Cognitive development 1

Piaget:
Development involves: adaptation to the environment, interaction between
maturation and experience, and active construction of knowledge
Key concepts:
Schemas internal representations made up of meaningfully related ideas
Assimilation existing mental structures handle new information
Accommodation new information leads to change in existing structures
Equilibrium - cognitive system aims to achieve balance

Piagets 4 developmental stages:

Sensorimotor stage birth to around 2yrs
Preoperational stage around 2 to 7yrs
Concrete operations stage - around 7 to 11yrs
Formal operations stage around 11yrs to adulthood

sensorimotor stage:
This revolves around coordinating the sensory experience, such as sights and
sounds with physical motor actions
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Object permanence, Piaget claimed that infants do not realise that objects
have an independent existence until around 18-24 months if the object
cant be seen, it no longer exists

Infant search behaviour:

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4-8 months: 1) infant receives a visible object 2) infant searches for and
retrieves a partially hidden object 3) however, the infant is unable to
search a for a fully hidden object
9-10 months a not b error : 1) experimenter distracts infant and switches
the position of a hidden object 2) infant searchers for the hidden object in
the same place as before, despite obvious size difference 3) infant is
confused when the hidden object is not found

Piagets explanation: extreme infant egocentrism (inability to differentiate

between self and other), initially the infant only understands the world in terms
of its own actions. Gradual separation of understanding self from external world
decentration.

Preoperational stage:

This revolves around symbolic thinking begin to treat objects as

representations of something else e.g. banana = phone
There is a dramatic development of language in the second year of life based
on the increase in cognitive flexibility. However, centration focusing attention
on one single characteristic and ignoring others, and lack of conservation
failure to understand that certain properties of objects do not change when
appearance is altered commonly occur.
Conservation tasks:
Conservation of liquid - appearance changes but amount stays the same
Conservation of number appearance changes but quantity stays the same
Understanding conservation:
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Identity its the same stuff

Reversibility if we put it back/ count them it will be the same
Compensation its taller but thinner/ the row is longer but the gaps are
wider

Residual egocentrism tendency to view the world from ones own

perspective. Failure to take account of anothers perspective.
Piagets three mountains task (viewpoint). 4yrs: dont understand question, 46yrs: choose own view, 6-7yrs: aware of different viewpoint, 7-9yrs begin to
select correct views
Summary of childhood egocentrism object permanence, conservation and
perspective taking. As egocentrism declines, thinking becomes more flexible

The concrete operational stage: 7-11yrs

Children begin to master the principle of conservation due to development of
cognition. They get better at taking perspective of another person and are able
to solve class inclusion problems. But skills are best shown in concrete
situations children often struggle with hypothetical or abstract problems.
The formal operational stage: 11yrs+
Ability to engage in: abstract reasoning and reflective thinking, with appreciation
of: formal logic and multiple perspectives.
Scientific reasoning pendulum task
Requires the use of hypothetico-deductive reasoning general principles to
conclusions

Piaget a constructivist approach: more claims

1. Cognitive development is a more or less universal process

2. Cognitive development results from the childs independent exploration

of the environment and resolution of conflict.
3. Development precedes learning the child has to be ready to handle
greater complexity
4. Language develops as a result of cognitive development
Cognitive development 2
Challenges to Piaget, Vygotsky and social influences

Sensorimotor stage conflicting evidence