Lecture 5 - Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Flashcards
what is a schema ?
A blue print too everything we know about the world, built from different ideas.
what did Piaget say about schemas?
Piaget suggest that we are born with a small number of reflex-schemas such as sucking- and this allows the infant to INTERACT with the world.
what encourages more schemas to be built?
interaction and activity
whats the initial schema?
the me -schema
what did Piaget think about children?
children have to learn. to think
what happens when a child comes across something new?
This leads to a feeling of disequilibrium and in order to achieve equilibration the infant has to explore and learn about the new situation
what is disequalqibrirum ?
an imbalance between what is understood and what is encountered.
what is assimilation ?
This is when the infant adds new information to existing schemas.
what is accomodation?
This is when the infant comes across something qualitatively different and so has to change the current schema or come up with a new one.
overall what did Piaget believe?
children developed and learnt through the processes of assimilation and accommodation of existing schemas in order to make sense of new situations.
Each child develops their own individual mental representations through
activity and interaction with their environment
how are children motivated?
motivated to do this through the need to achieve equilibration.
what did Piaget call children?
scientists
what did piaget’s theory do for schools?
Sitting silently at desks within the primary school system was replaced by activity orientated environments
what are the 4 stages of intellectual developemnt?
- children are active learners who construct knowledge from their environments
- they learn through assimilation and accommodation, and complex cognitive development occurs through equilibration
- the interaction with physical and social environments is key for cognitive development
- development occurs in stages
