Cognitive Development - Piaget Theory Flashcards
What is a schema?
A schema is a cognitive framework or that organises and interprets information, serving as the building blocks for thought.
What is assimilation?
Assimilation is the process of incorporating new information into an existing schema.
What is accommodation?
Accommodation is the process of creating a new schema, when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas.
What is disequilibrium?
Disequilibrium is the state of cognitive imbalance that occurs when new information conflicts with existing schemas, prompting the need for learning.
What is equilibration?
Equilibration is the process of restoring cognitive balance after assimilation or accommodation, leading to a new, stable understanding.
What is object permanence?
Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight, a concept typically developing in infancy.
What is conservation?
Conservation is the realization that the quantity or volume of an object remains the same despite changes in its appearance.
What is egocentrism in Piaget’s theory?
Egocentrism refers to the difficulty young children have in distinguishing their own perspective from that of others.
What is constructivism as applied in Piaget’s theory?
Constructivism is the learning theory that suggests knowledge is actively constructed by the learner through experience and interaction with the environment.
How does Schema development occur according to Piaget?
Schema development occurs through the processes of assimilation, where new experiences are added to existing frameworks, and accommodation, where schemas are modified when new information doesn’t fit.
What are the educational implications of Piaget’s theory?
Piaget’s theory supports discovery-based, active learning that is tailored to a child’s developmental stage.
How does Piaget see the nature/nurture debate with regard to cognitive development?
Piaget views cognitive development is an interaction between nature and nurture: children are born with basic, innate schemas (nature) that are continuously expanded through experiences (nurture).
What does Piaget see as the role of ‘others’ in a child’s learning process?
He believed that a child’s learning is self-constructed through active engagement with their environment, with others acting as facilitators rather than direct sources of knowledge.
Give an example of accommodation.
When a child tries to fit a square peg into a round hole and fails they adjust their understanding and create a new schema that differentiates between square and round shapes.
Give an example of assimilation.
When a child sees a new breed of dog, they incorporate it into their existing “dog” schema without altering their fundamental understanding of what a dog is.
What are the implications for education for Piaget’s theory?
Piaget’s theory implies that education should be developmentally appropriate, promoting active, discovery-based learning that aligns with the child’s cognitive stage, rather than relying solely on direct instruction and memorization.
What are some criticisms of Piaget’s theory?
Criticisms include:
- underestimation of infants’ abilities
- limited attention to social and cultural factors
- potential oversimplification of stage progression
- concerns over sample representativeness.
A strength of Piaget’s theory is its effective explanation of discovery learning in cognitive development.
- For example, Howe et al. (1992) tested 9-12 year old children who watched the motion of the same object sliding down a slope. The children were then allowed to discuss what they had seen. Despite all seeing the same motion, each child reported different details and had a different understanding of the motion.
- This demonstrates that understanding had not become more similar to each other, due to individual differences in pre-existing schemas influencing how new information is accommodated, leading to the formation of unique mental representations.
- The study therefore supports the validity of Piaget’s concepts of assimilation and accommodation, thereby reinforcing the theory’s applicability in understanding cognitive development.
A limitation of Piaget’s research is that his sample showed an ethnocentric bias.
- For example, in Dasen’ s (1977) cross-cultural research, it was found that cognitive development is not as universal as Piaget suggested, with Aboriginal children in Australia excelling on spatial awareness, but developed conservation skills much later.
- This highlights a weakness of Piaget’s sample, which was drawn from a University of Geneva nursery, where children came from white, middle-class Swiss families with ample educational opportunities; children from poorer backgrounds might display different aptitudes or levels of intellectual curiosity and varying needs to achieve equilibrium.
- Taking this together, it is evident that the restricted sample undermines the generalisability of Piaget’s findings, and this may have affected the theory’s validity in explaining cognitive development across varied socio-economic contexts.
A limitation of Piaget’s theory is its insufficient emphasis on social interaction and language in cognitive development.
- For example, while Vygotsky proposed that learning occurs through interactions with experienced peers and valued language as a critical external expression of thought, Piaget regarded peers and teachers merely as facilitators of discovery.
- This demonstrates that Piaget’s approach overlooks the pivotal role of social context in shaping cognitive abilities, thereby potentially underestimating how collaborative exchanges enhance learning.
- However it should also be considered that Piaget’s focus on individual discovery highlights the importance of self-initiated learning, which remains a fundamental aspect of cognitive growth.
- This demonstrates that while individual discovery is a key contribution of Piaget’s theory, the limited social perspective restricts its overall validity in explaining cognitive development, since collaborative problem-solving and peer interactions can significantly enhance critical thinking and adaptability
