it to a new situation
         • ACCOMODATION
           • changing an existing schema to take in new information
   • children are born with basic mental structure'from which knowledge & learning derives from
     • as a result of genetics & evolution
   • a child's cognitive processes are fundamentally different from those of an adult
   • teachers must provide tasks that are appropriate to the child's stage of development, and nurture independent thinking creatively
     • the role of education is to create men and women capable of doing new things