Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Developmen
t
Jean Piaget
Constructivism Theory
Kinds of
Knowledge
physical knowledge
logico-mathematical
knowledge
social knowledge
Constructivism
children are active learners,
not passive observers
organize their knowledge
into schemes
schemes change through
assimilation
accommodation
Stages of Cognitive
Development
Sensori-motor
Stage
ages birth 2 years old
infant uses senses and
motor abilities to explore
first explorations are
innate reflexes
goal-directed behaviors
object permanence
Substages of Sensori-motor
Stage
1st: (birth - 1 mo)
innate reflexes,
circular reactions
Substages of Sensori-motor
Stage
4th: (8-12 mo)
goal directed behavior
object permanence
5th: (12-18 mo)
tertiary circular
6th: (18-24 mo)
Symbolic
representation
Preoperational
Stage
ages 2-7
child uses mental
representations of objects
play moves from using real
objects to more complex play
childs thinking is
perception-bound,
egocentric, irreversible,
centrated, intuitive,
animistic
Concrete
operations
ages 7-11
child uses logical operations
ability to
conserve
think flexibly
seriate
classify with more than 1 attribute
and with hierarchical thinking
Conservation Tasks
Formal operations
ages 12 and up
child uses logical
operations in a systematic
fashion
can think abstractly
hypothetico-deductive
thinking
propositional thinking
Contributions of
Piaget's Theories to
Current Practice
Criticisms of Piaget's
Ideas
research methods
underestimated/overestimat
ed the abilities of children
didn't adequately consider
the role of culture and
experience in childrens
undertaking of his tasks
stage theory
Lev Vygotsky
Socio-cultural Theory
Contributions of Vygotsky's
Theories to Current Practice
opportunities for
discovery and play
opportunities social
interactions for learning
use of language to
enhance conceptual
development