Piaget & Cognitive Development Carolyn R. Fallahi, Ph. D.

Jean Piaget

Developmental Theories Piaget - Cognitive Developmental Stages Piaget’s writings: an attempt to answer questions like, how is knowledge acquired? These questions are answered in different content areas: mathematics, moral reasoning, and language.

Developmental Theories Knowledge is a process rather than a state. People “construct” knowledge. Knowledge is “biased”. Piaget’s thinking deeply rooted in biology mollusks

Developmental Theories Intelligence = “adaptation to the environment”. Mental embryology. Structuralism. Stage theory. Equilibrium. Qualitative changes. Quantitative changes.

Developmental Theories Egocentrism. Cognitive development is cumulative. Adaptation. Assimiliation. Accomodation. Four processes that work together to guide development: Emotions Maturation Experience Social Interaction

Developmental Theories Stages are universal. Piaget’s methodology – clinical method. Sensorimotor Period (B-2 years old) Stage 1: Modification of Reflexes (b to 1 month) Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions (1 to 4 months) Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (4 to 8 months)

Developmental Theories Stage 4: Coordination of secondary schemes (approximately 8 to 12 months) Stage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months) Stage 6: Invention of new means through mental combinations (18-24 months) Object permanence

Developmental Theories Preoperational Period – 2 to 7 years Semiotic function develops Development of representational thought Language primary mode for expressing thought. Egocentrism Rigidity of thought – centration Beaker of water experiment Lack of reversibility

Theories Piaget continued. Preoperational period (2-7 years). Now the child transfers the notion about objects, relations, causality, space, time to a new medium – internal representation – a more highly organized structure. Semiotic function develops. Representational thought makes it possible to use words and other representative means.

Theories Egocentrism – continues to decrease. Rigidity of thought – e.g. centration. Beaker of water experiment. Lack of reversibility. Thinking starts to become less rigid.

Theories Semilogical reasoning. Limited social cognition. Concrete Operational Period (7-11) Child uses mental operations which are applied to objects and events. The child classifies them, orders them, reverses them.

Theories Formal Operational Period (11-15) The ability to classify objects, order them, reverse them is taken a step further. The child can take the results of these concrete operations and generate hypotheses. Thought has become logical, abstract, and hypothetical.

Theories Scientist. Problems used to test for formal operational thought. Direct instruction in scientific thought not necessary. Memory – memory is not a passive or static state but reflects and is dependent on the entire cognitive structure.

Theories Example, array of 10 sticks and ask them to order them according to size. Developmental differences emerge. Differences seen with: 3 and 4 year olds 5 and 6 year olds 7 year olds.

Theories Cognitive structures change and that reorganizes memory. Cognitive organization. Cognitive adaptation. Innate tendency to adapt to the environment. Adaptation. Accomodation. Assimilation.

Theories Only moderately discrepant events or characteristics can be accomodated to; great leaps not possible. Assimilation and accomodation in balance = equilibrium.

Theories Strengths of Piaget’s theory Role of cognition recognized. Changed the way we look at children. Searched for modes of thinking underlying overt behavior. Came up with norms of development. New perspective for developmental psychologists. Theory postulates an underlying continuity and organization to a range of seemingly unrelated behaviors.

Theories Strengths continued: Children actively construct their knowledge. Research sensitive to children’s strategies and plans. Development follows a sequence that utilizes earlier forms. Children inherently seek stimulation. Children try to understand reality. Cognitive development does not depend on our ability to use language.

Theories Weaknesses: Lack of formal completeness. Need for a theory of performance. Only slight attention to the role of social and emotional development. Methodological and stylistic inadequacies.