Piaget's stages of intellectual development CD Flashcards
What are the four stages of intellectual development identified by Piaget?
- Sensorimotor stage
- Pre-operational stage
- Stage of concrete operations
- Stage of formal operations
Each stage is characterized by a different level of reasoning ability.
Define object permanence.
The ability to realize that an object still exists when it passes out of the visual field.
This concept is typically developed around 8 months of age.
What does conservation refer to in Piaget’s theory?
The ability to realize the quantity remains the same even when the appearance of an object or group of objects changes.
This is a fundamental concept in mathematical understanding.
What is egocentrism in child development?
The child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view.
This concept is assessed through tasks like the three mountains task.
Explain class inclusion.
An advanced classification skill in which we recognize that classes of objects have subsets and are themselves subsets of larger classes.
Children under 7 typically struggle with this concept.
What characterizes the sensorimotor stage?
Babies focus on physical sensations, develop basic physical coordination, and learn by trial and error.
This stage lasts approximately from 0 to 2 years.
At what age do children typically begin to understand object permanence?
Around 8 months.
Before this age, babies switch attention away from objects immediately when they are out of sight.
What is a key characteristic of the pre-operational stage?
Children can use language but lack adult reasoning ability, leading to characteristic errors in reasoning.
This stage lasts approximately from 2 to 7 years.
Describe the number conservation experiment.
Children were presented with 2 rows of 8 identical counters; they correctly identified the same number until the rows were manipulated, causing confusion.
This illustrates difficulties in conservation during the pre-operational stage.
What happens during the liquid conservation procedure?
Children recognize that two identical containers have the same volume until the liquid is poured into a taller, thinner vessel.
……….
Younger children often believe there is more liquid in the taller container.
What is demonstrated in the three mountains task?
Children struggle to identify what a doll positioned at a different angle could see, highlighting egocentrism.
This task illustrates a child’s limited perspective-taking ability.
What abilities do children typically develop in the stage of concrete operations?
Children can perform better on tasks of egocentrism and class inclusion, but reasoning is limited to concrete objects.
This stage typically occurs from ages 7 to 11.
What characterizes the stage of formal operations?
Children become capable of formal reasoning and can focus on the form of an argument without being distracted by content.
This stage typically begins at age 11 and beyond.
True or False: Piaget’s research on conservation has been universally accepted without criticism.
False.
Research by McGarrigle and Donaldson suggests children may conserve at an earlier age than Piaget proposed.
What did Hughes’ research suggest about egocentrism?
Children can understand multiple viewpoints earlier than Piaget proposed.
…………
In Hughes’ study, 3.5-year-olds successfully positioned a boy out of sight of two police officers.
Fill in the blank: The stage of _____ operations is characterized by the ability to reason about abstract ideas.
formal
This stage allows for scientific reasoning and appreciation of abstract concepts.
What limitation was identified in the class inclusion research?
Newer research suggests children under 7 can understand class inclusion when given appropriate feedback.
………..
This challenges Piaget’s original conclusions about the timing of cognitive development.
