Transcript Tuesday, February 10, 2004 - Central Connecticut State

Piaget & Cognitive
Development
Carolyn R. Fallahi, Ph. D.
Jean Piaget
Developmental Theories
Piaget - Cognitive Developmental
Stages
 Piaget’s writings: an attempt to answer
questions like, how is knowledge
acquired?
 These questions are answered in
different content areas: mathematics,
moral reasoning, and language.

Developmental Theories
Knowledge is a process rather than a
state.
 People “construct” knowledge.
 Knowledge is “biased”.
 Piaget’s thinking deeply rooted in biology
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mollusks
Developmental Theories
Intelligence = “adaptation to the
environment”.
 Mental embryology.
 Structuralism.
 Stage theory.
 Equilibrium.
 Qualitative changes.
 Quantitative changes.

Developmental Theories
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Egocentrism.
Cognitive development is cumulative.
Adaptation.
Assimiliation.
Accomodation.
Four processes that work together to guide
development:
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Emotions
Maturation
Experience
Social Interaction
Developmental Theories
Stages are universal.
 Piaget’s methodology – clinical method.
 Sensorimotor Period (B-2 years old)

Stage 1: Modification of Reflexes (b to 1
month)
 Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions (1 to 4
months)
 Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (4
to 8 months)

Developmental Theories
Stage 4: Coordination of secondary
schemes (approximately 8 to 12 months)
 Stage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18
months)
 Stage 6: Invention of new means through
mental combinations (18-24 months)
Object permanence
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Developmental Theories
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Preoperational Period – 2 to 7 years
Semiotic function develops
 Development of representational thought
 Language primary mode for expressing
thought.
 Egocentrism
 Rigidity of thought – centration
 Beaker of water experiment
 Lack of reversibility
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Theories
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Piaget continued.
Preoperational period (2-7 years).
 Now the child transfers the notion about
objects, relations, causality, space, time to a
new medium – internal representation – a
more highly organized structure.
 Semiotic function develops.
 Representational thought makes it possible
to use words and other representative
means.

Theories
Egocentrism – continues to decrease.
 Rigidity of thought – e.g. centration.
 Beaker of water experiment.
 Lack of reversibility.
 Thinking starts to become less rigid.

Theories
Semilogical reasoning.
 Limited social cognition.
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Concrete Operational Period (7-11)
Child uses mental operations which are applied
to objects and events.
 The child classifies them, orders them, reverses
them.
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Theories
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Formal Operational Period (11-15)
The ability to classify objects, order them,
reverse them is taken a step further.
 The child can take the results of these
concrete operations and generate
hypotheses.
 Thought has become logical, abstract, and
hypothetical.

Theories
Scientist.
 Problems used to test for formal
operational thought.
 Direct instruction in scientific thought not
necessary.
 Memory – memory is not a passive or
static state but reflects and is dependent
on the entire cognitive structure.

Theories
Example, array of 10 sticks and ask
them to order them according to size.
 Developmental differences emerge.
 Differences seen with:

3 and 4 year olds
 5 and 6 year olds
 7 year olds.
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Theories
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Cognitive structures change and that
reorganizes memory.
Cognitive organization.
Cognitive adaptation.
Innate tendency to adapt to the environment.
Adaptation.
Accomodation.
Assimilation.
Theories
Only moderately discrepant events or
characteristics can be accomodated to;
great leaps not possible.
 Assimilation and accomodation in
balance = equilibrium.
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Theories
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Strengths of Piaget’s theory
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Role of cognition recognized.
Changed the way we look at children.
Searched for modes of thinking underlying overt
behavior.
Came up with norms of development.
New perspective for developmental psychologists.
Theory postulates an underlying continuity and
organization to a range of seemingly unrelated
behaviors.
Theories
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Strengths continued:
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Children actively construct their knowledge.
Research sensitive to children’s strategies and
plans.
Development follows a sequence that utilizes
earlier forms.
Children inherently seek stimulation.
Children try to understand reality.
Cognitive development does not depend on our
ability to use language.
Theories
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Weaknesses:
Lack of formal completeness.
 Need for a theory of performance.
 Only slight attention to the role of social and
emotional development.
 Methodological and stylistic inadequacies.
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