piaget’s stages of intellectual development

Question 1

What is Piagets stages of intellectual development?

Answer 1

The role of experience, children gradually becoming capable of different levels of thinking passing through stages of development. A set of stages characterised by a different level of reasoning ablilty

Question 2

What is the sensori-motor stage?

Answer 2

Begins from 0-2 years, where the child’s understanding of the roof is directly through senses and movement. Only thinks about objects/people it can sense, and objects they can manipulate

Question 3

What is object permanence?

Answer 3

• the ability to understand that an object still exists even though it can no longer be seen, develops around 8 months

Question 4

When does the object permanence occur?

Answer 4

During the sensorimotor stage

Question 5

The blanket and ball study is research evidence for

Answer 5

Object permanence

Question 6

Outline the blanket and ball study

Answer 6

• Aim was to investigate what age children acquire object permanence

• hid a toy under blanket and observed whether or not the child was searching for the hidden toy

• if they were - that was a sign of object permanence, assumed that the child had a mental representation of it

Question 7

Findings of the Blanket and Ball study

Answer 7

Found that infants searched for hidden toy when they were 8 months old
Concluded that children around 8 months have object permanence because they were able to form a mental representation of object in their mind

Question 8

What is the pre-operational stage?

Answer 8

Occurs around 2-7 years of age, thinking about things symbolically so have the ability to link words and objects together.

Egocentrism

Question 9

What do the children lack in the pre operational stage?

Answer 9

Conservation

Question 10

What is conservation?

Answer 10

Understanding that something stays in quantify even though it’s appearance changes

Question 11

Example of conservation

Answer 11

Around 7 years, children can conserve liquid because they understand that when water is poured into a different shaped glass, the quantity of liquid remains the same, even though its appearance has changed. So at the pre operational stage, they lack conservation because they haven’t developed logical mental rules

Question 12

Egocentrism

Answer 12

Children see the world from their own perspective, unaware of others perspective

Question 13

What research supports egocentrism?

Answer 13

Three mountain experiment

Question 14

Three mountain experiment

Answer 14

Child seated on one side of a mountain scenery model, while a doll is seated on opposite side

Shown a series of pictures of mountain scenery and was asked to select one that corresponded most closely to what they would see

Question 15

Findings of the three mountain experiment

Answer 15

Children in the pre-operations stage tended to choose picture that was most like the view they could see, evidence that the children were egocentric

Question 16

The third stage of the intellectual development

Answer 16

The concrete operations stage, occurs between 7-11

Question 17

What is the concrete operations stage

Answer 17

Can think logically but only about the physical objects they can see

Can demonstrate conservation

Struggle to think about abstract ideas and to imagine objects and situations they can’t see

Can’t work things out internally in their head

Question 18

What is the last stage of intellectual development?

Answer 18

The formal operations stage - occurs 11+

Question 19

What is the formal operations stage?

Answer 19

Children are able to think hypothermia and consider abstract ideas

Able to focus on the form of an argument rather than being distracted by its content

Develops moral reasoning

Question 20

What’s a limitation of piagets theory?

Answer 20

Culturally biased

as his “abstract ideas” is due to his European background values where other cultures may place greater values on concrete operational abilities such as producing things.

Therefore brings issue of culture, as piagets theory may not be universally applicable

Question 21

What’s a strength of piaget’s theory?

Answer 21

Can be applied to education

Like abstract mathematical calculations are difficult to teach pre operational children

Concepts can only be taught when children are “biologically ready”

If true, suggests that school curriculum needs to be amended to ensure children get suitable education

Question 22

Final evaluation: A limitation of piagets theory is?

Answer 22

There’s evidence to suggest that Piaget may have underestimated pre operational children’s abilities

Question 23

Evidence suggesting that Piaget underestimated….

Answer 23

For example, piagets methods has been criticised for confusing young children, eventually suffering from demand characteristics

Hughes et al - conducted a study where children were told to hide a doll so police couldn’t see him.

• Found that children who were age 3 and 1/2 could complete the task with one officer 90% of time
• 4 y/o could only do this when there are 2 officers

Suggests that Piaget’s methodology minimises children who were in the pre operational stage abilities