Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

1. Piaget (1896 - 1980)

   • Swiss
   • worked: 1920 - 1980
   • philosopher: genetic epistemology, constructivism
   • psychologist: contemporary topics

2. methods

   • observation of children in nurseries
   • Q & A: analysing answers & the reasoning for them
     • dialogue
   • tasks & puzzles: children solving puzzles, analysing their reasons for solutions they give

3. 4 key concepts

   • e.g.  equilibrium: familiar with birds - thinks all flying objects are birdsassimiliation: sees an airplane and calls it a birddisequilibrium: notices that places don't have feathers or flat their wingsaccommodation: concludes that places are not birds, but placesorganisation
   • 1. SCHEMA
     • = knowledge organised into chunks of similar or related answers
     • = concepts, theories, beliefs
     • it is a flexible grouping
       • change & develop with new experiences
     • = cognitive task
   • 2. ASSIMILATION
     • = inputting new info into existing schemas without changing the organisation of them
     • happens constantly
     • every time: recognise or learn sth
     • difficult: if can't place an object in a pre-given concept
   • 3. ACCOMMODATION
     • = changning schemas to adapt to new information
     • experiences that challenge one's belief
   • 4. EQUILIBRIUM
     • = sense of order, balance, coherence, stability in the mind
     • = balanced and well-ordered schemas
     • driving force = search for equilibrium
       • disequilibrium = due to new info, leads to search for new state of equilibrium

4. 4 stages

   • child relies on different type of thinking than an adult does => they go through stages of intellectual growth
   • 1. SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (o-2 yrs)
     • child's own sensations
       • looks at a rattle: does not perceive iit as permanent, independent object => looks away, rattle does not exist anymore
     • simple reflex action patterns
       • reaching, grasping, sucking
     • developing: sense of OBJECT PERMANENCE
       • The conviction that an object exists even when it is out of sight. Piaget believed infants didn't develop this level of understanding until the age of at least eight months.
   • 2. PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2-7 yrs)
     • representational skills
       • 1st attempt = a person, usually with a circle for head and two vertical lines for legs
     • signs & symbols
     • counting & basic maths
     • symbolic play & symbolic representations
       • through drawing & making models
     • failure to conserve quantity & number
     • egocentrism
       • unable to take the viewpoint of others
   • 3. CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE (7-11 yrs)
     • know how to interrelate their mental representations concrete operation = ability to abstract a quality from concrete objects (e.g. quantity, weight, number, colour, volume, type)
     • problems dealing with objects are solvable
     • literal meaning
     • conservation tasks
     • reversibility
       • e.g. mathematica sums & equations can work backwards reversibility difficulties:  e.g. mummy and daddy got married twice - mummy got married to daddy and daddy got married to mummy
     • transitivity
       • A < B, and B < C, therefore A < C
       • seriation task
         • ability to sort objects or situations according to any characteristic, such as size, color, shape, or type
   • 4. FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE (12+)
     • physics, maths, literature, history
     • hypothesis testing
       • can guess the outcome of an event before it starts
     • anticipation + planning + reflection => integrated in life
     • prepositional logic
       • if - then statements
     • ideals
       • motivating visions of the future

5. educational implications

   • constructivist approach
     • teaching isn't direct
   • National Curriculum

6. critisms

   • underestimation
   • too much: analytical cognition
   • beyond formal operation?
   • social and group influence?