Piaget

Piaget:

1 Piaget Cognitive Development Theory

I. Piaget’s Theory::

2 I. Piaget’s Theory: “Children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development.”

A. Two processes:

3 A. Two processes Organization : to make sense of our world we organize experiences. For example: a. We separate important ideas from less important ideas b. We connect one idea to another

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4 Adaptation : we also adapt our thinking to include new ideas. 1. Assimilation : the process of making new information part of existing schemas (mental structures) 2. Accommodation : the act of changing our schemas when a new object or event does not fit

Piaget’s Four Stages of Understanding the World:

5 Piaget’s Four Stages of Understanding the World Each stage is age-related and consists of distinct ways of thinking . 1. It is the different ways of understanding the world that makes one stage more advanced than another . 2. Knowing more information does not make the person’s thinking more advanced. 3. Cognition is qualitatively different in one stage compared to another

1st Stage - Sensorimotor Birth to 2 years:

6 1st Stage - Sensorimotor Birth to 2 years Infants construct understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences , seeing and hearing, with physical and motor actions .

A. Six Substages::

7 A. Six Substages: Simple Reflexes : birth - 1 month a. Generalize to other uses b. For example : sucking used not only with mother’s breast or bottle, but with other objects

A. Six Substages::

8 A. Six Substages: First Habits & Primary Circular Reactions : 1-4 months a. Habits that center around the child’s body b. Learn to repeat habit through trial and error c. For example learning to put thumb in mouth and watching his/her hand

A. Six Substages::

9 A. Six Substages: Secondary Circular Reactions : 4-10 months a. New schemas or behaviors develop by chance and are repeated b. Involve not just the child’s own body, but also objects in the external environment c. For example hitting a Roly-Poly Clown; baby talk imitation of adult talk

A. Six Substages::

10 A. Six Substages: Coordination of Secondary Schemes : 10-12 months a. Intentionality of behavior; behavior is goal directed b. For example able to move an obstacle to get something he/she wants, possibly a toy

A. Six Substages::

11 A. Six Substages: Tertiary Circular Reactions, Novelty & Curiosity : 12-18 months a. Intrigued by the many things they can make happen to objects b. Starting point for curiosity and novelty c. For example blocks can be made to fall, spin

A. Six Substages::

12 A. Six Substages: Internalization of Schemes : 18 months to 2 years a. Beginning of thought b. Mental functioning shifts from a purely sensorimotor plane to symbolic plane c. Symbol = an internalized sensory image or word that represents an event d. Object permanence = infants most important accomplishment; understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot be directly seen, heard, or touched.

2nd Stage - Pre-operational 2-7 years:

13 2nd Stage - Pre-operational 2-7 years Two Substages 1. Preconceptual Period: 2-4 years a. Symbolic representation : 1. Symbols allow the child to think about things that are not immediately present 2. Increasingly complex use of symbols or symbolic (pretend) play 3. Thinking is more flexible 4. A child is much better at symbolic representation at age 4 than at age 2

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14 Animism : the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action For example : a child might show animism by saying, “That tree pushed the leaf off and it fell down.” or “The sidewalk made me mad, it made me fall down.” Reification : child believes that objects and people in thoughts and dreams are real For example : Niece - “ I’ll think of a song and you tell me what it is.”

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15 Egocentrism : language and speech center around self; a self-centered view of the world; perceiving everything in relation to yourself For example : If a child is happy, they project happiness onto everyone else; when they are sad, then everyone else must be sad For example : children who stand on one side of an object cannot understand why someone who is on the opposite side does not see what they are seeing

2nd Stage - Pre-operational 2-7 years:

16 2nd Stage - Pre-operational 2-7 years Intuitive or Transitional Period : 5-7 years a. Begin to separate mental from physical reality and to understand causation For example : before this period children may think everything was created by their parents b. Sociocentric Thinking : Child begins to be able to understand another person’s point of view.

Limits of Preoperational Thinking:

17 Limits of Preoperational Thinking Concreteness : thinking is concrete, unable to think abstractly, concerned with the here and now Irreversibility : thinking is irreversible, see events as occurring only in one direction For example : 3 year-old boy and adult Adult: Do you have a brother?” Child: “Yes.” Adult: “What’s his name?” Child: “ Sammy.” Adult: “ Does Sammy have a brother?” Child: “ No .”

Limits of Preoperational Thinking:

18 Limits of Preoperational Thinking Egocentrism : a self-centered view of the world; perceiving everything in relation to yourself Centration : children tend to focus only on one aspect or dimension of an object or situation to the exclusion of others For example : A child is shown a collection of wood and plastic beads, some beads are red and some are yellow. When asked whether there are more red beads or yellow beads they cannot simultaneously consider the color of the bead and what the bead is made of.

Limits of Preoperational Thinking:

19 Limits of Preoperational Thinking Time, Space and Sequence : A child of 2-4 years has little appreciation of what words related to time and space really mean, and little idea of cause-and-effect sequences. Conservation : The understanding that changing the shape or appearance of materials does not change their amount. For example : volume, mass, number, length

3rd Stage - Concrete Operational 7-11 years:

20 3rd Stage - Concrete Operational 7-11 years Reasoning is concrete; unable to think abstractly; concerned with the here and now Reason only about objects and events that exist and that the child can observe. For example : cannot imagine steps to complete algebraic problem Classification: deal with only one classification at a time (age 7); experience difficulty in understanding that a particular animal can be both a “dog” and a “terrier.” 4. Hierarchy in Classification : begin to develop logic; there are small and large dogs and terriers are small dogs and golden retrievers are large 4 dogs

4th Stage - Formal Operational 11 or 12 years upward:

21 4th Stage - Formal Operational 11 or 12 years upward Move beyond concrete experiences; think in abstract and more logical terms. As part of thinking abstractly, adolescents develop images of ideals and ideal circumstances. For example : they might think about what an ideal parent is like and then compare their parents to this ideal standard Able to entertain possibilities for the future and to think about what they might be.

4th Stage - Formal Operational 11 or 12 years upward:

22 4th Stage - Formal Operational 11 or 12 years upward 4. In solving problems more systematic; develop hypotheses about events and test hypotheses in a deductive manner. 5 . No longer tied to concrete objects or events. For example : can project into the future; recall from the past; can reason by analogy and metaphor 6 . Ask and answer “what if” questions; take on other people’s ideas or roles