Cognitive Development

 Swiss psychologist who developed a theory that outlines the cognitive stages of development and emphasizes the quantity and quality of information acquired at each level.  Stressed that cognitive dev’l increases only with maturation (maturity) and appropriate environmental conditions are present (e.g. Having a good breakfast = better focus & ultimately, better learning)  As a child gets older, they are able to scan and recognize more info and to process it better.

 The improvement in learning can be linked to metacognition: when children become aware of their own abilities to reason and process information.  Piaget’s theory was criticized because it departmentalizes life too strictly; children are not necessarily tied to these stages.  Others speculated that children may be able to understand concepts earlier than Piaget believed.

Stage Characterised by Sensori-motor (Birth-2 yrs) Differentiates self from objects Recognises self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally: e.g. pulls a string to set mobile in motion or shakes a rattle to make a noise Achieves object permanence: realises that things continue to exist even when no longer present to the sense. Pre-operational (2-7 years) Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others. Classifies objects by a single feature: e.g. groups together all the red blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks regardless of colour. Concrete operational (7-11 years) Can think logically about objects and events. Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size. Formal operational (11 years and up) Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems

 Seriation  The ability to order groups of things by size, weight, age or any other common property.  E.g. Beads on a bracelet from large to small or light colours to dark, coins from oldest to newest.

 Multiple Classification:  During the preschool years, children classify objects into single categories e.g. Trucks, red, circles  During the school-age years, children begin to classify objects in more complex ways  They understand that an object may fit into more than one category. E.g. Red circles in with red squares and red triangles.

 Conservation:  Certain properties remain the same even if they can change in shape or appearance\  Older children understand conservation whereas younger children will not realize they are the same.  E.g. Two rows of eight blocks laid side by side, when one row is spread out longer young children will believe the longer row contains more blocks.

 Reversibility:  Is the concept that things can return to their original condition after they have been changed.  Other children who have mastered conservation will prove their ideas by reversing the changes.

 A child’s ability to understand that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight; occurs in the sensori-motor stage.  E.g. Mom leaves a room but the understanding that she is still in the house.