PIAGETS THEORY

OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT

Cognitive = Refers to mental

processes like thinking,
problem solving, categorizing,
and remembering.
Cognitive Development =
Means the orderly change
across age in these mental
processes.

 Assimilation = Refers to child to a

child incorporating a new
perception into existing schemes.
Scheme = Is a cognitive structure
such as image, perception, or
thought.
Accommodation = Refers to a
child revising a scheme so that a
new experience make sense.

AGE TRENDS IN PIAGETS

COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENTAL
THEORY

 Sensorimotor stage ( from birth to 2 yrs.)

= This stage is characterized by the absence

of language. The period is based primarily on

immediate experience through the senses.
= During the sensorimotor stage, children
become capable of deferred imitation that is
they can mentally represent, remember, and
then imitate an action they observed in the
past.
= Sensorimotor infants develop object
permanence or the knowledge that objects
that are out of view continue to exist.

 At 8 to 12 months, infants will search for the toy

if is hidden before their eyes. But they make an
interesting mistake consistently: they will
search for the object at point A even if object is
moved to point B in full view. For ex. Piaget
twice hid his 10 month old daughters toy
parrot under her mattress at point A while she
watched. Both times Jacqueline retrieved the
parrot. Then, Piaget hid the toy parrot under the
mattress in a different place, at point B while
she watched. Jacqueline searched for the
parrot at point A instead of point B. This is
called the A-not B error .

 Preoperational stage ( 2 to 7 yrs)

= The richer the verbal environment,
the more likely it is that language will
develop . Children in this stage talk to
stuffed toys, they will tell about
imaginary friends, and tell wild stories.
= Cognitive process during the intuitive
or preoperational stage increases the
ability to store words and language
structures.

COGNITIVE DEFICITS
ACCORDING TO
PIAGETS

 Animism = Is the belief that nonliving,

inanimate objects have lifelike qualities.
Hierarchical classification = means that things
can be members of multiple levels of categories
at the same time.
Egocentrism = young children egocentric,
which is the tendency to see the world from
their own point of view and to assume that
other people do too. Collective Monologues in
which they speak with another child and even
take turns talking so they appear to be
conversing, but neither is listening to the
another.

 Conservation = refers to the fact that the

properties of the objects appearance change.
For ex.if you have a ball of clay, the amount of
clay in the ball does not change if you smash it
down it into a pancake shape, though the
appearance changes. Preoperational children
might say that the smashed lump of clay has
more mass than the ball. This is because they
center on the superficial attributes of object.
They are unable to
decenter and
simultaneously consider that the smashed clay
covers more surface area but is thinner than it
was.

 Concrete Operational Stage ( 7 to 11 yrs)

= The children's thinking becomes more logical
and systematic. Learning and gaining
increased skill in reading is a key
developmental task at this period. They are
learning symbol systems and concepts and
concepts of time, space, and distance.
Formal Operational Stage ( Age 12 and older)
= Children can think in the abstract: that is they
can think about possibilities that may not
physically exist. They can follow clear logic
and reason in a hypothetical deductive
manner, even if the premises are not true.

Evidence That Contradicts Piagets

Stages
= Today,

Piagets stages are not widely

accepted among researches. Some
researchers also challenge his notion
that knowledge begins with
experience through the five senses,
which is then stored as concrete
knowledge and later becomes the
basis for abstract concepts.

Underestimation and Observation

of Abilities
= Recent research suggest Piaget
underestimated the cognitive
abilities of young children.
Infants know many surprising
things about their world, scientist
call this core knowledge.

Primacy of Language
= When children begin to learn

language, they pay more attention

to context than to words. In fact,
they often learn words through
clues the context. The child first
make sense of the context and
then uses that to make sense of
what is said.

Diversity in Cognitive
Developmental Theory
= Piaget believed that stages of
cognitive development occur in
a predictable sequence from
child to child because each is
necessary for the formation of
the next stage.

If Piaget is wrong about some things,

why study him? For two reasons:
1. His theory is good starting point
because it caused scientist to try to
understand why children respond so
oddly to Piagets task. Science
evolves through our quest for
understanding. As a result of newer
research that test Piagets theory, we
now understand more about in the
next two chapter.

2.

Piagets theory continues to be widely

applied in education. Sometimes this is
misguided but not always.
Classroom Implication of Cognitive
Developmental Theory:
= There are several school based
legacies from Piagets theory. One
legacy is the notion of school
readiness. Piaget believed little can be
done to accelerate development

Because each child has a biologically

based rate of transition from one stage
to the next.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice
= Another concept that was influenced by
Piagets theory is developmentally
appropriate practice, whish is an
approach to educating children from
birth to age 8 that emphasizes the child
as an active participant in learning, not
just passive receiver knowledge.

Constructivist Teaching
= Third legacy from Piagets. He
asserted that children construct their
own knowledge and should be
encouraged to do so. He stated that
each time one prematurely teaches a
child something he could have
discovered for himself that child is kept
from inventing it and consequently
from understanding completely.

In constructivist teaching, teachers minimize

adult authority. Instead of simply lecturing on
facts, constructivist teacher provide experience,
ask question, provoke discourse and
encourage experimentation and deep through.
There are many variations on constructivism that
you may hear about such as project- based
instruction, who language, discovery learning
and minds on instruction.
Using hands-on materials when appropriate,
particularly for novices.

 Encouraging students to connect new material

to familiar objects and events.
Allowing students to choose some of their
learning activities when possible.
Following the childrens lead. Following up on
their questions.. Talking less and listening
more.
Asking more question than giving answers.
Asking open-ended question that foster deep
thinking rather than questions that ask for a
single word of answer . Presenting students
with puzzling or unexpected information that
cause them to revise their schemas.