piaget's theory of cognitive development

Question 1

what is the assumption of piaget’s theory?

Answer 1

• humans are born with innate (biological) abilities
• cognitive development occurs through a combination of these abilities and environmental interactions

Question 2

what is a schema?

Answer 2

schema are cognitive frameworks that help organise information and understanding of the world

Question 3

how does piaget link learning to the schema?

Answer 3

• children are born with an initial schema (e.g. the basic reflex to suck things).
• initial schemas are a foundation from which the child can interact with the environment and learn new things.
  -over time, the child will develop new schemas and update their existing schema

Question 4

what are the 2 types of learning?

Answer 4

• accommodation
• assimilation

Question 5

what does the development of the schema involve?

Answer 5

• equilibration (equilibrium and disequilibrium)
• adaptation (assimilation and accommodation)

Question 6

what is assimilation?

Answer 6

• assimilation occurs when we are exposed to new information which does not radically change our
  existing knowledge
• so we assimilate (incorporate) it into an existing schema.

Question 7

what is an example of assimilation?

Answer 7

a child seeing a tabby cat, when it has only seen black, white and ginger cats previously.
- the new appearance of a cat does not radically change the child’s
existing knowledge of what a cat is, how it behaves etc.

Question 8

what is accommodation?

Answer 8

• accommodation occurs when we are exposed to new information which radically changes our
  existing knowledge
• we accommodate it by modifying existing schema/ making new schema

Question 9

what is an example of accommodation?

Answer 9

if a child has developed the gender schema that women have long hair but then meets a woman with short hair.
- the child can accommodate this new experience by updating their schema of ‘woman’ to include people with short hair

Question 10

what is equilibration?

Answer 10

• when a new experience fits an existing schema, it can be assimilated and equilibrium is maintained
• if a new experience does not fit an existing schema, this causes a state of disequilibrium and the current schema must be updated to accommodate the new experience.

Question 11

what is equilibrium?

Answer 11

-when an experience fits within the child’s existing schema
- this is a pleasant and desirable state because it means the child understands the world around them.

Question 12

what is disequilibrium?

Answer 12

• when an experience does not fit within the child’s existing schema
• this is an unpleasant state because it means the child doesn’t understand what is going on, causing confusion
• this unpleasant feeling creates a motivation to learn and return to the pleasant state of equilibrium.

Question 13

learning AO1 summary:

Answer 13

knowledge is organised in cognitive schemas. learning takes place in the form of assimilation (adding to existing schema) and accommodation (modifying schema). children are motivated to learn because when something doesn’t make sense it leads to the unpleasant sensation of disequilibrium, which we want to end by exploring and learning. this could be done through trial/error discovery or asking questions. assimilation and accommodation are forms of adaptation to return the child to a state of equilibrium

Question 14

S: research support (Howe)

Answer 14

ID: there is research to support piaget’s cognitive development
Q: this means there is evidence to show the importance and mechanism of discovery learning
EX: Howe et al tested 9-12 y/o children (placed in groups of 4) who all watched the motion of the same object sliding down a slope. the children were then allowed to discuss what they had seen. despite all seeing the same motion, each child reported different details and had a different understanding of the motion. this confirms Piaget’s prediction that individual mental representations are formed through discovery learning, where there are individual differences in each child’s existing schemas
AN: therefore, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has evidence
supporting the role of schemas, accommodation and assimilation.

Question 15

W: incomplete explanation

Answer 15

ID: piaget’s theory can be criticised for being an incomplete explanation of cognitive development
Q: piaget’s theory does not consider the role of language in a child’s cognitive development
EX: for example, there is an over-emphasis on self-motivation and personal trial and error. in comparison, Vygotsky emphasised the importance of language far more than Piaget, seeing it as an external expression of thought, as opposed to just another cognitive ability.
AN: therefore, this may mean the theory is reductionist in explaining the different aspects of developing cognition