How children think: Piaget and beyond Flashcards
what are the 3 main stages of piaget’s constructionism?
sensorimotor period
concrete operations period
formal operations period
sensorimotor period
0-2 years
has 6 substages
concrete operations period
has 2 substages:
- preoperational (2-7 years)
- concrete operational (7-11 years)
formal operations period
12+ years
what is the sensorimotor period?
intelligence is purely action-based and children develop symbolic representations
what is the concrete operations period?
children have a symbolic understanding and develop logical thoughts about the environment
what is the formal operations period?
intelligence is logical and abstract understanding is developed
stage theory
a description of what happens and when in development, however recent empirical evidence suggests this may be out of date
genetic epistemology
an explanation of how development occurs (the origins and production of knowledge)
why is piaget’s theory criticised as being too reductionist?
it is an invariant, universal sequence
broad conceptual structures cannot apply to all children, who may perform at different cognitive levels at different stages
issues with piaget’s tasks
the difficulty of tasks can demonstrate different concepts, and children may perform earlier stages in familiar experiences
horizontal decalage
when a general concept emerges earlier on some tasks than others
this opposes the modern view of cognition, being domain-specific rather than domain-general
what does the pragmatist theory of piaget’s cognitive development argue?
development is caused by the interaction of hereditary and environment
why is piaget’s theory considered domain general?
development is characterised by qualitiative changes as a result of active development
sensorimotor stage: what can intelligence be seen in?
children’s coordinated actions and perceptions (using an intermediary object to reach another object), rather than any observable language
sensorimotor stage: how is behaviour coordinated?
through a ‘schema of action’ which develop new situations for practical functions
sensorimotor stage: what does this stage allow children to construct?
the schema of the permanent object, however they do not yet understand object permanence
pre-operational stage: how is intelligence transformed around 2 years?
the understanding of symbolic functions, e.g., the relationship between distance, size, and perspective
pre-operational stage: what do children develop a better understanding of?
better spatio-temporal understanding through a perception of past and present, and developing logical thought
pre-operational stage: what do children not yet understand?
conservation, which indicates that children only reason from configuration rather than an understanding of transformation
concrete operations stage: what do children have an understanding of?
serialising (arranging objects by size or weight) and can classify concrete operations
formal operations stage: what do children become capable of?
reasoning on the basis of objects and hypotheses
formal operations stage: what are children sufficient at?
reasoning by mental manipulation and concrete objects, by combining mathematics and propositions
genetic epistemology: how do infants use their schemas?
use assimilation and accommodation to deal with equilibrium and disequilibrium
what happens when something fits with the existing schema?
this leads to equilibrium, and reinforces the schema assimilation
what happens when something new happens that does not fit with the existing schema?
this leads to disequilibrium, and infants must accomodate their schemas in response to this
the filtering of new experiences through existing schemas is referred to as ________
assimilation
assimilation
application of an old schema to a new instance
accomodation
development of a new schema
how did johnson & morton (1991) find evidence of genetic epistemology in the modern world?
infants preferred to track face configurations over different configurations from birth
evidence of an innate genetic preference to orient towards faces
what does the sensorimotor theory include a focus on?
knowledge about objects and search errors
search errors
evidence of applying current action schemas to situations where it no longer works, to demonstrate assimilation and accomodation
how do children show evidence of developing ‘manual search-errors’ in stage IV?
at 8 months, in the ‘A-not-B’ task. they begin to have an egocentric understanding of objects
by 2 years, how have infants developed a better understanding of objects?
they notice ‘visible displacement’ and can ‘logically track’ potential search locations when objects are hidden
what does improvement in the ‘A-not-B’ task show?
an increased complexity of motor schemas, as children develop the ‘symbolic function’ of objects
this means they can be imagined in serial locations using logiodeductive thought
piaget’s explanation for failing the ‘A-not-B’ task
limitations in object concept
alternative explanation for failing the ‘A-not-B’ task
limitations in executive function, and children’s ability to perform coordinated actions
what have children developed by 2 years?
their ability to think about and imagine objects- the acquisition of imaginative thought- and reversibility
what have children developed by 2 years?
their ability to think about and imagine objects- the acquisition of imaginative thought- and reversibility
reversibility
begin to learn that actions can be reversed
what does the preoperational period consist of?
children recapitulate the sensorimotor period within the realm of thought
what does the concrete operational period consist of?
children develop an ability to think logically about objects
what is developed within the concrete operations period?
transitive inference, class inclusion, and conservation
conservation task
tests children’s understanding of invarance across transformations
piaget’s explanation for failing the conservation task
preoperational children centrate on a single aspect and cannot understand quantity
alternative explanation for failing the conservation task
may lack an understanding of the words being asked
children had a conception of numbers, but were led into incorrect answers by piaget’s social pragmatics
social pragmatics
the cues and responses of experimenters prompt children to provide a different answer
perspective taking task
children placed in a position in front of a 3D array were asked to select a picture of what it would look like from the other side
at 4 years, children typically picked their own view
piaget’s explanation for failing the perspective taking task
egocentrism of thought, which is overcome by developing ‘reversibility’ of perceptual transformations
children cannot understand spatial transformations
alternative explanation for failing the perspective taking task
having 10 photographs to choose from may be difficult for children’s working memory, due to the task’s high executive demand
transitivity task
children must make a transitive inference by comparing two values by using their relationship to an intermediary value
piaget’s explanation for failing the transitivity task
preoperational children are unable to infer the difference between AC as they lacked an understanding of ‘reversibility’
they failed to understand B could hold different simultaneous relations
alternative explanation for failing the transitivity task
places unrealistic demands on children’s memory, as they must remember the length of A
when taught to remember the length of A, they passed easily
what are problems with piaget’s sensorimotor theory?
his methods depend upon the manual abilities of children, and do not consider that babies may understand objects but are unable to act upon them
what are problems with piaget’s account of logical development?
alternative explanations towards the concrete operations account limit the value of piaget’s work
- the information processing account considers the limitations of cognitive development in children
information processing account
considers:
- neopiagetian accounts consider the processing limitations of children
- emerging empiricist account rejects piaget
- nativist accounts believe cognitive development is restricted by maturation of function
what did cross-cultural research find about the concrete and formal operations stage?
the attainment of these stages is varied
performing well in one domain does not ensure high performance in another domain
why is piaget’s domain general account disregarded?
developmental disorders and cognitive impairments indicate domain specificity
which part of piaget’s work remains influential in the 21st century?
the role of genetic epistemology in developmental cognitive neuroscience
what does piaget’s stage theory underlie?
the beginning of research into cognitive development, as ‘theory of mind’ has clear ties to children’s egocentrism and false-belief
