Cognitive Development by Piaget

JEAN PIAGET’SCOGNITIVE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT

INTRODUCTION

Jean Piaget, a Swiss researcher and writer, developed a theory of cognitive development. For sixty years, he conducted the research on how human beings develop intellectually. His research method involved observing a small number of individuals as they responded to cognitive tasks that he designed. These tasks were later known

as “Piagetian Tasks.”

INTRODUCTION

Piaget called his general theoretical framework “genetic epistemology” because he was interested on how knowledge develops in human organisms. He was initially into biology and he also had a background in philosophy. Knowledge from both these disciplines influenced his theories and research of child development. Out of his researches, Piaget came up with the four stages of cognitive development.

INTRODUCTION

Piaget examined the implication of his theory

not only to aspects of cognition but also to

intelligence and moral development. His theory

has been applied widely to teaching and

curriculum design especially in the preschool

and elementary curricula.

BASIC COGNITIVE CONCEPTS


1. Schema. Piaget used the term “schema” to

refer to the cognitive structures by which

individuals intellectually adapt to and organize

their environment. It is an individual’s way to

understand or create meaning about a thing or

experience.

SCHEMA

If a child sees a dog for the first time, he

creates his own schema of what a dog is. It

has four legs and a tail; it barks; it’s furry. The

child then puts this description of a dog in his

mind.


2. Assimilation. This refers to the process of

fitting a new experience into an existing or

previously created cognitive structure or

schema.

ASSIMILATION

If the child sees another dog, this time a

smaller one, he would make sense of what he

is seeing by adding this new information into

his schema of a dog.


3. Accommodation. This refers to the process

of creating a new schema.

ACCOMMODATION

If the same child sees another animal that looks a

little bit like a dog but somehow different, he

might try to fit it into his schema of dog. With the

guardian’s further descriptions, the child will now

create a new schema, that of another kind of

animal with four legs. He now adds a new schema

of another animal into his mind.


4. Equilibration. This refers to achieving proper balance between assimilation and accommodation. When our experiences do not match our schemata (plural of schema) or cognitive structures, we experience cognitive disequilibrium. This means there is a discrepancybetween what is perceived and what is understood. We then exert effort through assimilation and accommodation to establish equilibrium once more.

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

THE STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

There are four (4) stages of cognitive

development: the sensorimotor stage (from birth

to infancy), the pre-operational/intuitive stage

(from two to seven years of age), the concrete

operational stage (from eight to eleven years of

age), and the formal operational stage (from

twelve to fifteen years of age).

Four Stages of Cognitive Developme

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SENSORIMOTOR STAGE

The first stage corresponds from birth to

infancy. This is the stage when a child who is

initially reflexive in grasping, sucking, and

reaching becomes more organized in his

movement and activity. Children think as a

result of coordination of sensory input

(thinking) and motor responses (muscle

movements).

SENSORIMOTOR STAGE

Intelligence is non-verbal or non-symbolic

because the child has not developed language

yet. Under this stage is the development of object

permanence. This is the ability of a child to know

that an object exist even when out of sight.

Infants lack object permanence; they cannot

mentally represent or think about objects that

they are not directly interacting with.BACK

PRE-OPERATIONAL/INTUITIVE STAGE

The pre-operational stage covers from about two

to seven years old, roughly corresponding to the

preschool years. Intelligence during this stage is

intuitive in nature. This is where thinkers can

symbolize or mentally represent (pretend) their

world. This is the period dominated by a rapid

development of language.


This stage is highlighted by the following:

•Symbolic Function. This is the ability to

represent objects and events through

“symbols.”

•Egocentrism. This is the inability of a child to

consider another’s viewpoint.


•Centration. This refers to the tendency of the

child to only focus on one aspect of a thing or

event and exclude other aspects.

•Irreversibility. Children at this stage have the

inability to reverse their thinking.


•Animism. This is the tendency of children to

attribute human like traits or characteristics to

inanimate objects.

•Transductive Reasoning. This refers to the type

of reasoning that is neither inductive nor

deductive. Reasoning appears to be from

particular to particular.BACK

CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE

The concrete operational stage covers approximately the ages between eight to eleven years or the elementary school years. This stage is characterized by the ability of the child to think logically wherein mathematical operations develop. Children may have difficulty dealing with hypothetical problems because thinking can only be applied to concrete objects or events.


The concrete operational stage is marked by

the following:

•Decentering. This refers to the ability of the

child to perceive the different features of

objects and situations. The child is no longer

focused or limited to one aspect.


•Reversibility. The child can now follow that certain operations can be done in reverse.

•Conservation. This is the ability to know that certain properties of objects do not change even if there is a change in appearance.

•Seriation. This refers to the ability to order or arrange things in series based on one dimension or aspect.

BACK

FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE

In the final stage of formal operations covering

ages between twelve to fifteen years, thinking

becomes more logical. Children can handle

hypothetical and abstract problems. Scientific

reasoning is possible. Formal operations may

involve the development of logical and

systematic thinking.


This stage is characterized by the following:

•Hypothetical Reasoning. This is the ability to

come up with different hypothesis about a

problem and to gather and weigh data in

order to make a final decision or judgment.

This can be done in the absence of concrete

objects.


•Analogical Reasoning. This is the ability to

perceive relationship in one instance and then

use that relationship to narrow down possible

answers in another similar situation or problem.

Through reflective thought and even in the

absence of concrete objects, an individual can

now understand relationships and do analogical

reasoning.


•Deductive Reasoning. This is the ability to

think logically by applying a general rule to a

particular instance or situation.

PRINCIPLES OF PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

PRINCIPLES

•Children will provide different explanations of

reality at different stage of cognitive

development.

•Cognitive development is facilitated by

providing activities or situations that engage

learners and require adaptation.

PRINCIPLES

•Learning materials and activities should involve

the appropriate level of motor or mental

operations for a child of give age; avoid asking

students to performs tasks that are beyond their

cognitive capabilities.

•Use teaching methods which actively involve

students and present challenges.

Education

Cognitive Development by Piaget