Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Dr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Outline

• Overview• Description of Cognitive Development: Stages of

Reasoning– Reasoning develops in four universal stages from birth

through adolescence.• Child builds a different kind of schema in each stage.

• Explanation of Cognitive Development: Cognitive Organization– Complex thinking is the result of private explorations

• Thinking cycles through equilibrium and disequilibrium


Methodology

• Primarily cross-sectional where children of multiple ages are given various cognitive tasks. Analyses examine the pattern of performance on the tasks by age

• Error Analysis: Pattern of correct and incorrect answers determines the rule that is used to solve problems


Schema

Schema: Set of perceptions and ideas that are constructed to understand the worldMental representation of the world

Piaget: Schemas affect how a person makes sense of the word and learns new thingsLearning consists of restructuring existing schemas


Characteristics of StagesAdvancement to a new stage represents a qualitative

change in thinkingChanges are abrupt

Each stage includes the cognitive structures and abilities of the previous stageLearning builds on previous understanding

Children progress through the stages in exact orderHowever, there are individual differences in the rate

of passing through stagesChildren progress through all stages in a culturally

invariant sequenceChildren of all cultures progress through the same

stages in the same order


Piaget’s Stages of Development

AgeAge(in (in

years)years)

Key CharacteristicKey Characteristic

SensorimotorSensorimotor 0-20-2 Thinks via sensesThinks via sensesPre-Pre-OperationalOperational

2-72-7 Can use mental Can use mental symbolssymbolsThinks Thinks unidirectionallyunidirectionallyEgocentricEgocentric

Concrete Concrete OperationsOperations

7-117-11 Thinks concretelyThinks concretelyReversibilityReversibility

Formal Formal OperationsOperations

11+11+ Thinks abstractlyThinks abstractly


Sensorimotor Stage

• Sensorimotor: Understand the environment from physical actions – Infants initially interact with the environment via

natural reflexes– Reflexes become more adaptive as infants learn to

apply movements to novel situations• Learn to behave in goal-directed manner


Sensorimotor Stage:Object Permanence

• Object Permanence: Object exists even when one cannot sense it Mental symbolism– Phase 1: If an object disappears, will not search for

it– Phase 2: Only search for object if partially hidden or

the object is taken while the child was engaged– Phase 3: A-not-B Error

• Will search for an object in its first hiding spot

– Phase 4: Continue to search for an object until it is found


Pre-Operational StageChildren enter the Pre-Operational stage when they

acquire Object Permanence Reflects the ability to mentally represent objects

Pre-Operations: Use symbols to represent objects and events

Egocentrism: Incomplete differentiation of self and the worldDifficulty taking another person’s points of view“Americans are stupid. If I ask them where the rue

du Mont-blanc [Terminus] is, they cannot tell me.”Unidimensionality: Focus only on one dimension of

a problem


Concrete Operational Stage

• Conservation: Physical properties of an object stay the same despite superficial changes in appearance– Performance on the conservation tasks reflects the presence or

absence of mental operations– Mental operation: Internalized mental action on an object or event


Concrete Operational Stage

• Concrete Operations: Perform mental operations on concrete objects

• Children in concrete operations understand:– Reversibility: Operations are reversible and the

object will keep the same properties despite transformations

• If pour the water back into the original glass, there will be the same amount

– Class inclusion: One category can be included in another


Formal Operational Stage

• Formal operations: Mental operations are not limited to concrete objects but can also be applied to verbal logical statements– Children can think abstractly

• What would have happened if the British had not colonized Nigeria?

– Plan a systematic approach to solving a problem • Determine which mixture of five colorless liquids

produces a yellow color.


Cognitive OrganizationCognitive Organization: Tendency for thought to

consist of systems whose parts are integrated to form a wholeThe mind actively seeks to understand the

environment and organize facts into a coherent explanation

Equilibrium: Balance between world and mindOccurs when schema works to explain world

Disequilibrium: Disconnect between world and mindOccurs when schema cannot explain the worldUncomfortable


Cognitive Organization

• Cognitive Adaptation: Innate tendency for the mind to adapt the schema to fit the environment– Assimilation: Fit new information to match the

current schema• Interpret the world in terms of the mind• We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are. -

Anais Nin

– Accommodation: Change the schema to explain the new information

• Mind is changed because of the world


Cognitive Organization

• Only moderately discrepant events can be accommodated– If the information is too different from a person’s schema,

then the information will simply be dismissed– Cognitive development can only proceed in small steps

• Equilibration can refer to the following:– Frequent process of understanding daily activities– Final level of achievement within each stage– Process of developing more sophisticated types of thought


Equilibrium

Encounter new

information

Does schema explain new information?

Accommodate

Assimilate Yes

NoIs the information moderately discrepant?

Information is dismissed

Disequilibrium

Yes

No


Mechanisms of DevelopmentDr. K. A. KorbUniversity of Jos

Comparing Developmental Theories

Active/Passive Nature/Nurture Stage/Continuous

Piaget Active Both Stage

Information Processing

Sociocultural

Neo-Piagetians

Social Learning

Psychosocial

Attachment

Ecological Systems


Critique of Piaget• Strengths

– Identify central role of cognition in development– Wide scope of the theory– Ecological validity: Explains everyday behavior

• Weaknesses– Inadequate support for the stage concept

• Each stage is a qualitative change in cognition• Progress through stages in culturally invariant sequence– Not all cultures reach Formal Operations– Most adults rarely apply Formal Operations thinking

– Underestimates children’s abilities– Lack of rigorous research methods

Contributions of Piaget to Psychology

• Provided a comprehensive theory of cognitive development

• Children think differently than adults• Learning is an active process• Children are naturally curious


Contributions of Piaget to Education• Use students’ existing schemas to help them learn new

information• Know when students have misconceptions that need to

be changed• Use moderate disequilibrium to stimulate interest by

providing experiences that contradict students’ current beliefs

• Let students discuss and exchange information with their peers

• Ask students to explain their reasoning and then challenge illogical explanations


Revision

• Describe Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development.

• Describe Piaget’s concept of Cognitive Organization.


Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Documents

Transcript of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development