Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory

1. Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory Critical questions theory addresses… • How do humans come to know things about the world? • Is knowledge acquired or innate or “given by the world”?

2. Piaget’s Theory: Personal Context One “context” that influenced Piaget’s theory…his life! • Early experience classifying shellfish had its influence: • development as adaptation • proposal: thought adapts just like an organism (evolution) • importance of structure • the structure of the body at any time in development has a big impact on how you interact with world (parts influence how “whole” behaves) • proposal: the structure of knowledge works the same way Here we see how creativity, insight, intuition play a role in theory development!

3. Piaget’s Theory: Philosophical Context Another “context” that influenced Piaget’s theory…his training as a philosopher... “Genetic Epistemology” • Genetic = emerging, developing • Epistemology = the study of knowledge Roots of Piaget’s approach are in philosophy (epistemology) • Knowledge in philosophy divided into understanding of time, space, causality, quantity • So Piaget studied these topics developmentally

4. Piaget’s Theory: Philosophical Context • Philosophy influenced the nature of Piaget’s theory… • Cognition, thought, knowledge are central • example: doesn’t talk much about language development • Theory looks ordered and structured, in part, because Piaget generalized from the behavior of individuals to all children • Piaget tried to build a general theory of development in the grand tradition of philosophical theories But Piaget moved beyond philosophy... • he rejected “arm-chair” philosophy in favor of observation

5. Piaget’s Theory: Beyond Philosophy What kinds of “observations” did Piaget count as data? • Clinical interview • ask children to solve problems about time, space, etc… • try to ask questions that reveal how they are thinking (cognition!) • Mini-experiments with children • often observed and “experimented” with his own children • experiments consisted of small manipulations of environment • goal: to reveal how children are thinking

6. Piaget’s Theory: Stages & Periods Before we get to details… • There are periods (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational) • Each period consists of stages (1, 2, 3…)

7. Piaget’s Theory: Stages & Periods What is a stage/period? Stage & period = a duration of time when thinking/behavior across multiple situations (domains) reflects a particular type of underlying knowledge structure • domain = class of situations in which a specific type of knowledge is used (number conservation, liquid conservation) • knowledge structure: “mental schemes”…whatever is repeatable and generalizable in an action or thought • critical proposal: across stages/periods, schemes change qualitatively

8. To understand this idea, think about changes in physical structures over evolutionary time... How did fingers evolve? Gradual process of selection and adaptation some members of species encountered conflicts with environment and survived these conflicts by using “fingers” with repeated conflict over generations, fingers became more suited to the situation some forms of fingers we “over apply” to resolve particular conflicts (assimilation), but eventually, we run into situations that these fingers can’t handle the members of the species with slightly new types of fingers might survive these new conflict situations (accommodation) finally, some members of species reorganized their existing fingers, forming an opposable thumb…see big advances for some members of species--they can handle new and different “conflicts” Mental Schemes

9. Mental schemes are knowledge structures that change over development much like the structure of the hand changed over evolution... How does knowledge develop? Gradual process of selection and adaptation over minutes, days, months... some things we know in early development conflict with what we experience in the environment with repeated conflict over time, we adapt our knowledge structures to became more suited to the situation some structures we over apply, even though they aren’t an exact fit to the situation (assimilation), but eventually, new conflicts arise which we can’t handle so we form slightly new structures to resolve these conflict situations (accommodation) finally, sometime we completely reorganize what we know and form radically new, but effective structures…this leads to big advances Mental Schemes

10. Qualitative changes in mental schemes... Completely new form of thinking (like the earliest form of fingers) Example: symbolic thought stop sign can be both a red octagon and a symbol for stopping your car Mental Schemes

11. Piaget’s Theory: Stages & Periods Characteristics of stages/periods: • Stages & periods are derived from previous stages/periods and prepare for the next stage/period • Stage & period sequences are invariant • analogy: must learn to crawl before you can walk • Stages & periods are universal • The end of a period is marked by a state of “equilibrium” • equilibrium = no conflicts • at end of period, child reaches the pinnacle of thought for that period

12. Overview of the Periods Sensorimotor period (birth - 2yrs) • Infant goes from reflexes to more complex action schemes to the first “mental images” • example of a mental image: object concept • early, infants don’t even know how to act on objects • later, knowledge is object-centered, but linked to here-and-now and simple actions…if object covered, stop all actions related to that object • later, able to continue actions if object hidden (search), but these actions aren’t flexible (keep searching in same place--A-not-B error) • finally, children get object permanence…object still exists in mind even when out of sight

13. Overview of the Periods Preoperational period (2yrs - 7yrs)…stuff that does develop... • Mental images become symbols or signs • symbol/sign: image that “stands for” something else • Symbols become more structured & organized • example: language! • Toward the end of period, symbol use starts to become more flexible • different aspects of symbol can be emphasized at different times (flexible regulation)… • example: sometimes, stop sign can be used to represent “a red thing”, other times it can be used to represent “stop the car” • symbols start to become less dependent on perception • stop sign looks nothing like the action it represents

14. Overview of the Periods Preoperational period (2yrs - 7yrs)…stuff that does not develop... • Children are NOT OPERATIONAL...

15. Diversion: Operations What is an operation? Actions on mental images Examples: • Perspective taking • requires mental rotation • Reversibility • requires mentally playing act backward & forward • Mathematics

16. Overview of the Periods Preoperational period (2yrs - 7yrs) • Because children cannot do mental operations, they are… • egocentric…only see things from their own perspective • perception-bound • example: focus on height of glass and say “less” in shorter glass • inflexible or centrated…get stuck thinking one way • example: can’t consider height AND width of glass

17. Overview of the Periods Concrete operational period (7yrs - 11yrs) • Children acquire “operations”… • Operations linked to concrete/perceptual world • example: when problem solving, experiment randomly… • try out different manipulations on concrete objects • can’t think through all possibilities in head

18. Overview of the Periods Formal operational period (11yrs - 15yrs) • Child as scientist! • Hypothetico-deductive reasoning • Operations not linked to concrete world • example: consider logic possibilities in head and then design experiments to test hypotheses

19. Mechanisms of Development Critical point… • Development proceeds step-by-step • Steps spurred forward by functional invariants… • adaptation • assimilation: fitting reality into current schemes • ex: fit “camel” into “horse” scheme • assim. leads to repetition, generalization, and strengthening of schemes • accommodation: adjusting schemes because reality doesn’t fit • ex: create “camel” scheme because camels aren’t horses • organization • schemes have a structure (like a business) • organization changes qualitatively over stages (re-structuring)

20. Mechanisms of Development Why “small steps”? • Because we can only assim, accom, & organize based on current schemes

21. generalizing Person using scheme Object acted upon particularizing Mechanisms of Development Adaptation & organization are structured by… • Disequilibrium…there’s a problem here! • Equilibration: state in which dynamic balance between self & world… • balance between assim & accom • example: thermostat, living organism Critical process: circular reactions

22. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Where does Piaget stand on the big issues of development? • Organismic (active) v. Mechanistic (passive) • clearly organismic • Qualitative v. Quantitative • emphasized qualitative change with stages • also talked about quantitative: schemes get stronger, more efficient • Nature v. Nurture • biological endowment: physical body, reflexes, tendency toward equilibrium, adaptation/organization • step by step development in context (nurture, i.e., experience matters) • What develops • schemes and operations with schemes

23. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Strengths of Piaget’s Theory • revolutionized how we think about cognitive development • brought constructivism into mainstream • brought step-by-step development into mainstream • integrated diverse observations into one theory • fostered new research • observations closely tied to how children really think

24. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Weaknesses of Piaget’s Theory • Stages not universal & not invariant in order • see more domain specificity • Piaget doesn’t address why kids apply schemes in some situations and not others • Did not integrate stages with step-by-step mechanisms of change • how do children go from stage to stage? • Methods Piaget used were limited • he under/overestimated children’s abilities • Essentialism… • Piaget’s theory focused on the essential features of thought at age 5, 7... • Less emphasis on variability & thought “tendencies”