Chapter 4: Piaget

Theory

an explanation that transcends individual examples or observations

what makes a good theory?

• makes predictions about what will/will not occur

• braod

• generative

• parsimonious

Piaget (bio)

• swiss psychologist

• interested in genetic epistemology

• did lots of work with children

• wondered how humans come to know things/act a certain way

Piaget’s theory

Knowledge is constructed through experience

• knowledge creates schemes

schema/script

organized mental representation of information about the world, events, or people, stored in memory

Assimilation

process where new info are fit into existing frameworks without changing them

accommodation

changing a mental framework to fit in new information

Ex. Dogs have tails, some dogs now do not have tails

equilibration

balancing new info with existing knowledge through assimilation and accommodation

• aligning thought with experience

continuous aspect of paiget’s theroy

• assimilation

• accomodation

• equlibration

discontinuous aspects of paiget’s theory

direct, hierarchical stages

• PIAGETS THEORY IS STAGE BASED

4 devlopmental stages

1. sensorimotor

2. properational

3. concrete operational

4. formal operational

sensorimotor stage

Children are limited to act only on their current sensory info

“A not B error”

infants successfully find hidden “A”, but then keep looking for A after they see it hidden at location B

• demonstrates inability to grasp object permanence

preoperational stage

Children acquire representational thought

• seen in play and drawings

• limited and rigid

• very one-dimensional

representational thought

one object can stand for another

concrete operational stage

children acquire transformations of mental representations

• operations must have support from outside worlds

• cannot apply operations to abstract ideas

mental operations

internal cognitive process that manipulate info

formal operations stage

children can reflect on their own thinking (operations over operations)

• abstract thinking

Piaget theroy pros

• broad

• generous

• clear and replicable phenomenon

• focuses on children's perspectives and behavior

Piaget theory cons

• vague mechanism

• rigid stages not supported by empirical evidence

• more cultural variety than predicted

• underestimates the social world

constructivist approaches

The ideas that children actively construct knowledge through interactions with their environment