LESSON 3 Cognitive Development

JEAN WILLIAM FRITZ PIAGET theory

Cognition

the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

“cognoscere”

latin word means which means “to know” or “to recognize” or “to conceptualize”

Cognitive development

is the emergence of the ability to think and understand.

SCHEMA

A schema is a mental "filing folder" the mind uses to organize and make sense of information about the world.

ASSIMILATION

Adding new information to what you already know.

ACCOMMODATION

changing what you already know when new information doesn’t fit.

EQUILIBRATION

finding a balance between what you already know and what you learn.

SENSORIMOTOR STAGE

Learning through senses and movement such as touching, tasting, looking, and

listening.

REFLEXES (0-1 month)

babies survive purely on automatic, built-in reflexes

STAGE OF PRIMARY CIRCULAR

REACTIOS (1-4 months)

babies accidentally discover a pleasing action on

their own body — like sucking their thumb — and

repeat it over and over, gradually refining their

reflexes into smoother, more skillful habits.

STAGE OF SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (4-8 months)

babies start noticing things outside their own body

— like shaking a rattle and hearing it jingle

Co-ordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8-12 months)

Object permanence means understanding that something still exists even when you cannot see it.

STAGE OF TERTIARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (12 - 18 months)

children start experimenting like little scientists —

creatively mixing and adjusting their past behaviors to

see what new, different outcomes they can produce.

SYMBOLIC/ MENTAL REPRESENTATION (18 - 24 months)

the ability to picture things in their mind — so instead of relying only on trial-and-error, they can now "plan" ahead by imagining what might happen before they act, even if their predictions aren't always right.

PREOPERATIONAL STAGE

2 yrs to 7 yrs (Toddler and Early Childhood)— children can use words, pictures, and imagination to think, but they still have difficulty thinking logically.

ANIMISM

the belief that all objects — even non-living things like a

chair, the sun, or a toy — are alive and have feelings, just like people do.

EGOCENTRISM

when a child assumes everyone else sees, thinks, and feels exactly

the same way they do — they can't yet imagine a perspective different from their own.

CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE

7 yrs to 11 yrs—children begin to think logically about real and concrete things.

CONSERVATION

understanding that a quantity stays the same even if its shape

or appearance changes

DECENTERING

the ability to focus on multiple aspects of a situation at once,

instead of just one

REVERSIBILITY

understanding that actions can be mentally "undone" or

reversed

SERIATION

the ability to logically arrange objects in order based on a trait,

like size or length

TRANSITIVITY

understanding logical relationships between objects to

draw conclusions

CLASSIFICATION

the ability to group objects based on shared characteristics

ELIMINATION OF EGOCENTRISM

the child now understands that other people can have different

viewpoints, thoughts, or feelings than their own

LOGIC

the child can now reason things out mentally using rules, rather

than relying only on appearances or trial-and-error.

FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE

12 + years (adolescence to adulthood)— It is when a person gains the ability to think abstractly, logically, and hypothetically