PIAGET About 11 min

From Cognition to Development… Most theories of cognition (e.g., CIP, schema theory, situated cognition theory) have been tested with adults But cognition in children is different. The process by which children approximate adult cognition is cognitive development. We will cover various approaches to understanding cognitive development –Piaget –Bruner & Bandura –Vygotsky

Jean Piaget Examined the seemingly qualitative differences between child and adult learning processes Why do these differences exist?

Cognitive Development EXPERIENCEMATURATION COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT STAGE THEORIES (Piaget, Bruner) PROCESS THEORIES (Vygotsky, Bandura)

Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology Genetic Epistemology = origins of knowledge Piaget believed that knowledge (cognition) is an interaction between the heredity and the environment That is, learners acquire knowledge by interacting with the environment –Constructivism = knowledge acquisition is a process of continuous self-construction

Piaget’s Stage Theory of Cognitive Development Each stage is associated with a particular cognitive structure (scheme), which dictates how we interact with the world Children acquire three kinds of knowledge –Physical Knowledge –Logical-Mathematical Knowledge –Social Knowledge

3 Processes of Developmental Change Assimilation = perceive new objects in terms of existing schemes or operations Accommodation = modify existing schemes to account for new experiences Equilibration = confronting existing schemes with conflicting knowledge; moving past confused state leads to development into next stage ***Compare these processes to those you learned about in the Schema Theory unit***

Next: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development