Piaget theory of cognitive development evaluation

Question 1

Children form individual mental representations by discovery

Answer 1

POINT: Piaget believed that children learn by forming their own mental representations of the world
- this suggests even children who have had similar learning experiences will form individual mental representations

EVIDENCE: Howe et al (1992) put children aged between 9 and 12 years in groups of four to study and discuss the movement of objects down a slope
Their understanding of the topic was assessed before and after this discussion

EXPLANATION: following their experience of working together and discussing the topic, the children were found to have increased their level of knowledge and understanding
However, the children had not come to the same conclusions or picked up the same facts about movement down a slope

CONCLUSION: This supports Piaget idea that children learn by forming their own personal representations

Question 2

application in education

Answer 2

POINT: Piaget’s idea that children learn by actively exploring their environment and forming their own mental representations of the world has been revolutionary in classroom teaching

EVIDENCE: Since the 1960s when Piaget’s ideas became popularises, the old fashioned ways in which children sat silently in rows copying from the boars have became replaced by actively orientated classrooms where children actively engage in tasks

EXPLANATION: This real-life application increases the validity of Piaget’s theory on cognitive development

Question 3

Piaget may underplay the role of other people in learning

Answer 3

POINT: Piaget may have underplayed the role of other people in learning

EVIDENCE: Piaget did not believe that children learned best on their own however, other people were not the main focus of Piaget’s theory, and he saw learning in terms of what happens in the mind of the individual. However, there are a range of research findings to suggest that other people are central to the process of learning

EXPLANATION: This suggests that perhaps other theories may be better in explaining learning. For example, Vygotsky proposed that learning is essentially a process and that children are capable of much more advanced learning if this is supported by peers/ and adult experts.

Question 4

Piaget may have overplayed the importance of equilibrium

Answer 4

POINT: Piaget may have overplayed the importance of equilibrium

EVIDENCE: Piaget saw learning as a motivated process that children learn in order to equilibrate because disequilibrium is an unpleasant feeling 
However, children vary greatly in their intellectual curiosity. It may have been that Piaget overestimated just how motivated children are to learn
e.g. the sample that he use to base this theory was on middle-class clever children 

EXPLANATION:
This means that his theory lacks validity

Question 5

You can’t generalise his point to everyone

Answer 5

POINT: You can’t generalise Piaget’s theory to everyone

EVIDENCE: Piaget only tested participant participants that were of a similar background to himself, educated children from a:
middle class
European background
Such children may have become highly motivated than children from less educated backgrounds and from different cultures

EXPLANATION: Therefore, the way this group acquires knowledge may be different to others. Abstract and formal operations may be less common in other social and cultural groups