Developmental Psychology – Chapter 4 – Theories of Cognitve Development
Piaget´s Theory
Piaget´s Theory – the theory of the Swiss psychologist, which posits that cognitve
development involves a sequence of 4 stages – the sensorimotor, preoperatonal, concrete
operatonal, and formal operatonal stages – that are constructed through the processes f
assimilaton & accommodaton
View of Children´s Nature
The child as a scientst
children are mentally actve from the moment of birth
their mental & physical actvity both contribute to their development
Piaget: constructivist – children are constructng knowledge for themselves in
response to experiences (generatng hypotheses, performing experiments, drawing
conclusions)
Children learn many important lessons on their own (don´t rely on instructons of
others)
Children are intrinsically motvated to learn (don´t need rewards from others)
Central Developmental Issues
Nature & Nurture interact to produce cognitve development
Nurture: provided nurturing by caregivers/others & encountered experiences
Nature: maturing brain/body; ability to perceive, act, learn from experience;
integraton of partcular observatons into coherent knowledge
Sources of Contnuvity
Assimilaton – the process by which people translate incoming informaton into a
form that fts concepts they already understand
Accommodaton – the process by which people adapt current knowledge structures
in response to new experiences
Equilibraton – the process by which children (or other people) balance assimilaton
& accommodaton to create a stable understanding
1. Equvilvibrvium – not seeing any discrepancy between one’s observaton and
ones understanding of the phenomenon (satsfacton of phenomenon)
2. Dvisequvilvibrvium – recogniton of shortcoming in their understanding of that
phenomenon; no superior alternatve available
3. Development of a more sophistcated understanding eliminatng the
shortcoming of the older one – creaton of a more advanced equilibrium
within a broader range of observatons
Sources of Dviscontnuvity
Central Propertes of Piaget´s Theory:
1. Qualvitatie change – children in diferent ages base their moral uudgments on entrely
diferent criteria
o Younger child: morality as consequence of a behavior
o Older child: morality as a person´s vintent
, 2. Broad applvicabvilvity – type of thinking characteristc of each stage infuences children´s
thinking across diverse topics & contexts
3. Brvief transvitons – before entering new stage, children pass through brief transitonal
period, fuctuatng between the type of thinking characteristc of the new, more
advanced stage and the type of thinking characteristc of the old, less advanced stage
4. Iniarviant sequence – stages can´t be skipped
Stages of Cognitve Development:
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2 years) – the period in which intelligence is
expressed through sensory and motor abilites
o Allows to learn about obuects and people & to construct rudimentary forms of
fundamental concepts (tme, space, causality, etc.)
o Infants live in here and now: intelligence bound to immediate
perceptons/actons
2. Preoperatonal stage (ages 2 to 7 years) – the period in which children become able
to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought
o Ability to remember experiences for longer periods
o Inability to perform certain mental operatons inability to form certain
ideas (e.g. water in glass)
3. Concrete operatonal stage (ages 7 to 12 years) – the period in which become able to
reason logically about concrete obuects/events (e.g. water in glass); stll unable to
think in purely abstract terms or to generate systematc scientfc experiments to test
their beliefs
4. Formal operatonal stage (age 12 years and beyond) – the period in which people
become able to think about abstractons and hypothetcal situatons
The Sensorimotor Stage (birth-2)
The earlvier vin deielopment, the more rapvidly changes occur
Refexes (sucking, grasping, turning to noises, tracking obuects with eyes, etc.) – begin
to be modifed during frst months, making them more adaptve
Refexes are organieed into larger behaviors centering on their body – serving as
components of more complex behaviors
Object permanence – the knowledge that obuects contnue to exist even when they
´re out of view (infants of age 8 months’ lack o.p.)
By end of 1st year, infants search for hidden obuects mentally representng the
obuects´ contnuing existence
o A-not-B-error – the tendency to reach for a hidden obuect where it was last
found rather than in the new locaton where it was last hidden
By end of 1st yeas children begin to explore the potental ways in which obuects can
be used
In the last half of this stage, infants become able to form enduring mental
representatons
o Deferred imitaton – the repetton of other people´s behavior a substantal
tme after it originally occurred
Piaget´s Theory
Piaget´s Theory – the theory of the Swiss psychologist, which posits that cognitve
development involves a sequence of 4 stages – the sensorimotor, preoperatonal, concrete
operatonal, and formal operatonal stages – that are constructed through the processes f
assimilaton & accommodaton
View of Children´s Nature
The child as a scientst
children are mentally actve from the moment of birth
their mental & physical actvity both contribute to their development
Piaget: constructivist – children are constructng knowledge for themselves in
response to experiences (generatng hypotheses, performing experiments, drawing
conclusions)
Children learn many important lessons on their own (don´t rely on instructons of
others)
Children are intrinsically motvated to learn (don´t need rewards from others)
Central Developmental Issues
Nature & Nurture interact to produce cognitve development
Nurture: provided nurturing by caregivers/others & encountered experiences
Nature: maturing brain/body; ability to perceive, act, learn from experience;
integraton of partcular observatons into coherent knowledge
Sources of Contnuvity
Assimilaton – the process by which people translate incoming informaton into a
form that fts concepts they already understand
Accommodaton – the process by which people adapt current knowledge structures
in response to new experiences
Equilibraton – the process by which children (or other people) balance assimilaton
& accommodaton to create a stable understanding
1. Equvilvibrvium – not seeing any discrepancy between one’s observaton and
ones understanding of the phenomenon (satsfacton of phenomenon)
2. Dvisequvilvibrvium – recogniton of shortcoming in their understanding of that
phenomenon; no superior alternatve available
3. Development of a more sophistcated understanding eliminatng the
shortcoming of the older one – creaton of a more advanced equilibrium
within a broader range of observatons
Sources of Dviscontnuvity
Central Propertes of Piaget´s Theory:
1. Qualvitatie change – children in diferent ages base their moral uudgments on entrely
diferent criteria
o Younger child: morality as consequence of a behavior
o Older child: morality as a person´s vintent
, 2. Broad applvicabvilvity – type of thinking characteristc of each stage infuences children´s
thinking across diverse topics & contexts
3. Brvief transvitons – before entering new stage, children pass through brief transitonal
period, fuctuatng between the type of thinking characteristc of the new, more
advanced stage and the type of thinking characteristc of the old, less advanced stage
4. Iniarviant sequence – stages can´t be skipped
Stages of Cognitve Development:
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2 years) – the period in which intelligence is
expressed through sensory and motor abilites
o Allows to learn about obuects and people & to construct rudimentary forms of
fundamental concepts (tme, space, causality, etc.)
o Infants live in here and now: intelligence bound to immediate
perceptons/actons
2. Preoperatonal stage (ages 2 to 7 years) – the period in which children become able
to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought
o Ability to remember experiences for longer periods
o Inability to perform certain mental operatons inability to form certain
ideas (e.g. water in glass)
3. Concrete operatonal stage (ages 7 to 12 years) – the period in which become able to
reason logically about concrete obuects/events (e.g. water in glass); stll unable to
think in purely abstract terms or to generate systematc scientfc experiments to test
their beliefs
4. Formal operatonal stage (age 12 years and beyond) – the period in which people
become able to think about abstractons and hypothetcal situatons
The Sensorimotor Stage (birth-2)
The earlvier vin deielopment, the more rapvidly changes occur
Refexes (sucking, grasping, turning to noises, tracking obuects with eyes, etc.) – begin
to be modifed during frst months, making them more adaptve
Refexes are organieed into larger behaviors centering on their body – serving as
components of more complex behaviors
Object permanence – the knowledge that obuects contnue to exist even when they
´re out of view (infants of age 8 months’ lack o.p.)
By end of 1st year, infants search for hidden obuects mentally representng the
obuects´ contnuing existence
o A-not-B-error – the tendency to reach for a hidden obuect where it was last
found rather than in the new locaton where it was last hidden
By end of 1st yeas children begin to explore the potental ways in which obuects can
be used
In the last half of this stage, infants become able to form enduring mental
representatons
o Deferred imitaton – the repetton of other people´s behavior a substantal
tme after it originally occurred
