Chapter 7: Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Module 7.1 General Principles of Piaget’s Theory

Module 7.2 Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Module 7.3 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

Module 7.4 Beyond Piaget’s Theory

Children and Their Development, 3/e by Robert Kail

7.1 General Principles of Piaget’s Theory

Schemes

Assimilation and Accommodation

Equilibration and Stages of Cognitive Development

7.1 Schemes

• Schemes are like categories; they organize experience and knowledge

• Schemes first based on actions, then functions, and conceptions

7.1 Assimilation and Accommodation

• In assimilation, new experiences are readily incorporated into existing schemes

• In accommodation, existing schemes must be changed to incorporate new information

7.1 Equilibration and Stages of Cognitive Development

• Equilibrium: when assimilation and accommodation are in balance

• Periodically, schemes are inadequate and disequilibrium occurs. Equilibration is the process of reaching a new state of equilibrium

• Metaphor of child as scientist• Three reorganizations of theories lead to 4

stages of cognitive development

7.2 Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development

The Sensorimotor Stage

The Preoperational Stage

The Concrete Operational Stage

The Formal Operational Stage

7.2 The Sensorimotor Stage

• From birth to approximately 2 years• Begins with reflexive responding and ends

with using symbols• Object permanence: understanding that

objects exist independently

7.2 The Preoperational Stage

• From approximately 2 to 7 years• Children use symbols but are many errors in

thinking> Egocentrism> Centration> Confuse appearance and reality

Three Mountains Problem

7.2: The Preoperational Stage

Conservation Tasks

7.2: The Preoperational Stage

Models as Symbols or “Shrinking Rooms”

7.2: The Preoperational Stage

7.2 The Concrete Operational Stage

• From approximately 7 to 11 years• Thinking based on mental operations

(strategies and rules that make thinking more systematic and powerful)

• Operations can be reversed• Focus on the real and concrete, not the

abstract

7.2 The Formal Operational Stage

• From approximately 11 years to adulthood• Adolescents can think hypothetically• Use deductive reasoning

7.3 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development

Criticisms of the Theory

7.3 Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development

• Piaget’s contributions: > the study of cognitive development itself> a new, constructivist view of children> fascinating, often counterintuitive,

discoveries

7.3 Criticisms of the Theory

• Some criticisms:> alternative accounts of performance> consistency in performance> training on Piagetian concepts> actual versus possible thinking

Object Permanence and the “Impossible Event”

7.3: Criticisms of the Theory

7.4 Beyond Piaget’s Theory

Neo-Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development

The Child as Theorist

The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory

7.4 Neo-Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development

• Retain Piaget’s basic claim of stages of intellectual development

• Each child develops distinct conceptual structures that reflect experience

• Working memory improves with age which allows children’s thinking to become more complex

7.4 The Child as Theorist

• Builds on Piaget’s metaphor of child as scientist• Research traces children’s knowledge of

> naive physics (understanding objects)> naive psychology (theory of mind)> and naive biology (understanding unique

properties of animate objects)

“Impossible” Physics Problem

7.4 The Child as Theorist

Movement in Animate and Inanimate Objects

7.4 The Child as Theorist

Theory of Mind

7.4 The Child as Theorist

7.4 The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory

• Cognitive development is inseparable from social and cultural contexts

• Zone of proximal development: difference between what can do alone or with assistance

• Scaffolding: teaching style that matches assistance to learner’s needs

• Private speech: comments intended to regulate own behavior

• Inner speech: thought

Cultural Differences in Parental Scaffolding

7.4: The Sociocultural Perspective