piaget theory of cognitive development

Objectives of the Section

  • By the end of this section, students should:

    • Know the main terms associated with Piaget’s theory.

    • Be familiar with basic Piagetian tests.

    • Have a basic understanding of the major concepts of Piaget’s Theory.

What is Cognition?

  • Definition of cognition:

    • Higher order mental processes such as thinking, reasoning, learning, and problem-solving.

  • Components of cognition:

    • Perception

    • Action

    • Interaction with the World

Genetic Epistemology: A Constructivist Theory

  • Definition of epistemology:

    • Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge.

  • Definition of constructivism:

    • Constructivism posits that new skills are built upon older skills, emphasizing the active role of learners in their development.

Piaget’s Theory

  • Key aspects of Piaget’s theory:

    • No innate ideas; it is NOT a nativist theory.

    • The child is not merely a blank slate (tabula rasa); rather, the mind is constructed through interactions with the environment.

Developmental Change According to Piaget

  • Piaget describes developmental change as:

    • Occurring in stages which are invariant; these stages are consistent and sequential.

    • Children do not just possess less knowledge than adults; they understand the world in qualitatively different ways.

Basic Piagetian Principles

  • Fundamental principles:

    • Organization of cognitive structures.

    • Adaptation processes:

    • Assimilation: Incorporation of new experiences into existing cognitive structures.

    • Accommodation: Changing old cognitive structures to process new experiences.

  • Note: Assimilation is viewed as a conservative change, while accommodation is seen as progressive and transformative.

Cognitive Structures and Schemes

  • Cognitive structures are referred to as schemes.

  • Early cognitive structures are primitive and basic, evolving with development.

Changes in Schemes with Development

  • Assimilation:

    • The process where new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas, reinforcing those schemas.

  • Accommodation:

    • The adjustment of existing schemas when new experiences challenge existing cognitive structures.

The Need for Accommodation

  • Cognitive Development and Equilibrium:

    • The mind typically exists in a stable state of equilibrium.

    • A new discrepant experience can disrupt this equilibrium, leading to cognitive instability and the necessity for accommodation of existing structures.

Active Participation in Development

  • Children as active participants:

    • Viewed metaphorically as scientists, constantly testing hypotheses about the world.

    • Their cognitive structures are actively applied to experience, leading to curiosity and a desire for knowledge.

Characteristics of Piaget’s Theory

  • Piaget’s theory is a robust STAGE theory, characterized by:

    • Stages that are invariant, universal, hierarchical, and domain general.

Four Basic Stages of Development

  • The four fundamental stages of cognitive development defined by Piaget:

    • Sensorimotor Stage: Birth to 2 years

    • Preoperational Stage: 2 to 7 years

    • Concrete Operational Stage: 7 to 11 years

    • Formal Operational Stage: 11 years to adulthood

The Sensorimotor Period (0-2 Years)

  • Primary developmental structures available: basic motor reflexes.

  • Major achievements include development of intentionality and understanding of object permanence.

Sensorimotor Period: Stages

Substage 1 (0-1 Month)

  • Characterized by:

    • Reflexive activity where all newborn reflexes operate independently.

    • No intentional actions exhibited; subjectivity and objectivity are fused.

Object Concept at Substage 1

  • Lack of understanding that objects continue to exist when out of view; no concept of object permanence.

Substage 2 (1-4 Months)

  • Primary Circular Reactions:

    • Circular actions are repeated; the infant's behaviors are centered on their own body.

  • Intentionality begins to emerge, with self-imitation of certain schemes (e.g., thumb sucking).

Object Concept at Substage 2

  • Displays passive expectation: the existence of objects dependent on schemes applied to experiences.

Substage 3 (4-8 Months)

  • Secondary Circular Reactions:

    • Actions focused on external objects are repeated.

  • Limited understanding of cause and effect hinder ability to act intentionally.

Object Concept at Substage 3

  • Infants demonstrate visual anticipation; search for partially hidden objects.

Substage 4 (8-12 Months)

  • Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions:

    • Combination of two or more schemes to create new action sequences.

  • Intentionality:

    • First appearance of intentionality, referred to as means-ends behavior; infants use one scheme to activate another.

  • Object Concept:

    • Search for fully hidden objects; however, infants do not yet understand objects as separate entities from the schemes applied to them.

The A-not-B Error

  • Phenomenon where infants continue searching for an object at the first hiding location (A) after it has been hidden at a new location (B).

    • Indicates that the object is still subjectively understood; remains associated with a previously successful scheme.

Substage 5 (12-18 Months)

  • Tertiary Circular Reactions:

    • Infants engage in active experimentation to achieve new objectives, discovering new means through interactions.

    • Limitations exist: active experimentation is restricted to physical actions on objects.

Object Concept at Substage 5

  • Infants can solve the A-not-B task but fail with invisible displacement, which requires mental calculation of the object's new location.

Substage 6 (18-24 Months)

  • Symbolic Thought Achievement:

    • Infants can now mentally represent objects that are physically absent.

    • Problem-solving evolves into trial and error and can be done mentally rather than physically enacted.

Summary of the Sensorimotor Stage

  • Concludes with:

    • The emergence of symbolic representation.

    • The establishment of object permanence.

    • Initial development of means-end skills.

The Pre-Operational Period (2-7 Years)

  • Characterized by:

    • Symbolic thought, but absence of logical operations (operations are logical principles applicable to symbols).

    • Thinking during this stage is governed by appearance rather than logical necessity.

The Conservation Task

  • Example: Conservation of liquid demonstrates challenges in reasoning.

Reasons for Failure in the Conservation Task

  • Thinking in the pre-operational stage lacks the principles of:

    • Reversibility: The ability to recognize that some actions can be reversed.

    • Compensation: Understanding that changes in one dimension can be compensated by changes in another.

    • Identity: Recognizing that no quantity is lost or gained in transformations.

Characteristics of Pre-Operational Thinking

  • Characteristics:

    • Not governed by logical operations, displays egocentrism (e.g., evidenced in the Three Mountains Task) and intuitive problem solving (e.g., in conservation tasks).

The Three Mountains Task

  • Demonstrates egocentric perspective-taking capability limitations in children.

Nature of Intuitive Reasoning

  • Features:

    • Absence of reversibility

    • Perceptual centration focusing on states rather than transformations.

Domain General Characteristics

  • Characteristics of pre-operational thinking are observed to be domain general, meaning they apply across various types of knowledge.

Concrete Operations (7-12 Years)

  • Marked by:

    • Qualitative differences in reasoning, particularly in conservation tasks.

    • Flexibility and decentration that allow for the coordination of multiple dimensions in reasoning.

    • Functioning in logical versus empirical problem-solving situations.

    • Awareness of transformations and reversibility becomes evident.

Mastery of Logical Operations

  • Concrete operational thinkers exhibit mastery of:

    • Conservation tasks and relational logic (including seriation and transitivity).

    • Logic not yet applied to abstract concepts beyond concrete operations.

Relational Thinking: Transitivity

  • Definition:

    • Transitive inference, the process where knowledge of relations allows inference about the relationship between two entities based on their relation to a third entity (e.g., if A>B and B>C, then A>C).

Formal Operations (11+ Years)

  • Characterized by:

    • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning: the ability to apply logical reasoning to hypothetical and abstract problems.

    • Development of abstract scientific thinking.

Differences in Thinking Between Stages

  • Contrast:

    • Deductive reasoning in concrete operations is limited to familiar and concrete experiences.

    • Formal reasoning can deal with hypothetical situations (e.g., questions about injustice and peace).

Inductive Reasoning

  • Definition:

    • Thinking like a scientist, which involves generating hypotheses and systematically testing them.

The Pendulum Problem

  • A specific illustration of inductive reasoning, focusing on the generation of hypotheses related to speed.

Challenges to Piaget’s Sensorimotor Period

  • Findings:

    • Infants demonstrate signs of understanding object permanence as early as 4 months.

    • Understanding of causal relationships appears as early as 6 months.

Experiments on Object Permanence

  • Habituation Events:

    • Experiments concerning whether infants can recognize that objects continue to exist even when not directly observed.

  • Test Events:

    • Encompass possible and impossible scenarios affecting infants' responses to object permanence.

Challenges to Piaget's Pre-Operational Stage

  • Findings:

    • Experience and familiarity can enhance performance in cognitive tasks.

    • Concept of horizontal decalage, where different conservation concepts are understood at varying ages (e.g., children mastering volume conservation before mass conservation).

Evaluating Piaget's Theory

  • Overview:

    • Piaget's theory is extensive and influential but not without complication.

Strengths of Piaget's Theory

  • Key positives include:

    • Active view of cognitive development.

    • Revealing important invariants in cognitive processes.

    • Informative errors that provide insight into cognitive understanding.

    • Emphasis on perceptual-motor learning over language development as crucial in development.

Weaknesses of Piaget's Theory

  • Issues discussed:

    • Competence-Performance Distinction:

    • Stress on separating knowledge (competence) versus the expression of that knowledge (performance).

    • Questioning whether development adheres to strict stage-like characteristics.

Competence Defined

  • Competence:

    • Refers to the knowledge, rules, and concepts that contribute to cognition, inferred from behavior.

Performance Defined

  • Performance:

    • Factors influencing expression of competence include energy levels, interest, attention, language skills, motivation, etc.

Distinction Impact on A not B Error

  • Discussion on how Piaget attributed errors (such as the A not B error) purely to cognitive understanding rather than considering potential performance factors that might inhibit exhibiting knowledge.

Views on Staging Development

  • Consideration of whether stages are observed only by adopting a macro perspective on development; closer inspection might reveal a more fluid and continuous process of change.

Summary of Piaget's Contributions

  • Overall impression:

    • Piaget developed a wide-ranging and influential theory that continues to be a source of debate and controversy in the field of cognitive development.