PSYC 307-4.1 piagets theory

piaget's theory of cognitive development

theory stating that cognitive development involves a sequences of 4 stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

children exhibit new abilities that enable them to understand the world in qualitatively different ways than they had previously

constructivist approach

Piaget viewed that children construct knowledge for themselves in response to their experiences, actively contribute to their own development

constructivist assumptions

-children are mentally active from birth

-their mental and physical activity both contribute to their development

-children are intrinsically motivated to learn

-children learn many important lessons on their own, rather than depending on instruction

children's constructive processes

-generating hypotheses

-performing experiments

-drawing conclusions from their observations

"child as scientist" is a dominant metaphor in Piaget's theory, kinda sounds like scientific method

sources of continuity

Piaget depicted development as involving both continuities and discontinuities, main sources of continuity are assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration

assimilation

the process by which a child incorporates incoming information into concepts they already know, taking schema that is already known and apply to something new

accommodation

the process by which people improve their current understanding based on new experiences or new information

equilibration

the process by which children balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding, combination, develop a more sophisticated understanding that eliminates at least some of the shortcomings of the old one

discontinuous development: stage theory

view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages

1. qualitative changes occur at each stage

2. the type of thinking that dominates each stage is broadly applicable across topics and contexts in which children exist

3. transitions are brief

4. the sequence of stages is invariant across individuals (same order)

sensorimotor stage (0-2 years)

infants' intelligence expressed through senses and motor skills, they use these skills to perceive and explore the world around them, learn about objects/concepts of time, space, causality, intelligence is bound to their immediate perceptions and actions

0-6 months

reflexes: sucking, grasping, etc.

begin integrating reflexes for their benefit

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived, skill develops around 8 months in infants

A-not-B error

tendency of 8- to 12-month-olds to search for a hidden object where they previously found it even after they have seen it moved to a new location

deferred imitation

the ability to remember and copy the behavior of models who are not present, children (1-2 years old) replicate behaviors seen in their environment

preoperational stage (2-7 years)

the stage in which toddlers and preschoolers become able to represent their experiences in language and mental imagery, allows them to remember the experiences for longer periods and to form more sophisticated concepts, "preoperational" suggests that some children have inability to perform certain mental operations

symbolic representation

the use of one object to stand for another, children using a card to represent a smartphone

centration

focusing on a single feature of an object, neglecting other important aspects, kids see the one feature of long hair on a man and assume they are female

conservation concept

the idea that changing the appearance of objects does

not necessarily change the properties, pouring same amount of water in a taller glass and children assume it has more (dimension of interest)

egocentrism

perceiving the world solely from one's own point of view, tendency to only view the world from your perspective

concrete operational stage (7-12 years)

the stage in which the child becomes capable of using multiple perspectives and his imagination to solve complex problems, but is able to apply this thinking only to concrete objects or events

formal operational stage (12 years and up)

adolescents become able to reason about abstract problems and hypothetical propositions, doing things methodically, Piaget believed this stage was not universal

weaknesses of Piaget's theory

-the theory is vague about the mechanisms that give rise to children's thinking and produce cognitive growth

-infants and young children are more cognitively competent

than Piaget recognized

-the theory understates the contribution of the social world

to cognitive development

-the stage model depicts children's thinking as being more

consistent than it is

child-centered approach

considering the various stages of cognitive processing to determine when information should be taught, children learn best when interacting with their environment, both mentally and physically