Piaget ’s Theory of Cognitive Development

1. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Kelly Davis

2. Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, on August 9, 1896. Interested in biology and philosophy as a child. At the University of Neuchâtel he became intrigued by psychology. Working at the Binet Institute in Paris, Piaget became interested in the wrong answers children would give, and from that, developed his theory of cognitive development. He married Valentine Châtenay in 1923. The intellectual development of their three children Jacqueline, Lucienne, and Laurent became the focus of his research. Jean Piaget

3. Piaget worked at the Institut Jean-Jacques Rousseau as Research Director, the first of many such appointments. His prowess in psychology did not go unnoticed, as he received 31 honorary doctorates, was a member of 21 academic societies, was co-editor of 8 journals, and received 12 international prizes. His own works include Origins of Intelligence in the Child, as well as over 60 other books and hundreds of articles. Piaget died in Geneva, September 16, 1980, at the age of eighty-four.

4. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development • Sensori-Motor: The infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world, beginning with reflexes and ending with complex combinations of sensori-motor skills. (Birth – 2 years) • Pre-Operational: The child begins to use symbols and is still egocentric in thinking. (Ages 2-7) • Concrete Operational: The child can use logic and symbols, but only when applied to concrete situations. (Ages 7-11) • Formal Operational: The child applies his new-found logical abilities to non-concrete/abstract events. This involves using logical operations, and using them in the abstract, rather than the concrete.  We often call this hypothetical thinking. (Ages 12+)

5. Sensori-Motor Period • Stage 1: First Reflexes Birth – 1 month • Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions 1 – 4 months • Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions 4 – 8 months • Stage 4: Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions 8 – 12 months • Stage 5: Tertiary Circular Reactions 12 – 18 months • Stage 6: The Beginnings of Thought 18 – 24 months

6. Coordination of Secondary Schemata An example of a secondary scheme An example of the consequent coordination of those schemes Characteristics of Stage Four

7. Object Permanence • Stage Three: Inability to find a hidden object. • Stage Four: Ability to find an object hidden in one position. • Stage Five: Ability to follow an object through a series of displacements. • Stage Six: Ability to follow “invisible displacements.”

8. Driving Questions • If Piaget underestimated the rate of development in children during the pre-operational and concrete operational stages, did he also underestimate development in sensori-motor children? • Will a nine-month-old child demonstrate actions that correspond to the “appropriate” stage (stage four)? • Will the child have developed all of the traits Piaget expects in coordination of secondary circular reactions and object permanence?

9. Hypothesis Since Piaget was basically brilliant* and studied the sensori-motor stage of cognitive development very thoroughly, the results should correspond to Piaget’s expectations regarding sensori-motor skills and object permanence. *Albert Einstein said once that Piaget’s conclusion that children were not less intelligent than adults, but rather simply thought differently was a discovery “so simple only a genius could have thought of it.”

10. Research Study • A nine-month-old child, Johnny, was used in this study. • The goal was to recreate Piaget’s own experiments from The Origins of Intelligence in the Child, to see if they corresponded with Johnny’s reactions.

11. Piaget’s Tasks • Relinquishing an Object: Offer an exciting toy to infant when he is playing with another less exciting toy. • Means-End Coordination: Play a toy behind a screen (hand). • Means-End Coordination: Present infant with an object; hold onto object’s other end. • Causality/Use of Intermediaries: Clap hands; clap hands within arm’s reach of the infant. • Object Permanence Test: Take a popular toy, let the infant see it hidden at point A. Note reaction. Hide toy again at point A. Note reaction. Hide toy at point B, making sure the infant saw it placed in a different spot.

12. Relinquishing an Object

13. Means-End Coordination

14. Causality/Use of Intermediaries

15. Object Permanence

17. Results • Basically, Johnny reacted to these tasks as Piaget suggested that he would. • However, in object permanence, Johnny’s actions placed him in Stage Five (typically associated with 12 -18 month-old infants). • This exception is leveled out, considering that Johnny did not clearly displace his toys in “relinquishing an object,” preventing his decisive placement in either Stage Three or Four. • Generally, Johnny placed within Stage Four, attesting to Piaget’s characteristic thoroughness regarding the sensori-motor period of child development.

18. Limitations • Only one child was studied • Could have better addressed Piaget’s underestimation of children if more children had been studied • Lack of time • Only three meetings with Johnny—would have been useful to explore the development over time

19. Works Cited • Crain, William. Theories of Development: Concepts and Applications. 5th ed. (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005). • Piaget, Jean. The Construction of Reality in the Child. trans. Margaret Cook. (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1954). • Piaget, Jean. The Origin of Intelligence in the Child. trans. Margaret Cook. (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, 1953). • Piaget, Jean and Baerbel Inhelder. The Psychology of the Child. trans. Helen Weaver. (New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1969). • Wadsworth, Barry J. Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive and Affective Development. 4th ed. (New York: Longman, 1989).

20. Hand-to-Mouth Coordination