Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Question 1

What did Piaget believe?

Answer 1

• he believed the different levels of cognition between adults and children is a result if thinking differently
• he believed maturation (biological aging) and interactions with our environment allow us to learn and therefore develope schemas

Question 2

What are schemas?

Answer 2

they are cognitive framework that we create through our experiences. This allows us to respond appropriately to both ambiguous and familiar situations.

Question 3

What happens to schemas as you get older?

Answer 3

they become more complex and detailed

Question 4

What are the two types of schemas?

Answer 4

• behavioural (knowing how to do something)
• cognitive (knowing what something is)

Question 5

How do schemas develope?

Answer 5

• accommodation
• assimilation

Question 6

Describe accommodation.

Answer 6

• a form of learning that occurs when you learn a new peice of information that changes your understanding of a consept
• this causes a new schema to be developed
• an example could be when a child initially believes all animals with 4 legs and a tail are dogs but theb learns about cats causing cat schema to be made

Question 7

Describe assimilation.

Answer 7

• a form of learning that takes place when you learn new information of an object/person/idea
• this does dramatically change the understanding of a topic so a new schema isn’t made
• instead schema becomes more detailed by encorporating the new information into it
• an example of this could be a child with a family dog can adapt thier dog schema by encorporating the idea of more than one breed existing

Question 8

What is equilibrium?

Answer 8

the restorance of balance after assimilation or accommodation occurs because of the discomfort caused by encounering new information (disequilibrium)