Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development EDU 251 Fall 2014

The Beginning Piaget was interested in the study of knowledge in children. He administered Binet’s IQ test in Paris and observed that children’s answers were qualitatively different. Piaget’s theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures (schemes used to understand and respond to physical environment).

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Cognition: How people think & Understand. Piaget developed four stages to his theory of cognitive development: – Sensorimotor Stage – Pre-Operational Stage – Concrete Operational Stage – Formal Operational Stage.

SENSORIMOTORSTAGEPREOPERATIONALSTAGE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical actions. And infant progresses from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words and images reflect increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the connection of sensory information and physical action. He child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets The adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic, and logical ways. Birth to 2 Years of Age2 to 7 Years of Age7 to 11 Years of Age 11 Years of Ages Through Adulthood 4

The Sensorimotor Stage From birth to approximately 2 years The child relies on touching, feeling and using his senses to find out about the world Begins with reflexive responding and ends with using symbols Object permanence 5

Object Permanence The differentiation in the sensorimotor stage that objects and other people continue to exist outside the infant’s perception. Forerunner of perceptual constancy

The Preoperational Stage From approximately 2 to 7 years Two substages –Preconceptual (2-4 years) –Intuituve (4-7 years) Children use symbols but are many errors in thinking >Egocentrism: The inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective. >Centration: Focusing on one characteristic to the exclusion of others >Confuse appearance and reality (lack Conservation) 7

Conservation The ability to understand that quantities of objects continue to have the same amount of length, substance, number, etc. if only the form has changed.

The Concrete Operational Stage From approximately 7 to 11 years Thinking based on mental operations (strategies and rules that make thinking more systematic and powerful) Operations can be reversed Focus on the real and concrete, not the abstract 9

The Formal Operational Stage From approximately 11 years to adulthood Adolescents can think hypothetically Use deductive reasoning 10

According to Piaget, there are four interrelated factors which together help a child move from one stage to the next:

Operations Actions carried out mentally Conservation Reversibility – The realization that any change of position, shape, order, etc. can be reversed, i.e. returned to its original shape, position or order.

Three Types of Knowledge

Equilibrium Assimilation Accommodation

Other Terms from Glossary Animism Cognitive Conflict Disequilibrium Overdifferentiation Overgeneralization Play (assimilation)