Piaget's theory Flashcards
What is cognitive development?
Refers to the ways in which certain mental processes change and develop throughout the human lifespan
Cognitive development is the growth of mental abilities including what?
- Thinking
- Reasoning
- Memory
- Language
- Developing an understanding of the world
What did Piaget see intelligence as?
He saw intelligence as a process rather than a static state
What did Piaget suggest about children?
That they think in entirely different ways to adults and have to learn to think
What is the cognitive development equation?
Cognitive development = innate capabilities + environmental events
What are the 3 basic components to Piaget’s theory?
- Schemas
- Adaptation processes: equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation
- Stages of cognitive development
What did Piaget state about children’s schemas?
Children are born with a small number of schemas, just enough to allow them to interact with other people
What is a baby’s earliest schema?
Inborn reflexes such as sucking. These give babies something to interact with the environment and therefore help them discover knowledge
What are early schemas?
External and physical
What are later schemas?
Internal and cognitive - these are the earliest forms of thinking
What happens to schemas over time?
They become less reflex and more deliberate and under the infant’s control
What are the stages of cognitive development relating to a baby sucking?
- Babies suck everything (assimilation)
- If this works - equilibrium
If it doesn’t work - disequilibrium
- Babies are motivated to return to equilibrium. To do this they must alter their existing schema to accommodate the new experience
What is assimilation?
Fitting new information into existing mental schemas
What is accommodation?
Adjusting or changing a schema to fit new information
What does cognitive development involve regarding equilibrium and disequilibrium?
Cognitive development involves constantly swinging between equilibrium and disequilibrium, through a continuous series of assimilation and accommodation
What does assimilation allow for when new schemas are former?
The practice of the new experiences until they are automatic
What are Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
Sensorimotor stage
Pre-operational
Concrete operational
Formal operational
At what age does the sensorimotor stage occur?
0-2 years old
At what age does the pre-operational stage occur?
2-7 years old
At what age does the concrete operational stage occur?
7-11 years old
At what age does the formal operational stage occur?
11 years +
What is the sensorimotor stage?
Focus is on physical sensations. Baby recognises that they are able to act intentionally: baby relates what they see (sensory) with what they can do (motor)
What cognitive ability occurs in the sensorimotor stage?
Object permanence
What is object permanence?
The ability to realise that an object still exists when it passes out of the visual field
When does object permanence develop?
Around 8 months old
What study is related to object permanence?
Blanket and ball study
What was the aim of the blanket and ball study?
To determine the age that children develop object permanence
What was the procedure of the blanket and ball study?
The child watched Piaget hide a toy under a blanket
Piaget observed whether or not the child searched for the hidden toy
What were the findings from the blanket and ball study?
Infants under 8 months old did not reach for the hidden toy
Infants 8 months+ searched for the hidden toy
What was the conclusion of the blanket and ball study?
- Searching for the toy was evidence of object permanence because an infant can only search for something if they have a mental representation of it
- These findings suggests that a child is not born with object permanence but it is acquired during the sensorimotor stage at around 8 months
What is the pre-operational stage?
Toddler is mobile, language is developing but lacks reasoning skills
What are the 2 cognitive abilities that are associated with the pre-operational stage?
Conservation and egocentrism
What is conservation?
The ability to realise that quantity remains the same even when the appearance of an object or group of objects changes
When does conservation develop?
7 years old
What is egocentrism?
Child’s tendency to only be able to see the world from their own point of view
At what age does the ability to decentre from egocentrism occur?
7 years old
What study is related to egocentrism?
The Swiss Mountain study
What was the aim of the Swiss Mountain study?
To see at what age children are able to see the mountain scene model from their viewpoint
What was the procedure of the Swiss Mountain study?
Children aged 4-8 were presented with 3 papier mache mountains, each with something different on top; a red cross, snow or a chalet.
Children walked around and explored the model, then sat on one side while a doll was placed on one of the other sides
They were shown pictures and asked which one showed the dolls view
What were the findings from the Swiss Mountain study?
Four year old chose the picture matching their own view - they were still egocentric
Six year olds showed an understanding of other viewpoints, but often selected the wrong picture
Seven and eight year olds consistently chose the picture representing the doll’s view - they were able to decentre
What conclusion was drawn from the Swiss Mountain study?
Children are egocentric until they are at the end of the pre-operational stage (7 years old). It is only at this age they are able to take the perspective of others
What was the aim of conservation tasks?
To determine at what age a child can recognise that the appearance of an object can change without affecting its volume, length or number
What was the methos of conservation tasks?
Piaget presented children with two identical objects or set of objects
They are first shown that the objects are the same (in a key property such as number, size or volume)
Then one object is changed so that it ‘appears’ different from the other (longer, wider or taller but the key property actually remains the same
Children are then asked if the two objects are the same or different
What were the findings of the conservation tasks?
Children in the pre-operational stage (2-7) typically judged the objects to be different after the transformation, even though the key property had not changed, suggesting they could not conserve
Children on the concrete operational stage (7+) could recognise that the object remained the same, and so could conserve
What conclusion was drawn from the conservation tasks?
Piaget stated that the incorrect responses were an indication that these children had not yet mastered the ability to conserve. They focussed on the change rather than on the fact that the key property remained the same.
The findings suggest that conservation skills are acquired at the beginning of the concrete operational stage.
What did McGarringle and Donaldson do regarding conservation?
Carried out an experiment to test conservation skills
What was the aim of McGarringle and Donaldson’s conservation study?
To see if children are capable of conservation when the counters were moved accidentally instead of deliberately
What was the method of McGarringle and Donaldson’s study?
80 Scottish children (aged 4-5) were shown two rows of 8 red and white counters
They were asked “Are there more here? Here? Or are they both the same number?”
In one condition a teddy deliberately moved the counters in one row. The researcher asked the questions again
In another condition a ‘naughty teddy’ jumped out of his box and accidentally messed the counters in one row. The researcher pointed to each row and asked again “Are there more here? Here? Or are they both the same number?”
What were the findings from McGarringle and Donaldson’s study?
About 40% gave the correct answer after the teddy messed with the rows deliberately
About 68% gave the correct answer after the teddy messed with the rows accidentally
More children aged 5 gave the correct answer than children aged 4
What conclusion was drawn from McGarringle and Donaldson’s study?
In this study many of children could conserve quantity during the preoperational stage (at 4-5 years old) younger than Piaget suggested BUT there were still age differences, so the study supports Piaget’s idea that children progress at different rates within the stages of their cognitive development
What is the concrete operation stage?
Child is able to think logically - e.g. now has skills of conservation and performs well on egocentrism tasks.
But these ‘operations’ are concrete - so only applied to physical objects.
No abstract reasoning yet.
What cognitive ability is associated with the concrete operational stage?
Class inclusion
What is class inclusion?
When a child masters the ability to compare both the whole and the parts that make up the whole
What did Piaget do in his class inclusion tasks?
Piaget’s class inclusion test used white and brown wooden beads. He found that children in the pre-operational stage were unable to give the right answer to the question, “Are there more brown beads or more wooden beads?”
What did McGarrigle do regarding class inclusion?
Used a slightly different version of Piaget’s test. He used four model cows, three of them black, and one white. He laid all the cows on their sides, as if they were sleeping. Six year old children were then asked:
- Are there more black cows or more cows?
- Are there more black cows or sleeping cows?
What were the findings from McGarrigle’s class inclusion tasks?
25% of the children answered question 1 correctly
48% of the children answered question 2 correctly
What conclusion was drawn from McGarrigle’s class inclusion tasks?
This suggests that children are capable of understanding class inclusion during the preoperational stage (at 6 years old) earlier than Piaget believed. This is probably because the task was made easier to understand. McGarrigle concluded that it was the way Piaget worded his question that prevented the younger children from showing that they understood the relationship between class and sub-class.
What is the formal operational stage?
Abstract and hypothetical thinking develop, children are now capable of focusing on the ‘form’ of an argument and not get distracted by its content
What cognitive ability is associated with the formal operational stage?
Piaget believed that children at this stage are capable of scientific reasoning and can appreciate abstract ideas
