1. Piaget: Theory of cognitive development
Psychology ATAR Unit 4

2. Piaget Piaget was interested in philosophy, psychology & religion
He worked with Simon, of the Simon-Binet intelligence testing, but Piaget was more concerned with how children learn, rather than distinguishing right/wrong
His academic work forms the basis for our current educational system

3. Stages Sensorimotor stage Birth – 2 years Pre-operational stage
Concrete operational stage
7-11 years
Formal operational stage
11 & up

4. 1. Sensorimotor stage Lasts from birth to 2 years of age
Babies develop understanding of the world through sensory and motor interactions -mouthing, touching, looking, listening.

5. Object permanence …
The child lives in the present. Objects cease to exist if they are not in sight.
At 8 months they understand object permanence
The child learns that an object or person continues to exist even when not in sight

6. 2. Pre-operational stage
From 2 – 7 years of age
The child can speak and print words
Memory and imagination develops

7. Reverse thinking... Her thinking is often not logical
This simple process of reversal cannot be mentally processed.

8. Egocentric …
The child is aware only of herself and her own likes, dislikes and wants
She cannot see other people’s perspectives

9. Learns that symbols represent something else
Example:
A stop sign means to STOP!

10. 3. Concrete operational stage
7-11 years of age
The child has the ability to do simple math and measurement
Able to think logically
Begins to understand cause & effect
Can think about real, concrete things in systematic ways, but cannot understand abstract concepts
No longer egocentric

11. Seriation …
The ability to organise elements of a series in ascending or descending order

12. Classification ...
The ability to construct categories and subcategories of objects

13. Conservation ...
The amount, weight, volume & number of things stays the same even when the outward appearance of objects or groups is changed

14. A short glass of water is the same amount as a tall glass half full of water

15. Reversability …
An action can be undone or reverted to its previous state

16. 4. Formal operational stage
11 years & up
A child is able to think and reason in purely abstract terms
Is able to use logic and abstract thinking
Questions previously accepted thoughts, ideas and values
Can talk about honesty and morality. Possible outcomes of actions can be discussed without having to experience them.

17. Schemes or schema
Cognitive structures to organise perception and experience

18. Assimilation… To incorporate new ideas into an existing schema
Example – a ball

19. Accommodation…
To adapt old schema and develop new schema for interacting with it
When a child adapts his/her existing ideas to fit new understandings
For example…

22. In conclusion …
According to Piaget: Assimilation + Accommodation = Learning Discussion How does a baby’s schema of a cat expand and develop over time? Include the concepts of assimilation, accommodation and classification in your answer

23. You tube clip Piaget’s 4 stages of development (6 minutes)
bn-A

24. Limitations & criticisms
Researchers who criticised Piaget suggest that he:
Underestimated young minds
Failed to distinguish between competence and performance
Gave insufficient attention to social influences on performance

25. GROUP WORK
Why would critics say Piaget underestimated the minds of young children? Consider the way in which the tasks are conducted, the setting and the questioning techniques.
What is the difference between competence and performance?
Can someone be competent yet not perform well?
What factors would influence a child’s performance?
How would social factors influence a child’s cognitive development & performance? Think of some of the theories and concepts you have learned in Semester 1 and apply these to your answer.

26. Moving on from Piaget
Evidence that shows Piaget’s theory is not universal:
Seagrim & Lendon longitudinal study of Australian Aboriginal children.
Results showed that only those children who had been totally immersed in white culture were as capable as white children.
In all other situations, Aboriginal children lagged behind white children.
Conclusion
Formal schooling plays a large role in the development of the types of thinking as described by Piaget.

27. Egocentricity
When an unfamiliar situation that tests for egocentricity (the mountain activity) was replaced with a familiar one (hiding from the policeman), even very young children could carry out the task.

28. Conservation
When testing for conservation, the experimenter breaks conversational rules by repeating the same question.
Children may then become unsure, thinking they have given the wrong answer, and change their answer.
If the way questions are asked is changed, there is evidence that children show understanding of conservation at an earlier age. (Siegal, 1991)

29. Conservation

30. Social influences
Critics also argue that he didn’t give enough emphasis on the role of social influences on cognitive development.
Nevertheless, although Piaget may have been wrong about the ages of each stage, he was correct about their sequence