Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

• Piaget suggests that the development of cognition depends on a process of active discovery, this is the child performing actions on the world and developing schemas as result of these actions.
• Piaget refers to the child as a scientist
• Schema


  packages of information formed from experiences
• State of disequilibrium 


  When we gain new info that does not fit our schema
• In order to return to equilibrium assimilation or accommodation is used
• Assimilation 


  New info is added to an existing schema
• Accommodation 


  Existing schema is adapted to fit new info, or new schemas are formed
• Piaget suggested all children passed through biologically determined stages of intellectual development which could be identified by cognitive abilities.
• Cognitive abilities:

  • Object permanence
  • Conservation
  • Egocentrism
  • Class inclusion
• Object permanence


  understanding an object still exists even when it is hidden from view
• Conservation


  understanding the quantity of an item/group is the same despite changes in appearance
• Egocentrism


  the inability to imagine the world from another persons perspective
• Class inclusion


  understanding that categories of objects have subsets

  E.g. Big cats (superordinate group) > Tigers (subordinate group)
• Piaget's stages of intellectual development

  • Stage 1: Sensorimotor
  • Stage 2: Pre-operational
  • Stage 3: Concrete operational
  • Stage 4: Formal operational
• Stage 1: Sensorimotor

  • (0-2 yrs)
  • learns about the world from first performing instinctual reflexes, to intentional actions
  • starting to construct mental representations of objects (schemas)
  • develops object permanence
• Stage 2: Pre-operational

  • (2-7 years)
  • starts to talk, however unable to use logic effectively
  • struggles with conservation and class inclusion tasks and is still egocentric
• Stage 3: Concrete operational

  • (7-11 yrs)
  • can perform a mental set of logical thoughts an "operation", but only on objects/ events they can see (concrete)
  • better performance at conservation, egocentrism and class inclusion tasks
• Stage 4: Formal operational

  • (11+ years) able to use abstract logic
  • capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning
• The motivation to learn- Why are we pushed to learn?

  1. When our schema does not allow us to make sense of something new
  2. The unpleasant sensation of disequilibrium (a new situation or task you do not understand)
  3. To achieve equilibrium (the preferred mental state)