Chapter 5: Theories of Psychological Development Part Four: theory of Cognitive development in children

Piaget’s 4 Stage Theory on Cognitive Development CHILDREN’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS...

Key principles of Piaget’s theory Information is organised into schemas (groups of inter-related ideas) Based on principles of assimilation (process of taking in new information and fitting it into and making it part of an existing mental idea about objects or the world) accommodation (refers to changing an existing mental idea in order to fit new information) Sucking on her rattle (assimilation), she will eventually develop an understanding that rattles only make noise (accommodation)

Assimilation: refers to fitting new information or experiences into an existing idea. occurs when a child makes sense of new information in terms of their existing knowledge and understanding of the world. Eg: A child knows that a car has four wheels and moves along a road. When a child sees a truck for the first time, they call the truck ‘a car’ (fitting the truck into their ‘idea of what a car is’). Fitting the truck into existing information The car is existing information

Accommodation: refers to altering existing ideas, and forming new ideas, as a result of learning new information or having new experiences. is the process of changing existing mental ideas to fit new information. Accommodation involves restructuring existing mental ideas so that new information can be incorporated. Eg: A child now changes their idea of ‘cars’ and forms a new idea of ‘trucks’. Trucks are much bigger than cars and carry things from one place to another. Forming a new idea of what a truck is (separate from the car)

When a child uses a calculator as a mobile phone, they are assimilating the calculator into their ‘mental idea’ or ‘framework’ of what a phone is. When a child learns that a calculator is used to do sums (different from a phone) they are accommodating the calculator to fit into a new ‘mental idea’ or ‘framework’ for calculators.

Sensorimotor stage (Birth to 2 years) Preoperational stage (2-7 years) Concrete operational stage (7-12 years) Formal operational stage (12 and over)

1.Object permanence Object permanence is the understanding that objects still exist even if they cannot be see or touched. Eg. When a toy is hidden an infant believes that it does not exist anymore

1.Goal directed behaviour Behaviour which is carried out with a particular purpose in mind (working out various ways to obtain things they want) Eg. Reaching up with the intention to get a specific lolly jar

2.Egocentrism Children are only capable of seeing the world from their point of view and therefore have trouble in seeing things from another person’s point of view Eg. When told to hide they cover their eyes, because they cant see themselves they think others cant see them either

2.Transformation Understanding that something can change from one stat to another Eg. The child cannot explain the melting process despite being able to identify the ice-blocks (solid) and the melted ice blocks (liquid)

2.Animism Animism is the belief that everything that exists has some kind of consciousness or awareness. Eg: the toy that can feel tired or sad.

2. Centration The tendency to focus attention on one aspect of an object, situation or problem at a time. Eg. Child may focus on the relative lengths of the rows without taking into account the fact that nothing has been added or taken away.

2.Reversibility Is the ability to follow a line of reasoning back to its original starting point Eg. a child might be able to recognize that his or her dog is a Labrador, that a Labrador is a dog, and that a dog is an animal.

3.Conservation Refers to the idea that an object does not change its weight, mass, volume or area when the object changes its shape or appearance

3.Classification Classification is the ability to organise information into categories based on common features. Eg: a banana can belong to a group of yellow objects as well as belong to the group of fruit.

4.Abstract thinking Abstract thinking refers to thinking without needing to see or visualise things in order to understand concepts. Eg: understanding concepts such as justice, honesty, respect

4.Logical thinking Logical thinking refers to the ability to think in a systematic way and develop a plan to solve problems. Eg: doing algebra