Piaget

Question 1

Outline Piagets Belief On Cognitive Development

Answer 1

Piaget Believed that children construct their learning through active engagement. He focused on the importance of ‘building blocks’ which provide the foundation to learning and how our thinking develops.

Question 2

Identify The Building Blocks Of Piagets Theory

Answer 2

Schema,
Operation,
Assimilation,
Equilibrium,
Accommodation
Disequilibrium.

Question 3

Define Schema

Answer 3

Mental idea about actions, objects, situation.

Question 4

Define Operations

Answer 4

A combination or group of schemas

Question 5

Define Assimilation

Answer 5

Using an existing schema to deal with a new situation

Question 6

Define Equilibrium

Answer 6

A period of stability when an existing schema can be used through assimilation

Question 7

Define Accommodation

Answer 7

When an existing schema can’t deal with a new situation and must be adapted

Question 8

Define Disequilibrium

Answer 8

A period of instability when an existing schemas cannot be assimilated

Question 9

Outline Piagets Belief on Intellectual Development

Answer 9

Piaget said that children’s, cognitive development occurs in stages. Each of the stages is loosely linked to age and children must fully develop through each stage before proceeding to the next. Moving onto the next stage relies on the skills and knowledge acquired from the previous stage. There are also certain characteristics/key milestones that categorise each stage.

Question 10

Identify The 4 Stages Of Intellectual Development

Answer 10

Sensory Motor Stage,
Preoperational Stage,
Concrete Stage,
Formal Operational Stage

Question 11

Describe Sensory Motor Stage

Answer 11

Birth to 2 Years Old,

Object Permanence develops after 9months of age.

Question 12

Describe Pre-operational Stage

Answer 12

2-7 Years Old,
Children dont have Conservation
But are Egocentric and have Animism

Question 13

Describe Concrete Stage

Answer 13

7-11 Years
Children have developed conservation and Class inclusion
But do not have Abstract Thinking

Question 14

Describe Formal Operational Stage

Answer 14

11+ Years

Children Develop Abstract Thinking

Question 15

Define Object Permanence

Answer 15

Knowing that an object exists even when out of sight

Question 16

Define Animism

Answer 16

Believing that objects, such as toys have human feelings and intentions

Question 17

Define Egocentrism

Answer 17

The inability to see from another person’s viewpoint – Only being able to see from your own eye

Question 18

Define Conservation

Answer 18

The ability to determine that a certain quantity will remain the same despite adjustment of the container, shape, or apparent size.

Question 19

Define Class Inclusion

Answer 19

Understanding how categories of objects relate to each other

Question 20

Define Abstract Thinking

Answer 20

The ability to use concepts and to make and understand generalizations, such as of the properties or pattern shared by a variety of specific items or events.

Question 21

Object Permanence Experiment Aim

Answer 21

Piaget (1963) wanted to investigate at what age children acquire object permanence.

Question 22

Object Permanence Experiment Method

Answer 22

Piaget hid a toy under a blanket, while the child was watching, and observed whether the child searched for the hidden toy. Searching for the hidden toy was evidence of object permanence. Piaget assumed that the child could only search for a hidden toy if they had a mental representation of it

Question 23

Object Permanence Results

Answer 23

Piaget found that infant searched for the hidden toy when they were around 8 months old

Question 24

Object Permanence Conclusion

Answer 24

Children around 8 months have object permanence because they are able to form a mental representation of the objects in their minds

Question 25

Object Permanence Experiment - A P F C

Answer 25

Piaget (1963) wanted to investigate at what age children acquire object permanence.

Piaget hid a toy under a blanket, while the child was watching, and observed whether the child searched for the hidden toy. Searching for the hidden toy was evidence of object permanence. Piaget assumed that the child could only search for a hidden toy if they had a mental representation of it

Piaget found that infant searched for the hidden toy when they were around 8 months old

Children around 8 months have object permanence because they are able to form a mental representation of the objects in their minds.

Question 26

Conservation Experiment Aim

Answer 26

Piaget wanted to investigate at what age children acquire Conservation awareness.

Question 27

Conservation Experiment Procedure

Answer 27

Piaget filled two small fat beakers with the same quantity of liquid and asked the child ‘which beaker has the more liquid, A, B or both the same’. The child would give their answer. After which Piaget would pour the same liquid from one beaker directly into a tall thin beaker and ask the child the same question again.

Question 28

Conservation Experiment Findings

Answer 28

Piaget found that the child would understand that the two small fat beakers were the same. However when asked again they would say that the tall thin beaker had more liquid in. This is because they only focused on height and did not consider width.

Question 29

Conservation Experiment Conclusion

Answer 29

This shows that during the pre-operational stage of 2-7 years old children do not have conservation skills.

Question 30

Conservation Experiment - A P F C

Answer 30

Piaget wanted to investigate at what age children acquire Conservation awareness.

Piaget filled two small fat beakers with the same quantity of liquid and asked the child ‘which beaker has the more liquid, A, B or both the same’. The child would give their answer. After which Piaget would pour the same liquid from one beaker directly into a tall thin beaker and ask the child the same question again.

Piaget found that the child would understand that the two small fat beakers were the same. However when asked again they would say that the tall thin beaker had more liquid in. This is because they only focused on height and did not consider width.

This shows that during the preoperational stage of 2-7 years old children do not have conservation skills.

Question 31

Three Mountains Experiment Aim

Answer 31

Piaget and Inhelder (1956) wanted to find out at what age children become no longer egocentric.

Question 32

Three Mountains Experiment Procedure

Answer 32

The child sits at a table, presented in front are three mountains. Each mountain was different one with snow on top of one, a hut on another and a red cross on top of the last. The child was allowed to walk round the model, to look at it, and then sit down at one side. A doll is then placed at various positions of the table. The child is then shown 10 photographs of the mountains taken from different positions, and asked to indicate which showed the dolls view. Piaget assumed that if the child correctly picked out the card showing the doll’s view, they were not egocentric. The child who picked out the card showing their view would show Egocentrism.

Question 33

Three Mountains Experiment Findings

Answer 33

Four year-olds usually chose a picture that represented what they could see and showed no awareness that the doll’s view would be different from this.

Six year-olds frequently chose a picture different from their own view but rarely chose the correct picture for the doll’s point of view.

Only seven- and eight-year-olds consistently chose the correct picture.

Question 34

Three Mountains Experiment Conclusion

Answer 34

At age 7, thinking is no longer egocentric as the children can see more than their own point of view.

Question 35

Three Mountains Experiment - A P F C

Answer 35

Piaget and Inhelder (1956) wanted to find out at what age children become no longer egocentric.

The child sits at a table, presented in front are three mountains. Each mountain was different one with snow on top of one, a hut on another and a red cross on top of the last. The child was allowed to walk round the model, to look at it, and then sit down at one side. A doll is then placed at various positions of the table. The child is then shown 10 photographs of the mountains taken from different positions, and asked to indicate which showed the dolls view. Piaget assumed that if the child correctly picked out the card showing the doll’s view, they were not egocentric. The child who picked out the card showing their view would show Egocentrism.

Four year-olds usually chose a picture that represented what they could see and showed no awareness that the doll’s view would be different from this. Six year-olds frequently chose a picture different from their own view but rarely chose the correct picture for the doll’s point of view. Only seven- and eight-year-olds consistently chose the correct picture.

At age 7, thinking is no longer egocentric as the children can see more than their own point of view.

Question 36

Formal Reasoning Experiment Aim

Answer 36

Test abstract ideas.

Question 37

Formal Reasoning Experiment Procedure

Answer 37

It can be tested by means of syllogisms. E.G ‘All yellow cats have two heads. I have a yellow cat called Charlie… how many heads does Charlie have?’ The correct answer is ‘two’.

Question 38

Formal Reasoning Experiment Finding

Answer 38

Piaget found that younger children became distracted by the content and answered that cats do not really have two heads.

Question 39

Formal Reasoning Experiment Conclusion

Answer 39

Piaget believed that once children can reason formally they are capable of scientific reasoning and become able to appreciate abstract ideas

Question 40

Formal Reasoning Experiment - A P F C

Answer 40

Test abstract ideas.

It can be tested by means of syllogisms. E.G ‘All yellow cats have two heads. I have a yellow cat called Charlie… how many heads does Charlie have?’ The correct answer is ‘two’.

Piaget found that younger children became distracted by the content and answered that cats do not really have two heads.

Piaget believed that once children can reason formally they are capable of scientific reasoning and become able to appreciate abstract ideas

Question 41

Bower & Wishart

Answer 41

Used a lab experiment to study infants aged between 1-4 months old. Instead of using Piaget’s blanket technique, they waited for the infant to reach for an object, and then turned out the lights so that the object was no longer visible. They then filmed the infant using a infrared camera. They found that the infant continued to reach for the object for up to 90 seconds after it became invisible.

Question 42

Hughes - Police, Boy Doll Experiment Aim

Answer 42

Martin Hughes (1975) argued that the three mountains task did not make sense to children.

Question 43

Hughes - Police, Boy Doll Experiment Method

Answer 43

Hughes devised a task where he showed children a model comprising two intersecting walls, a ‘boy’ doll and a ‘policeman’ doll. He then placed the police officer doll in various positions and asked the child to hide the boy doll from the police officer. Hughes did this to make sure that the child understood what was being asked of him, so if they made mistakes they were explained and the child tried again. Interestingly, very few mistakes were made. The experiment then began. Hughes brought in a second police officer doll, and placed both dolls at the end of two walls, the child was asked to hide the boy from both police officers and take account of two different points of view.

Question 44

Hughes - Police, Boy Doll Experiment Results

Answer 44

Hughes’ sample comprised children between three and a half and five years of age, of whom 90 % gave correct answers. Even when he devised a more complex situation, with more walls and a third police officer, 90 % of four-year-olds were successful.

Question 45

Hughes - Police, Boy Doll Experiment Conclusion

Answer 45

This shows that children have largely lost their egocentric thinking by four years of age, because they are able to take the view of another. Hughes’ experiment allowed them to demonstrate this because the task made sense to the child, whereas Piaget’s did not.

Question 46

Hughes - Police, Boy Doll Experiment - A P F C

Answer 46

Martin Hughes (1975) argued that the three mountains task did not make sense to children.

Hughes devised a task where he showed children a model comprising two intersecting walls, a ‘boy’ doll and a ‘policeman’ doll. He then placed the police officer doll in various positions and asked the child to hide the boy doll from the police officer. Hughes did this to make sure that the child understood what was being asked of him, so if they made mistakes they were explained and the child tried again. Interestingly, very few mistakes were made. The experiment then began. Hughes brought in a second police officer doll, and placed both dolls at the end of two walls, the child was asked to hide the boy from both police officers and take account of two different points of view.

Hughes’ sample comprised children between three and a half and five years of age, of whom 90 % gave correct answers. Even when he devised a more complex situation, with more walls and a third police officer, 90 % of four-year-olds were successful.

This shows that children have largely lost their egocentric thinking by four years of age, because they are able to take the view of another. Hughes’ experiment allowed them to demonstrate this because the task made sense to the child, whereas Piaget’s did not.

Question 47

Piaget Methodological Issues

Answer 47

As Piaget used his own children to support his own study there are some methodological issues involved. Of course we have the observer bias as there was only Piaget present to record his own findings there for the validity of the study and its results can be debated, if Piaget had another investigator there to observe with him and they came to similar results then it would be noted as more valid.

Question 48

Piaget Ethical Issues

Answer 48

One ethical issue with his study of course is the use of children and putting them under stressful and unclear situations. As children might not understand the question or task or simply might not want to be wrong they will get stressed over the situation.

Question 49

Piaget Nature / Nurture Debate

Answer 49

Piaget is favouring nature by saying this cognitive development will happen as its biologically inside them. However, he takes no consideration for the nurture side of the scale. Regardless of the nurture of the child, he claims that at the specific ages the child will develop the certain characteristics or will be in the specific stage.

Question 50

Impact Of Piaget Theory

Answer 50

This impacts the theory as it limits the validity as he ignores importance such as social interaction. He needs to take nurtures impact on the child to take an internationalist view to make his theory more valid.

Question 51

Discuss Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Answer 51

A01:

• List Building Blocks
• Identify 4 Stages,

A03:

• Piaget Toy Blanket Study / Contradicted by Bower & Wishart
• Three Mountains Task /
• Methodological Issues, Sample and Culture Bias
• Piaget Is Nature