Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

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JEAN PIAGET
COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENTALTHEORY
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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

• Stage Theorist 4 stages of cognitive
  development
• Developed primarily as a result of observing his
  own children, and as such
• Deemed unscientific by many American
  psychologists, but.
• Results have since been replicated by many
  attempting to discredit his work

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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development Basic
Concepts

• Physical action/curiosity/exploration is the
  basis for cognitive development
• Adaptation a continuous process of interacting
  with the environment, leads to the development of
  schemas
• Schema a habit, reflex or response may be
  behavioral or cognitive
• Assimilation using an existing schema to handle
  an environmental demand

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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development Basic
Concepts

• Disequilibrium conflict created when new
  situations can not be assimilated (i.e. an
  existing schema is unable to handle an
  environmental demand) leads to..
• Accommodation modifying a response in
  accordance with environmental demands leads to
  new schema development (this is cognitive growth)
• Equilibration Principle disequilibrium leads to
  curiosity and exploration which facilitates
  cognitive development
• Figurative vs. Operative Knowledge

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TO MAINTAIN EQUILIBRIUM, individuals ADAPT to
their environment and ORGANIZE their knowledge
ADAPTATION AND ORGANIZATION are essential
to EQUILIBRATION
The process of maintaining equilibrium
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STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage

• Birth 2 yrs of age
• Schema development is largely sensory and motor
  related
• Reflexive behavior dominates stage (ex. Sucking)
• Eye-hand coordination develops
• Demonstrates intentionality
• object differentiation
• object permanence

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PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
IMMACULATE PERCEPTION
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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
Preoperational Stage

• Ages 2 6 years
• Schema development involves speech, language and
  vocabulary and is characterized by
• 
  egocentrism
• reliance on perception
• 
  irreversibility
• 
  centration
• 
  simple classification
• 
  inability to conserve

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CONSERVATION OF LIQUIDS
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
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• PREOPERATIONAL

• CONCRETE OPERATIONS

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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
Concrete Operations

• Ages 6 11 yrs.
• Ability to reason logically with concrete but not
  abstract concepts
• Characterized by reversibility
• decentration
• ability to
  conserve
• multiple
  classification
• seriation

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• PREOPERATIONAL

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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development Formal
Operations

• Early Adolescence and Adulthood
• Characterized by
• Propositional
  thinking
• Experimental
  reasoning
• Idealistic
  Egocentrism
• Conceptualizes combos

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EVERY TIME WE TEACH A CHILD SOMETHING, WE KEEP
HIM FROM REINVENTING IT. ON THE OTHER HAND,
EVERY TIME A CHILD DISCOVERS IT FOR HIMSELF, IT
REMAINS WITH HIM FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. Jean
Piaget
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Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development
Implications

• Suggests the importance of discovery learning
  (Bruner)
• Suggests that learning will be most meaningful if
  interest and curiosity is peaked (i.e. induce
  disequilibrium by presenting challenges just
  beyond the childs capabilities
• Suggests there are limits to what can be taught
  to children learning is limited by stage
  characteristics