Chapter 4

 Cognition – all mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating  Jean Piaget ◦ Theory of Cognitive Development ◦ Actually studied children to develop his theory

 A child’s mind develop through stages  The maturing brain builds schemas – a framework to organize information

◦ Using and adjusting our schemas  Assimilate new experiences – child uses old experiences to deal with new situations  Ex. Doggies have four legs, all four legged creatures are doggies  Accommodate our schemas to fit new experiences – child changes old method to adjust to new situations.  Ex. Learning that all four legged creatures are not doggies and that to tell a doggie from a pig, you should look at its face  VIDEO- Schema, Assimilation, Accommodation VIDEO- Schema, Assimilation, Accommodation  Start at :40-3:10

 Activity: Complete Piagetan Tasks  Sensorimotor Stage – Birth to Age 2 ◦ Discovering the world through senses ◦ (Parents excited about walking for first time..a few days later they are bumming why? ◦ If still have toys from when you were 1 might have bite marks in them. ◦ First schemas begin to form ◦ Young infants lack object permanence (until about 8 months old)  The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived  At 8 months old, infants begin to look momentarily for toys that are hidden  Video – Object Permanence Video – Object Permanence

 Preoperational Stage – Preschool (About Age 2 to Age 6) ◦ Children at this age are too young to perform mental operations ◦ Video – Preoperational Thinking Video – Preoperational Thinking ◦ (if babysitting and only 3 crackers left here is a way to get more) ◦ Child lacks the concepts of conservation  Quantity remains the same despite changes in shape.  Ex. Milk in a short glass filled to the rim vs. that same amount of milk poured into a larger glass.

◦ Egocentric – Children fail to see things from another’s point of view. Many parents mistakenly view their child as being very selfish (up till age 4 ◦ Ex.- sharing difficulty ◦ Ex.- reaction to friend getting very hurt. ◦ Ex- unable to lie. ◦ Q When was your first lie? ◦ theory of mind- change of mind (4:30) theory of mind- change of mind Theory of mind – Children come to realize (about age 4) that people have minds and thus they think, feel and perceive.

 Autism – a disorder that appears in children and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and impaired theory of mind.  Personal experiences with Autism

 The "False Belief" Test The "False Belief" Test

 refers to the tendency of children to believe that all objects, animals, and things are living and capable of having feelings, intentions, and emotions. Objects are personified. For example, a preoperational child may explain that it is raining because, "the sun is sad and it's crying." When a child accidentally falls into a wall, he or she may hit it afterwards, as if the wall intended to hurt him or her.

 Concrete Operational Stage – Age 7 to Age 11 ◦ Child begins to grasp conservation. (Change in shape does not mean change in quantity)  Volume, Area, and Number.  Ex.- cutting a sandwich in half or cutting up a pizza into more slices  Review using video from England  REVIEW- BBC DVD on Preoperational vs. Concrete Operational children

 Formal Operation Stage – Age 12 through Adulthood ◦ Adolescents and adults develop the ability to think about and solve abstract problems in a logical manner ◦ Solve hypothetical propositions ◦ Q Beginning tomorrow every baby in the world is born with one leg (doesn’t matter right or left) ◦ formal operational child formal operational child  Develop capacity for moral reasoning NOT necessarily high morals. Re: p. 167

◦ Basically, the sequence of cognitive development unfolds as Piaget suggests ◦ Piaget underestimated children ◦ Movement from stage to stage is not abrupt rather it is a gradual development. ◦ Movement from stage to stage happens faster than Piaget thought ◦ Theory does not explain how the change occurs from stage to stage

 Describe what a child in each of Piaget’s stages would think about Santa Clause. ◦ Sensorimotor ◦ Preoperational ◦ Concrete Operational ◦ Formal Operational