Cognitive Development in Infancy and Childhood Piagets Cognitive

Question to ponder Do Kids think differently than adults? Do freshmen think differently than

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development • Jean Piaget (1896– 1980) Swiss psychologist who became

Piaget’s Approach • Primary method was to ask children to solve problems and to

Cognition • All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering • Children

Stage 1 - Sensorimotor Stage • From birth to about age two • Child

Sensorimotor Stage (birth – 2) • Information is gained through the senses and motor

Object Permanence • The understanding that objects exist independent of one’s actions or perceptions

Object Permanence • The awareness that things continue to exist even when they cannot

Stage 2 - Preoperational Stage • From about age 2 to age 6 or

Preoperational 1. Symbolic functioning – is that a child uses to represent something that

Preoperational - Egocentrism • The child’s inability to take another person’s point of view

Concrete Operational Stage (7– 12 years) • Understanding of mental operations leading to increasingly

Concrete operational 1. Decentering – this is where a child considers all aspects of

Conservation • An understanding that certain properties remain constant despite changes in their form

Conservation • Number In conservation of number tests, two equivalent rows of coins are

Conservation • Length In conservation of length tests, two same-length sticks are placed side

Conservation • Substance In conservation of substance tests, two identical amounts of clay are

Formal Operational Stage (age 12 – adulthood) • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning • Adolescent egocentrism illustrated

Stage 4 - Formal Operational Stage • Child can think logically and in the

Critique of Piaget’s Theory • Underestimates children’s abilities • Overestimates age differences in thinking

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Cognitive Development in Infancy and Childhood: Piaget’s Cognitive Stages

Question to ponder Do Kids think differently than adults? Do freshmen think differently than Seniors?

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development • Jean Piaget (1896– 1980) Swiss psychologist who became leading theorist in 1930’s • Piaget believed that “children are active thinkers, constantly trying to construct more advanced understandings of the world” • These “understandings” are in the form of structures he called schemas

Piaget’s Approach • Primary method was to ask children to solve problems and to question them about the reasoning behind their solutions • Discovered that children think in radically different ways than adults • Proposed that development occurs as a series of ‘stages’ differing in how the world is understood

Cognition • All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering • Children think differently than adults

Stage 1 - Sensorimotor Stage • From birth to about age two • Child gathers information about the world through senses and motor functions • Child learns object permanence

Sensorimotor Stage (birth – 2) • Information is gained through the senses and motor actions • In this stage child perceives and manipulates but does not reason • Symbols become internalized through language development • Object permanence is acquired

Object Permanence • The understanding that objects exist independent of one’s actions or perceptions of them • Before 6 months infants act as if objects removed from sight cease to exist – Can be surprised by disappearance/reappearance of a face (peek-a-boo)

Object Permanence • The awareness that things continue to exist even when they cannot be sensed • “Out of sight, out of mind”

Object Permanence

Stage 2 - Preoperational Stage • From about age 2 to age 6 or 7 • Children can understand language but not logic • Fantasy Play

Preoperational 1. Symbolic functioning – is that a child uses to represent something that is not physically present like the use of mental symbols, words, or pictures

Preoperational - Egocentrism • The child’s inability to take another person’s point of view • Includes a child’s ability to understand that symbols can represent other objects

Concrete Operational Stage (7– 12 years) • Understanding of mental operations leading to increasingly logical thought • Classification and categorization • Less egocentric • Inability to reason abstractly or hypothetically

Concrete operational 1. Decentering – this is where a child considers all aspects of a problem to solve it 2. Elimination of egocentrism – kids can begin to see the others point of view

Conservation • An understanding that certain properties remain constant despite changes in their form • The properties can include mass, volume, and numbers.

Conservation

Conservation • Number In conservation of number tests, two equivalent rows of coins are placed side by side and the child says that there is the same number in each row. Then one row is spread apart and the child is again asked if there is the same number in each.

Conservation • Length In conservation of length tests, two same-length sticks are placed side by side and the child says that they are the same length. Then one is moved and the child is again asked if they are the same length.

Conservation • Substance In conservation of substance tests, two identical amounts of clay are rolled into similar-appearing balls and the child says that they both have the same amount of clay. Then one ball is rolled out and the child is again asked if they have the same amount.

Formal Operational Stage (age 12 – adulthood) • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning • Adolescent egocentrism illustrated by the phenomenon of personal fable and imaginary audience

Stage 4 - Formal Operational Stage • Child can think logically and in the abstract • Can solve hypothetical problems (What if…. problems)

Critique of Piaget’s Theory • Underestimates children’s abilities • Overestimates age differences in thinking • Vagueness about the process of change • Underestimates the role of the social environment • Lack of evidence for qualitatively different stages