Cognition and development
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development:
Piaget theory:
Piaget’s contribution to child psychology was to realise that children do not simply know less than adults do, instead
they think in different ways from adults
Schema
- World is represented in mind of the individual, as children develop, they construct more and more detailed
and complex mental representations of the world, these representations are stored in form of schema
- According to Piaget children are born with a small no. of scheme. Right from beginning we construct new
schema. One is ‘me-schema’ which is child’s knowledge of themselves. Cognitive development involves the
construction of progressively more detailed schema for people, objects, physical actions and later more
abstract ideas
Motivation to learn: disequilibrium and equilibration
- Key element in theory, according to Piaget we are pushed to learn when our existing schema doesn’t allow
us to make sense of something new. Leads to unpleasant sensation of disequilibrium, to escape this we have
to adapt to the new situation by exploring and developing our understanding. By doing this we achieve
equilibration, preferred state
How learning takes place: assimilation and accommodation
- Piaget saw process of learning as adapting to new situation, so we understand it
- Assimilation: takes place when we understand a new experience and equilibrate by adding new info to our
existing schema
- Accommodation: takes place in response t dramatically new experiences. Child has to adjust to these by
either radically changing current scheme or forming new ones
Evaluation:
Research support: Howe - study with kids aged 9-12, groups of 4 to investigate and discuss movements of objects
down a slope. Following activity all kids found to have increased understanding. Their understanding hadn’t become
more similar, each kid picked up diff. facts + reached diff. conclusions, means they formed individual mental
representation like Piaget expected.
Real-world application: Piaget’s idea that children learn by actively exploring their environment has changed
classroom teaching. Since his ideas became popular teaching has become more activity-orientated where children
actively engage in tasks that allow them to construct their own understanding of curriculum. Discovery learning
takes on different forms e.g., flipped learning at A level. Shows Piaget-inspired approaches may facilitate the
development of individual mental representations of the world.
Role of others in learning: Piaget saw other people as useful to learning in the sense that they are potential sources
of info and learning experiences. However, he saw learning itself as an individual process. Contrasts other theories in
which learning is seen as a more social process, supported by more knowledgeable others. Vygotsky saw knowledge
as existing first between the learner and the more experienced other and only then in the mind of the learner.
Means Piaget’s theory may be an incomplete explanation
, Piaget’s stages of intellectual development:
Piaget’s stages:
stage and age Ability Research
Sensorimotor (0-2) Object permanence: belief Piaget: observed babies looking at objects and
that an object still exists watched as removed from sight. Before 8mnths
when it goes out of view would lose interest, after would look for it
Pre-operational (2-7) Conservation: belief that Piaget: 2 rows 8 identical counters, children counted
an objects mass/volume had same number. Counters in one row pushed
stays constant despite its closer together. Pre-op children struggled to
appearance changing conserve and thought fewer counters. 2 glasses
water and one tall
Pre-operational (2-7) Egocentrism: only seeing Piaget and Inhelder: 3 mountains task, doll placed at
the world from your POV side of model so had different POV, child asked what
doll could see from range of pics. Pre-op children
chose pic of what they could see
Pre-operational (2-7) Class inclusion: belief that Piaget and Inhelder: showed 7-8y/o pics of 5 dogs
an object can belong to and 2 cats. Asked more dogs or animals? Tended to
more than one category respond dogs
Concrete operations (7-11) Found can conserve + Schaffer: if had 3rd eye where would put it? 9y/0 said
perform better on forehead as eyes g on front of head. 11y/o more
egocentrism and class creative because could think of something not real
inclusion. Still struggle to
reason about abstract
ideas and to imagine
object/situations can’t see
Formal operations (11+) Formal reasoning: ability Smith: younger than 11+ struggled when asked how
to undertake logical and many heads a yellow cat had if all yellow cats have 2
abstract thought heads
Evaluation:
Conservation research: children were influenced by seeing experimenter change appearance of counters or liquid.
Why would they change and ask if the same? McGarrigle and Donaldson replicated stranded Piaget task and found
most children answered incorrectly however in another condition ‘naughty teddy’ appeared and knocked counters
closer together. Now 72% said same number of counters as before. Means 4-6y/o can conserve as long as not put off
by way it was questioned.
Class inclusion research: Siegler and Svetina showed children could understand class inclusion. Gave 100 5y/o 10
class inclusion tasks receiving an explanation of the task after each session. In 1 condition they received feedback
that there must be more animals than dogs because there were 9 animals and 6 dogs. A different group received
feedback that must be more animals because dogs were a subset of animals. Scores across sessions improved more
for latter groups suggesting children had acquired real understanding of class inclusion. Means children under 7 can
understand class inclusion contrary to what Piaget believed.
Egocentrism research: Hughes tested ability of children to see situation from 2 peoples POV using model with 2
intersecting walls and 3 dolls, a boy and 2 police. Once familiar with task children as young as 3 ½ years able to
position boy doll where 1 police officer wouldn’t see him 90% of time, 4 y/o could do 90% of time when there were 2
police to hide from. Means when tested scenario makes sense children can decentre and imagine others POV earlier
than Piaget proposed. Issue with all limitations above is they are criticisms of age stage is reached not characteristics
of stage itself. Example: Hughes point is children were able to decentre younger than Piaget claimed but still case
this isn’t present in very young children and can see from Hughes research that ability improves with age. Therefore,
core principles of Piaget’s stages remain unchallenged but methods used meant timing of stages was wrong.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development:
Piaget theory:
Piaget’s contribution to child psychology was to realise that children do not simply know less than adults do, instead
they think in different ways from adults
Schema
- World is represented in mind of the individual, as children develop, they construct more and more detailed
and complex mental representations of the world, these representations are stored in form of schema
- According to Piaget children are born with a small no. of scheme. Right from beginning we construct new
schema. One is ‘me-schema’ which is child’s knowledge of themselves. Cognitive development involves the
construction of progressively more detailed schema for people, objects, physical actions and later more
abstract ideas
Motivation to learn: disequilibrium and equilibration
- Key element in theory, according to Piaget we are pushed to learn when our existing schema doesn’t allow
us to make sense of something new. Leads to unpleasant sensation of disequilibrium, to escape this we have
to adapt to the new situation by exploring and developing our understanding. By doing this we achieve
equilibration, preferred state
How learning takes place: assimilation and accommodation
- Piaget saw process of learning as adapting to new situation, so we understand it
- Assimilation: takes place when we understand a new experience and equilibrate by adding new info to our
existing schema
- Accommodation: takes place in response t dramatically new experiences. Child has to adjust to these by
either radically changing current scheme or forming new ones
Evaluation:
Research support: Howe - study with kids aged 9-12, groups of 4 to investigate and discuss movements of objects
down a slope. Following activity all kids found to have increased understanding. Their understanding hadn’t become
more similar, each kid picked up diff. facts + reached diff. conclusions, means they formed individual mental
representation like Piaget expected.
Real-world application: Piaget’s idea that children learn by actively exploring their environment has changed
classroom teaching. Since his ideas became popular teaching has become more activity-orientated where children
actively engage in tasks that allow them to construct their own understanding of curriculum. Discovery learning
takes on different forms e.g., flipped learning at A level. Shows Piaget-inspired approaches may facilitate the
development of individual mental representations of the world.
Role of others in learning: Piaget saw other people as useful to learning in the sense that they are potential sources
of info and learning experiences. However, he saw learning itself as an individual process. Contrasts other theories in
which learning is seen as a more social process, supported by more knowledgeable others. Vygotsky saw knowledge
as existing first between the learner and the more experienced other and only then in the mind of the learner.
Means Piaget’s theory may be an incomplete explanation
, Piaget’s stages of intellectual development:
Piaget’s stages:
stage and age Ability Research
Sensorimotor (0-2) Object permanence: belief Piaget: observed babies looking at objects and
that an object still exists watched as removed from sight. Before 8mnths
when it goes out of view would lose interest, after would look for it
Pre-operational (2-7) Conservation: belief that Piaget: 2 rows 8 identical counters, children counted
an objects mass/volume had same number. Counters in one row pushed
stays constant despite its closer together. Pre-op children struggled to
appearance changing conserve and thought fewer counters. 2 glasses
water and one tall
Pre-operational (2-7) Egocentrism: only seeing Piaget and Inhelder: 3 mountains task, doll placed at
the world from your POV side of model so had different POV, child asked what
doll could see from range of pics. Pre-op children
chose pic of what they could see
Pre-operational (2-7) Class inclusion: belief that Piaget and Inhelder: showed 7-8y/o pics of 5 dogs
an object can belong to and 2 cats. Asked more dogs or animals? Tended to
more than one category respond dogs
Concrete operations (7-11) Found can conserve + Schaffer: if had 3rd eye where would put it? 9y/0 said
perform better on forehead as eyes g on front of head. 11y/o more
egocentrism and class creative because could think of something not real
inclusion. Still struggle to
reason about abstract
ideas and to imagine
object/situations can’t see
Formal operations (11+) Formal reasoning: ability Smith: younger than 11+ struggled when asked how
to undertake logical and many heads a yellow cat had if all yellow cats have 2
abstract thought heads
Evaluation:
Conservation research: children were influenced by seeing experimenter change appearance of counters or liquid.
Why would they change and ask if the same? McGarrigle and Donaldson replicated stranded Piaget task and found
most children answered incorrectly however in another condition ‘naughty teddy’ appeared and knocked counters
closer together. Now 72% said same number of counters as before. Means 4-6y/o can conserve as long as not put off
by way it was questioned.
Class inclusion research: Siegler and Svetina showed children could understand class inclusion. Gave 100 5y/o 10
class inclusion tasks receiving an explanation of the task after each session. In 1 condition they received feedback
that there must be more animals than dogs because there were 9 animals and 6 dogs. A different group received
feedback that must be more animals because dogs were a subset of animals. Scores across sessions improved more
for latter groups suggesting children had acquired real understanding of class inclusion. Means children under 7 can
understand class inclusion contrary to what Piaget believed.
Egocentrism research: Hughes tested ability of children to see situation from 2 peoples POV using model with 2
intersecting walls and 3 dolls, a boy and 2 police. Once familiar with task children as young as 3 ½ years able to
position boy doll where 1 police officer wouldn’t see him 90% of time, 4 y/o could do 90% of time when there were 2
police to hide from. Means when tested scenario makes sense children can decentre and imagine others POV earlier
than Piaget proposed. Issue with all limitations above is they are criticisms of age stage is reached not characteristics
of stage itself. Example: Hughes point is children were able to decentre younger than Piaget claimed but still case
this isn’t present in very young children and can see from Hughes research that ability improves with age. Therefore,
core principles of Piaget’s stages remain unchallenged but methods used meant timing of stages was wrong.
