Intellectual Development and Piaget Flashcards
What is Intellectual (Cognitive) Development?
It is about how children organize their ideas and make sense of the world in which they live. This development relates to the way that children learn to think and process information.
What are the five main areas of Cognitive Development?
Language
Problem solving
Memory
Abstract thoughts
Moral development
Explain Intellectual development through life.
In infancy and childhood it is a rapid stage of intellectual development.
By adolescence you will be able to problem solve be able to recall memory and use logical thought.
Adulthood - judgements are used through life experiences.
Later adulthood – lose short term memory reaction times may decline as well as the thought process.
Who is Piaget?
Piaget came up with the theory of cognitive development.
He was a Zoologist who became interested in children and their cognitive development as a result of working on intelligence tests.
Piaget used his own children to make detailed observations and gradually developed a theory that has been influential in education in many countries.
What are criticisms of Piaget?
What is the Constructivist approach?
This is another term used on Piaget’s theory.
He suggested that children construct or build up their thoughts according to their experiences of the world around them.
What is a Schema?
A child’s conclusion or thoughts.
Explain the concept of Schemas.
Assimilation
Child constructs a theory or schema about something
Equilibrium
The child’s experiences to date seem to fit the schema, everything balances
Disequilibrium
An experience occurs that casts doubt on the effectiveness of the schema, things don’t add up anymore
Accommodation
Child changes the original schema to fit to the new experience and information
E.g child meets first dog which is large black labrador, assumes thats what all dogs look like. Goes to the park and meets a white chihuahua, learns not all dogs look the same.
-changes original schema.
What are some criticisms of Piaget?
He focused on individual learning, but critics argue he didn’t consider how much children learn from others, like parents, teachers, or peers.
He also only used his own children in his experiments.
His theory is outdated.
Mostly studied western children
Underestimated the development of children as some can achieve things much earlier with support- its flexible and can happen earlier or later than he suggested
Gesell-
Development follows a definite sequence that one skill must be in place for the ability to develop the next
A child’s development is predetermined before birth and any developmental delays are hereditary.
Believed very little in environmental factors affecting development.
A ‘nature’ over nurture theorist
Concept of readiness- children will only move onto the next developmental stage when their body and brain is ready to, this cannot be influenced by teaching and persuasion.
All children are unique and develop at different rates
Only studied white middle class children- lack of population validity
Ignored children with intellectual disabilities and how extra support in their environment is needed
What are the four stages of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor stage 0-2
Preoperational stage 2-7
Concrete operational stage 7-11
Formal operational stage 11+
What is animism?
Believing inanimate objects have feelings.
What is egocentrism?
Difficulty seeing from others perspective.
What is symbolic function?
Use symbols to represent things
What is the sensorimotor stage?
Infants learn through their senses- touch, sight, sound, taste and motor abilities- grabbing, crawling
Become aware of things beyond their bodies
Object permanence
Develop habits(sucking thumb)
Experimentation- trial and error
What is the pre-operational stage?
Symbolic function
Animism
Egocentrism
Lack of conservation
Pretend play
Irreversibility
