1 - Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
AO1 AO3
Cognitive development + schemas Research support - schemas + exploration
- Howe et al (1992) - 9-12yr olds / in groups
Children’s thinking - Discussed how objects move down a slope
- ‘Child as the scientist’ = active exploration & discovery - Level of children’s knowledge & understanding increased after
- PIAGET (1926 + 1950) the discussion
- Children think qualitatively differently than adults / stages - E: Children did NOT reach the same conclusions
Schema - All picked up DIFFERENT facts about movement down a
- Unit of knowledge + cognitive framework / adapts with slope
experience + interaction with the world - Constructivism = we INDIVIDUALLY construct knowledge
- Infants are born with a few schema - L: Formed their own individual mental representations of the
- EG - Motor schemas (innate sucking / grasping) topic - as predicted by Piaget (high temporal validity)
- Increasingly detailed schema for people / objects / behaviour
- Schema for abstract ideas ( justice / morality) Piaget’s ideas revolutionised teaching
- 60s education - rote learning, passive, ‘chalk & talk’
Use an example to illustrate all concepts - Directed by the teacher, rigid structure = rote learning
- EG = child with pet dog, goes to the zoo - Piaget triggered a paradigm shift - play-orientated
- New info → failure to assimilate into existing schema → state classrooms, children constructing their own understanding
of disequilibrium → creates the MOTIVATION to learn → - EG - primary + nursery / open classrooms / sensory
accommodation via the creation of a new schema → exploration / teacher as the facilitator)
equilibration - E: A level - discovery learning = flipped lessons (pre reading,
forming a basic mental representation on their own)
Disequilibrium + Equilibration - Prior to formal teaching by a teacher in a classroom
Disequilibrium - L: Facilitate exploration & active learning - influence on
- Motivation to learn Western education
- Existing schema are insufficient = uncomfortable state of
disequilibrium Underestimated the role of social learning + ‘experts’
- Escape = explore & learn more = state of equilibration - Ignored the role of social learning & that we may need experts
Equilibration to learn (Vygotsky)
- Process of restoring cognitive harmony (balance) - Experts = those at a higher level of knowledge to the learner
- Follows a state of disequilibrium - EG - peers / teachers / adults as sources of information
- Strikes a balance between existing schema & new info - E: We need others to bridge the zone of proximal development
- Process of adaptation to new experiences - L: Piaget’s theory may be an incomplete explanation of
- Occurs through accommodation learning
Assimilation + accommodation
Assimilation
- Does NOT radically change our understanding of the schema
- Easy to incorporate the new experience into our existing
schema
- EG - child meets a different dog breed to their own = adds to
schema
Accommodation
- Experience is VERY different from our current schema
- Cannot be assimilated
- Creation of a whole new schema / major changes to existing
ones
- EG - child with a dog meets a cat = at first = thinks its another
dog = then = new ‘cat schema’
AO1 AO3
Cognitive development + schemas Research support - schemas + exploration
- Howe et al (1992) - 9-12yr olds / in groups
Children’s thinking - Discussed how objects move down a slope
- ‘Child as the scientist’ = active exploration & discovery - Level of children’s knowledge & understanding increased after
- PIAGET (1926 + 1950) the discussion
- Children think qualitatively differently than adults / stages - E: Children did NOT reach the same conclusions
Schema - All picked up DIFFERENT facts about movement down a
- Unit of knowledge + cognitive framework / adapts with slope
experience + interaction with the world - Constructivism = we INDIVIDUALLY construct knowledge
- Infants are born with a few schema - L: Formed their own individual mental representations of the
- EG - Motor schemas (innate sucking / grasping) topic - as predicted by Piaget (high temporal validity)
- Increasingly detailed schema for people / objects / behaviour
- Schema for abstract ideas ( justice / morality) Piaget’s ideas revolutionised teaching
- 60s education - rote learning, passive, ‘chalk & talk’
Use an example to illustrate all concepts - Directed by the teacher, rigid structure = rote learning
- EG = child with pet dog, goes to the zoo - Piaget triggered a paradigm shift - play-orientated
- New info → failure to assimilate into existing schema → state classrooms, children constructing their own understanding
of disequilibrium → creates the MOTIVATION to learn → - EG - primary + nursery / open classrooms / sensory
accommodation via the creation of a new schema → exploration / teacher as the facilitator)
equilibration - E: A level - discovery learning = flipped lessons (pre reading,
forming a basic mental representation on their own)
Disequilibrium + Equilibration - Prior to formal teaching by a teacher in a classroom
Disequilibrium - L: Facilitate exploration & active learning - influence on
- Motivation to learn Western education
- Existing schema are insufficient = uncomfortable state of
disequilibrium Underestimated the role of social learning + ‘experts’
- Escape = explore & learn more = state of equilibration - Ignored the role of social learning & that we may need experts
Equilibration to learn (Vygotsky)
- Process of restoring cognitive harmony (balance) - Experts = those at a higher level of knowledge to the learner
- Follows a state of disequilibrium - EG - peers / teachers / adults as sources of information
- Strikes a balance between existing schema & new info - E: We need others to bridge the zone of proximal development
- Process of adaptation to new experiences - L: Piaget’s theory may be an incomplete explanation of
- Occurs through accommodation learning
Assimilation + accommodation
Assimilation
- Does NOT radically change our understanding of the schema
- Easy to incorporate the new experience into our existing
schema
- EG - child meets a different dog breed to their own = adds to
schema
Accommodation
- Experience is VERY different from our current schema
- Cannot be assimilated
- Creation of a whole new schema / major changes to existing
ones
- EG - child with a dog meets a cat = at first = thinks its another
dog = then = new ‘cat schema’
