L,T&C - Piagets Theory Flashcards
What is Piagets theory?
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development concerns how our thinking develops.
He believes we learn by developing schemas about the world.
Explain how language depends on thought
Children develop language by matching the correct word to their knowledge.
Thought and understanding comes first, language develops after.
What does Piaget believe
Language depends on thought
Explain the application to young children
Children only understand words when they have reached the correct stage of development and are ready.
They can have language without understanding but will not be able to use it effectively.
Explain the development of language
Sensorimotor stage: Children speak towards the end of their first year.
Pre-operational stage: From 2 years they talk about things not present.
When does logical thinking develop
Concrete operational stage: By 7 children’s language becomes mature and logical as they question things and create their own ideas.
Evaluate Piagets theory (supporting evidence)
A strength is that early language is not random.
When children start talking they use two-word phrases like ‘Mummy sock’, which shows they can see how objects relate to each other.
This suggests that children only start to use language when they have some understanding of it.
Evaluate Piagets theory (language comes first)
A weakness is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis challenges Piaget.
It states that language comes before thought as people need a word or phrase for an object in order to think about it.
This suggests that Piaget may have been wrong.
Evaluate Piagets theory (schema)
Another weakness is that schema cannot be scientifically measured.
It is very difficult to know if schema exist as we cannot directly measure them.
This shows that Piaget’s theory of language and thought is not based on solid scientific evidence.
