Cognition And Development: Piaget's Theory Of Cognitive Development

Question 1

What Is A Cognitive Development? (Key Term)

Answer 1

• A general term describing the development of all mental processes, in particular thinking, reasoning and our understanding of the world.

Question 2

What Is Schema? (Key Term)

Answer 2

• A mental framework of beliefs and expectations about the world, that influence cognitive processing.
• They are developed from experience.

Question 3

What Is Assimilation? (Key Term)

Answer 3

• A form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information or a more advanced understanding of a thing, that fits into existing schemas without making any change.
• E.g. child is able to realise that there are many different dogs by assimilating them into their dog schema which they may already have.
• SS = Same Schema

Question 4

What Is Accommodation? (Key Term)

Answer 4

• A form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information that changes our understanding of a topic to the extent that we need to form one or more new schemas and/or radically change existing schemas to deal with the new understanding.
• E.g. realising that every furry creature with four legs aren’t always a cat, as their only schema about it is the cat schema, so then a new schema is created for dogs.
• CC= change/create schema.

Question 5

What Is Equilibrium? (Key Term)

Answer 5

• Experiencing a balance between existing schemas and new experiences.
• It takes place when new information is built into our understanding of a topic – either by assimilating it into an existing schema or accommodating it by forming a new one.

Question 6

Piaget’s Theory Of Cognition And Development Overview.

Answer 6

• Changed our understanding of how thinking develops in a child, as originally people believed that the only difference in thinking in adults and children is that adults knew more.
• However Piaget proposed something different, as he claimed that adults do not just know more, they think in a different way.
• Believed that cognitive development was due to 2 influences: Maturation (effect of biological process of aging, where certain mental processes become possible), and Environment (interactions with environment allows children’s understanding of the world become more complex).
• Interested in what motivates us to learn and how our knowledge develops.

Question 7

What Is A Schema? (Cognition And Development)

Answer 7

• Schema is a mental structure containing all information that we have about the world.
• As children develop, they construct more detailed and complex mental representation of the world.
• Piaget believed that children are born with small numbers of schemas , which allow them to interact with people.
• Infancy we develop ‘me-schema,’ in which all the child’s knowledge about themselves is stored, eventually other schemas are developed due to interactions with environment.
• Piaget claimed that the schema becomes more complex through assimilation and accommodation.

Question 8

What Is Disequilibrium?

Answer 8

• We have a drive to always remain in equilibrium and are motivated to learn when our existing schemas do not allow us to make sense of something.
• If an experience cannot be assimilated into existing schemas, then there is a state imbalance which is an unpleasant state and the individual seek to restore balance through equilibration.

Question 9

Cognition And Development Lifespan Learning.

Answer 9

• Assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration take place throughout life.
• However, there are some limitations on what can be learned at different stages.
• A young child cannot always accommodate new experiences into new schemas because their mind is simply not mature enough

Question 9

Evaluation: Strength - Supporting Evidence.

Answer 9

• Piaget’s theory about learning by forming individual representations of the world would suggests that even children who have had similar learning experiences will form quite individual mental representations.
• Howe et al (1992) put children between aged 9 and 12 in groups of 4 to study and discuss movement of objects down a slope.
• Their understanding of the topic was assessed before and after the discussion.
• Following their group discussion, the children were found to have increased their level of knowledge and understanding.
• However, the children had not come to the same conclusions about movement down a slope, supporting Piaget’s idea that children learn by forming their own personal representations.

Question 10

Evaluation: Strength - Application.

Answer 10

• Piaget’s theory has been successfully applied to education.
• Prior to his work, classrooms had children sat silently in rows, copying from the board.
• This has been replaced by activity-orientated classrooms in which children actively engage in tasks that allow them to construct their own understandings.
• The change in educational practices support the theory that children learn by actively exploring their environment and forming their own mental representations of the world.

Question 11

Evaluation: Weakness - Influence Of People.

Answer 11

• Piaget may have underplayed the role of other people in learning.
• Although Piaget did not believe children learn best on their own, the role other people isn’t the main focus of his theory, as he saw learning by focusing in on what happens in the mind of the individual.
• However, other theories of learning and cognitive development, and a range of research findings suggest that other people are absolutely crucial to the process of learning.
• This reduces the validity of Piaget’s work.

Question 12

Evaluation: Weakness - Unrepresentative.

Answer 12

• Piaget saw learning as a motivation process where children want to learn in order to remain in equilibrium, as being in disequilibrium is an unpleasant experience.
• But children vary greatly in their intellectual curiosity.
• Piaget may have over-estimated how motivated children are to learn because the sample he used was children from mainly white, MC, well-educated families, meaning the sample isn’t representative.
• Children who come from poorer backgrounds and may have had fewer educational opportunities, may display more or less intellectual curiosity than MC children.
• Therefore, Piaget’s theory cannot explain cognitive development in all children.

Question 13

Evaluation: Weakness - Importance Of Language.

Answer 13

• The development of language is an important aspect of cognitive development.
• To Piaget, language was just a cognitive ability that developed in line with other developing abilities.
• However, other theorists e.g. Vygotsky have placed a lot more importance on language development, suggesting that Piaget may have underplayed its importance.