Cognitive Development Theory - Piaget

Lesson in Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Psychology and General Psychology

1. cognitive development Prepared by: Orlando A. Pistan, MAEd -GC Psychology Instructor

2. Jean William Fritz Piaget Jean Piaget was a Swiss clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development made him famous. Born: 9 August 1896, Neuchâtel, Switzerland Died: 16 September 1980, Geneva, Switzerland Education: University of Neuchâtel(1918), University of Zurich

3. Cognitive development theory The theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world . Piaget disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the environment .

4. Cognitive development theory The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.  To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience.

5. Components: Schema Disequilibrium Assimilation Accommodation

6. schema Represents one’s understanding of how something works or what something is. “Mental models” Building blocks of knowledge

7. disequilibrium An unpleasant state which occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas.

8. Assimilation Describes how we interpret new experiences in terms of our current understanding or current schemas.

9. Accommodation Refers to adjusting our current schema or creating a new schema when new experiences are presented.

10. The process: Schema A cat has 2 ears A cat has 2 eyes of different colors A cat is white A cat is furry A cat meows

11. The process: Schema A cat has 2 ears A cat has 2 eyes of different colors A cat is white A cat is furry A cat meows Assimilation Cats can be smaller Cats aren’t always white Cats run Cats play with ball Cats drink milk Cats climbs to sofa Cats sleep Cats eat Disequilibrium

12. The process: Accommodation A cat has 2 ears A cat has 2 eyes of different colors A cat is white A cat is furry A cat meows Cats can be smaller Cats aren’t always white Cats run Cats play with ball Cats drink milk Cats climbs to sofa Cats sleep Cats eat

13. Stages: Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational Formal operational

14. Sensorimotor Stage: Birth – 2 years Simple motor responses by sensory stimuli . Reflexes – sucking, looking, listening.

15. Sensorimotor Stage: Birth – 2 years The main achievement during this stage is  object permanence  - knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden . It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e. a schema) of the object.

16. Preoperational Stage (3-7 years) During this stage, young children are able to think about things symbolically . This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself . Thinking is still  egocentric , and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

17. Concrete Operational Stage (8-11 years) M arks the beginning of logical or operational thought . This means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in the real world ). Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.

18. Conservation of quantity

19. Conservation of quantity

20. Formal Operational Stage (11 years and over) The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts , and logically test hypotheses . Strategy and planning become possible. Concepts learned in one context can be applied to another.

21. Educational Implications Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it . Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths ". Using collaborative, as well as individual activities, so learners can learn from each other. Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the learners. Evaluate the level of the learners’ development , so suitable tasks can be set.

22. cognitive development Thank you for paying attention.