1. CHILDREN’S THOUGHT PROCESSES AND HOW THEY DEVELOP COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

2. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) Theory of Cognitive Development Studied his own children and their patterns of thinking and learning  Observed that children often got the same answers wrong  Developed schemata (cognitive networks) to understand world around them 2 ways of organizing new information  Assimilation: Information placed in already existing knowledge (think: to assimilate = to conform)  E:\psychology\piaget\Piaget\00134.MTS E:\psychology\piaget\Piaget\00134.MTS  E:\psychology\piaget\Piaget\00136.MTS E:\psychology\piaget\Piaget\00136.MTS  Accommodation: Change of thinking due to new information being learned (think: to make an adjustment)  E:\psychology\piaget\Piaget\00132.MTS E:\psychology\piaget\Piaget\00132.MTS

3. Sensorimotor (0-2 years) Learning to coordinate sensation and perception with motor activity (think: Maddie) Newborns: reflexes 4-8 months: Cause and effect relationships  Shaking rattles  Clenching fists  Hit mobiles hanging above them

4. Sensorimotor (cont) Before 6 months  “out of sight, out of mind” KEY BENCHMARK: Object Permanence – understanding that objects exist even when they cannot see them 10 months  start searching for objects that “disappear”  Occurs because they can hold an idea in their minds Maddie versus Brody : -Take Maddie’s toy, redirect, no problem -Tell Brody no more fruit snacks, he knows you are lying, house is quiet, he climbs on stool to counter, gets in the cabinet and get them

5. Preoperational (2-7 years) One dimensional thinking : Can reason and problem solve, but based on what they see Thinking is dominated by PRECEPTIONS  Egocentrism: belief that others see what they see, feel what they feel, think as they think - all about me Not a bad thing, just no empathy  Animistic: giving inanimate objects human feelings and emotions  Think: they are alive, everything else is too - Draw flowers with faces, clouds with tears, toys sleep at night  Artificialistic: belief that natural events made by people Making sense of world based on their experiences

6. Law of Conservation Law of Conservation: substances stay the same (volume, weight, number, etc) even if their shape or arrangement change Preoperational thinkers are 1 dimensional = only focused on appearance Typically cannot solve conservation tasks

7. Concrete Operational (7-12 years) Characteristics Signs of adult thinking about specific objects; not yet abstract thinkers 2 Dimensional Thinking  Understands the Law of Conservation  Reduced egocentrism begin to see other people’s perspectives  Hands on activities VERY important – seeing, touching, organizing, rearranging, etc

8. Formal Operational (12 years and Beyond) Thinking becomes more complex  Capable of Abstract Thinking  Able to strategize and think ahead; decide best course of action when faced with a problem  Able to think hypothetically Possible outcomes  Problem solving and reasoning more natural in thinking