Developmental Psych 335 Piaget’s Cognitive Development

What is cognition?

The activity of knowing and the mental processes used to acquire knowledge and solve problems.

Define cognitive development.

Changes that occur in mental skills and abilities over the course of life.

How does Piaget define intelligence?

As the ability to adapt to the environment in a biological sense.

What is cognitive equilibrium?

A balanced and relationship between our thought processes and the environment.

What happens during cognitive disequilibrium?

When something disrupts our perspective, learning or development act to restore equilibrium.

- equilibrium is a driver in development

What role does the child play in Piaget's theory?

The child is a constructivist, actively exploring the world and constructing knowledge through experience

What is a scheme in Piaget's theory?

A structure or network of knowledge (like a mindmap) that organizes information and experiences.

What are the two cognitive processes involved in gaining knowledge?

Organization and adaptation.

What is organization in cognitive processes?

Rearranging existing schemes into more complex ones (combining schemes to form bigger/new ones)

What is adaptation in cognitive processes?

Occurs through assimilation and accommodation. How a child responds to the environment

What is assimilation?

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

What is accommodation?

Modifying existing schemes to interpret new experiences.

List the four stages of Piaget's cognitive development.

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth - 2), 2. Preoperational stage (2-7), 3. Concrete Operational stage (7-11), 4. Formal Operational stage (11/12+).

What characterizes the sensorimotor stage?

Coordination of sensory inputs and motor capabilities

- problem solving is all about coordinating our movements Ex. putting together movements for crawling

Substages of sensorimotor stage

1. reflexes

2. repeating actions (primary circular reactions)

3. coordination of secondary circular reactions

4. tertiary circular reactions

5. mental representation

Repeating actions substage (sensorimotor)

exploring own body sensations and discovering you can act on the environment and repeating it

Coordinating schemes substage (sensorimotor)

figure out the actions/schemes needed to reach a goal Ex. adapting crawling techniques for new places

Mental Representation substage (sensorimotor)

able to think about and solve a problem internally before acting on it

What is deferred imitation?

Imitating the behavior of a model after it has already been demonstrated - shows they remembered it and have a mental representation of it and don't have to physically see it

- between 18-24 months

What is object permanence?

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible - shows existence of a mental representation of the object

- may actually have earlier than Piaget thought (8-12 months)

What challenge does neo-nativism present to Piaget's theory?

It argues that infants may have innate abilities such as using symbolism and sensitivity to numbers (able to track increase/decrease of objects)

What characterizes the Pre-operational stage?

Increase in symbol use (ability to make something stand for/represent something else) "representational insight"

Increase in language use (language is also symbolic)

Pretend play

What is the significance of representational insight in the preoperational stage?

The understanding that one object can symbolize another.

What are the model room studies and what did they show about what children in the Pre-operational stage can/cannot understand?

Bring toddlers into a room with a tiny model of the same room with a snoopy figure in it - if they are able to find the snoopy in the big room it signal they understand the tiny room represents the big room

- around 3 years old are able to understand the task

What is dual representation?

The ability to understand that an object can be both a physical object and a symbol

Ex. 2 conditions, one the same as the model room study and one where the toddler is told the room has been shrunk - getting rid of the room as just a symbol (just IS the room)

- showed that the symbolic representation was what the children under 3 struggled with (80% found the snoopy in the shrunken condition)

What are common reasoning problems in the preoperational stage?

Animism, egocentrism, confusion between appearance and reality and conservation + reversability

What is animism according to Piaget?

The tendency to think that inanimate objects are alive

Define egocentrism in Piaget's theory

The belief that the world revolves around oneself, lacking perspective-taking (no ToM)

What does appearance/reality confusion refer to?

The inability to distinguish between how things appear and what they really are (cannot understand something with a deceptive appearance)

Ex. A cat wearing a dog mask - will think it is a dog

What is the Preoperational Stage characterized by?

Egocentrism, animism, and challenges with conservation.

What is conservation in cognitive development?

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or arrangement - only able to focus on one salient feature at a time

What is reversability?

the ability to work backwards through mental processes or undo something - in preoperational stage cannot conceptualize what would happen if an action was reversed

Ex. pouring the water back into the original glass to show conservation doesn't compute

At what age can children be trained to understand conservation?

Around 4 years old - instructions may help children to come to those conclusions earlier than individual exploration

What is Theory of Mind (ToM)?

The understanding of others' mental states, including ability to think about others beliefs, feelings and motivations - need to ToM to predict others actions

- also important player in empathy and ability to deceive

At what age did Piaget believe Theory of Mind develops?

Around 3 or 4 years old.

What is the broccoli and goldfish study?

Placed broccoli (general dislike) and goldfish (like) separately on a table in front of a toddler

An experimenter says "ew yucky" to the goldfish and "yum" to broccoli

The experimenter asks the child if she can have some - does the child give her broccoli because they understand she must like it or do they give her goldfish because the child likes it)

- 18 month olds gave the broccoli which showed they were able to take her perspective

What was the significance of the Broccoli and Goldfish study?

It demonstrated that 18-month-olds could understand another person's preferences, indicating earlier ToM development than Piaget suggested

What is the False Belief Task?

Assesses a child's understanding that others can hold beliefs that differ from reality/what they know is the truth

Child in a video puts crayons into a desk drawer and leaves, clown comes in and switches the crayons for rocks, when the child comes back in what will she think is in the bag?

- need to be able to understand that perception is just a representation of reality - others can perceive it differently or in a false way

What is the outcome of the False Belief Task for 4-year-olds?

Whether or not understand that others can have false beliefs that do not align with their own knowledge based on information, showing developed ToM

How does Theory of Mind develop according to Piaget?

Through gathering data from social experiences and observing how people act - making a theory of others minds

What role does pretend play have in cognitive development?

It serves as practice for understanding others' mental states

How do children with older siblings perform on false-belief tasks?

They tend to do better potentially due to more pretend play, deception/trickery in the relationship, exposure to social interactions and solving conflicts with two perspectives in mind

What is a precursor to lying in children?

Understanding that others can hold false beliefs allows for deception

What does the mean monkey study assess in preoperational children?

Ability to deceive the monkey into getting what they want

Present child with choice of two stickers and choose which one they want

Child is told the mean monkey always takes the sticker the child wants, not what he wants

Can the child lie and say they want the sticker they don't want so that the monkey will leave them with the one they do want

- 4 year old child could be successful in deceiving task

What characterizes the Concrete Operational Stage? (7-11)

Logical thinking about real objects and experiences

- are now successful in understanding conservation and relational logic

What is mental serration in the Concrete Operational Stage?

The ability to line something up mentally in order

- type of relational logic

What is transitive inference in the Concrete Operational Stage?

The ability to understand relationships between things in a series

- type of relational logic

What defines the Formal Operational Stage? (11/12 +)

Rational and systematic thinking about abstract concepts and hypothetical events

- Hypothetico-deductive reasoning (top-down)

- Inductive reasoning (bottom up)

What is hypothetico-deductive reasoning in the Formal Operational Stage?

Applying a general principle to a hypothetical problem mentally (top - down)

What is inductive reasoning in the Formal Operational Stage?

Bottom - up reasoning (using smaller details to form a general principle)

What are the contributions of Piaget's theory?

Founded the cognitive development discipline Emphasized idea that children have an active involvement in their development

Attempted to explain (not just describe) development

What are some challenges to Piaget's theory?

Lack of competence/performance distinction - use of verbal tasks may underestimate competence

Discontinuous theory of stages

Vague concepts

Little emphasis on social and cultural influences.

What is assimilation in Piaget's theory?

Integrating new information into existing schemas

Ex. zebra is a mammal -> add to mammal scheme

What is accommodation in Piaget's theory?

Modifying existing schemas to incorporate new information

Ex. a zebra isn't a horse -> need to fit into a new scheme