Theories of Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

The process of acquiring the ability to learn, think, communicate, and remember over time.

Jean Piaget’s belief about cognitive development

Believed it is innate and children are active learners. He thought that the end of development was the ability to reason logically about hypothetical problems.

Schemes

Mental representations of the world used to guide and interpret experiences.

Assimilation

Incorporating new knowledge into existing schemas.

What did Piaget believe about assimilation?

Children use assimilation to acquire new knowledge and that schemas at a certain point require Accommodation

Accommodation

Altering a schema to make it more compatible with experience.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor Stage

2. Pre-Operational Sage

3. Concrete Operational Stage

4. Formal Operational Stage

Sensorimotor Stage

The stage where learning occurs through senses, lacking object permanence and deferred imitation.

When is the sensorimotor stage?

Birth - 2 years

Object Permanence

When something disappears it continues to exist

Deferred Imitaiton

Ability to imitate a person after time passes

What is a major milestone in sensorimotor stage?

mental presentation

Mental Presentation

objects and structures in the mind (imagination)

Pre-operational Stage

The stage where symbolic thought develops, but egocentrism and lack of conservation are present, and irreversibility.

When is the pre-operational stage?

2-7 years

Lack of conservation

A change in a physical change of amount or appearance looks the same.

Cause of this is centration (Focusing only on one feature rather than another)

Irreversibility

Inability to recall the steps of an action in their mind

Concrete Operations Stage

The stage where children can perform mental operations on physical objects but still have problems with hypothetical situations

When is the concrete operational stage

7-11 years

Formal Operations Stage

The stage where abstract thinking and problem-solving skills develop.

When is the formal operational stage

11 - Adulthood

Advantages of Piaget’s Theory

1. Showed children have unique schemas that guide thinking

2. Showed children are active learners

Disadvantages of Piaget’s Theory

1. Underestimated children’s cognitive skills

2. Development is more continuous and less stage-like

3. Development is less general and more domain-specific

4. Object permanence can occur at a very young age

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Emphasizes social and cultural factors in learning, including scaffolding and zone of proximal development.

Theory of Mind

Child's ability to reason about what others know or believe, tested through the False Belief Test.