A2: Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

Question 1

What is cognitive development?

Answer 1

• a child’s ability to learn and solve problems
  eg
  - a 2 month old learning how to explore the environment with their hands
  - a 5 year old learning how to solve mathematical problems

Question 2

Who is Jean Piaget?
What did he study?
What did he conclude?

Answer 2

• world renown psychologist
• studied cognitive development in children (babies through to adolescents)
• concluded that children think differently to adults

Question 3

Piaget believed that young children _____ use _______ ______

Answer 3

Piaget believed that young children CAN’T use ABSTRACT LOGIC

Question 4

What is abstract logic?

Answer 4

• the ability to solve problems using imagination without having to be involved practically

Question 5

What did Piaget observe about young children?

Answer 5

• that they sue egocentric thinking

Question 6

What does egocentric thinking mean?

Answer 6

• they can only understand the world from their perspective
• infants assume other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as them

Question 7

Piaget outlined 4 stages of cognitive development. What are they?

Answer 7

• sensorimotor
• preoperational
• concrete operational
• formal operational

Question 8

Piaget gave the 4 stages of cognitive development approximate ages at which children reached those ages. What are they?

Answer 8

• sensorimotor = birth - 2 years old
• preoperational = 2 - 7 years old
• concrete operational = 7 - 11 years old
• formal operational = adolescence - adult

Question 9

Piaget suggested that there is a further stage of cognitive development. What is it?

Answer 9

• post formal operational stage of thinking
• where adults become more skilled in (wisdom)
• this allows for informed judgement on important matters