Psychology - Piagets Stage Theory

• Logical thinking

  Considering the relationship between facts and coming to conclusions that make sense
• Abstract concepts

  Ideas that don't have any physical form, e.g. morals, mathematics, beauty
• Concrete concepts

  Things you can physically point to, e.g. apples
• Schema

  Packages or structures of information about things in the world, developed through experience
• Assimilation

  A small change when we add new information to an existing schema
• Accommodation

  The changing of the schema itself to match new information
• Stages of cognitive development (Piaget)

  • Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
  • Preoperational (2-7 years)
  • Concrete operational (7-11 years)
  • Formal operational (11+ years)
• Piaget's work has been influential and applied to early education, with a focus on child-centred teaching and allowing children to develop their own schema
• Criticisms of Piaget

  • Stages don't match development of all children
  • Underestimated children's abilities
  • Original methods were confusing
  • Sample was limited to middle-class Swiss children
• The naughty teddy study by McGarrigle and Donaldson found that Piaget's methods influenced children's behaviour and underestimated their ability to conserve
• Hughes' policeman doll study found that Piaget's free mountain task was confusing and young children are less egocentric than previously thought
• Potential issues with Hughes' study include investigator effects and the multi-stage design