Piaget's theory of cognitive development Flashcards
cognitive development definition
a general term describing the development of all mental processes, in particular thinking, reasoning and our development continues throughout the lifespan but psychologists have been particularly concerned with how thinking and reasoning develops through childhood
schema definition
a mental framework of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. they are developed from experience
assimilation defintion
form of learning that takes place when we acquire a new information or a more advanced understanding of an object, person or idea. when new information does not radically change our understanding of the topic we can incorporate (assimilate) in into an existing schema
accommodation definition
a form of learning that takes place when we acquire new information that chnages our understanding of a topic to the extent that we need to form one or more new schema and/or radically change existing schema in order to deal with the new understanding
equilibration definition
takes place when we have encountered new information and built it into our understanding of a topic, either by assimilating it into existing schema or accommodating it to form a new one. once assimilation or accomodation has taken place, everything is again balances and we have escaped the unpleasant experience of a lack of balance - disequilibrium
what type of theory is Piaget’s
influential theory of cognitive development
what was Piaget’s great contribution to child psychology
realised children do not simply know less than adults do. he instead realised, children think in an entirely different way from adults
what did Piaget divide childhood into
stages , each of which represents the development of new ways of reasoning
what 2 aspects of children’s learning did Piaget look at
-role of motivation in development
- the question of how knowledge
what is schema
the way the world is represented in the mind of the individual
how do childrens schema change over time
as children develop they construct more and more detailed and complex mental representations of the world. these representations are stored in the form of schema
what schema did Piaget think children are born with
small number of schema, just enough to allow them to interact with the world and other people
what did Piaget think about schema development
right from the beginning, in infancy, we construct new schema. one of these is the me-schema
what is the me-schema
all the child’s knowledge about themselves is stored
what is the role of schema in cognitive development
cognitive development involves the construction of progressively more detailed schema for people (including ourselves) and also objects, physical actions and later, more abstract ideas like justice and morality
what did Piaget say about motivation
an important element in the theory is motivation to learn
what did Piaget says causes disequilibrium
we are pushed to learn when our existing schema do not allow us to make sense of something new.
what does disequilibrium make us feel
unpleasant sensation
how do we escape disequilibrium
adapt to the new situation by exploring and developing our understanding this is achieved by equilibration
how do we remove disequilibrium
equilibration
what is equilibration
the preferred mental state
what were the 2 processes Piaget thought adaption takes place
-assimilation
-accommodation
what is accommodation
takes place when we understand a new experience and equilibrate by adding new information to our existing schema.
how does Piaget think learning takes place
by assimilation and accommodation
example of assimilation
a child in a family with dogs can adapt to the existence of different dog breeds by assimilating them into their dog schema
what is accommodation
takes place in response to drastically new experiences. the child has to adjust to these by either radically changing current schema or forming new ones
example of accommodation
a child with a pet dog may at first of cats as dogs (have 4 legs, fur and a tail) but then recognise the existence of a separate category called cats. this accommodation will involve forming a new ‘cat-schema’
strength of Piaget’s cognitive theory of cognitive development - research support
-existence of evidence for the individual formation of metal representations
-Piaget’s theory of learning suggests that children will form quite individual representations of the world, even when they have similar learning experiences. Howe et al demonstrated this in a study in which children aged 9-12 were placed in groups of 4 to investigate and discuss the movement of objects down a slope. following this activity all the children were found to have increased their understanding. crucially though, their understanding had not become more similar. instead each child had picked up different facts and reached slightly different conclusions –> means that each child had formed an individual mental representation of how objects move on sloped - as piaget would have expected
strength of Piaget’s cognitive theory of cognitive development - real-world application
-had been applied to teaching
-Piaget’s idea that children learn by actively exploring their environment and forming their own metal representation of the world has changed classroom teaching. since piaget ideas became popular in the 1960s, the old-fashioned classroom, in which children sat silently in rows copying the board, has been replaced by activity-oriented classrooms in which children sat silently in rows copying the board, has been replaced by activity orientated classrooms in which children actively engage in tasks that allow them to construct their own understandings of the curriculum. such discovery learning can take different forms. in early years classroom children may, for example investigate physical properties of sand and water. At a-level, discovery may take the form of flipped lessons where students read up on content, forming their own basic mental representation of topic prior to the lesson –> shows how piaget-inspired approached may facilitate the development of individual mental representation of the world
limitation of Piaget’s cognitive theory of cognitive development - counterpoint to real-world application
-Piaget’s theory has influenced modern practice in teaching and learning, however there is no firm evidence showing that children learn better using discovery learning. Lazonder and Hamersen concluded that discovery learning with considerable input form teachers was the most effective, but it seems with input from others, not necessarily discovery learning is the most crucial element –> means discovery learning is less effective than we would expect if Piaget theory of learning is correct
limitation of Piaget’s cognitive theory of cognitive development - role of others in learning
-underestimated role of others in learning
-Piaget saw others as useful to learning process which contrasts with theories in which learning is seen as more social process, supported by more knowledgeable others. in particular vygotsky saw knowledge as between learner and expert and then only in the mind of the individual. as there is strong evidence to support this, this is suggested as a better alternative –> means Piaget’s theory may be incomplete explanation for learning as it doesn’t put emphasis on role of learning in others
evaluation of Piaget’s cognitive theory of cognitive development - role of motivation
-Piaget suggested that children acquire new knowledge to escape the unpleasant disequilibrium. as therefore the desire to learn in internally motivated (born with desire to learn about the world)
-however, it ahs been suggested that Piaget overstated role of motivation in learning. one possible reason for this is he studied an unrepresentitative and intelligent children sample which were initially his own and then those in a uni nursery. these children may have been more motivated to learn than most
