Cognitive Development Piaget Vygotsky

1. Chapter 5 Cognitive Development – Piaget & Vygotsky

2. Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory Schemes organized ways of making sense of experience Assimilation using current schemes to interpret the external world Accommodation adjusting schemes or creating new ones when current ways of thinking do not fit the environment

3. Motivation for Learning Cognitive equilibrium – a steady, comfortable condition (more assimilation) Cognitive disequilibrium – a state of discomfort which creates a shift toward accommodation

4. Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Birth – 2 years Pre-Operational 2-7 years Concrete Operational 7-11 years Formal Operational 11 years onward

5. Sensorimotor Stage Reflexes Circular reactions – stumbling onto a new experience caused by the baby’s motor activity “circular” because the infant tries to repeat the event again and again

6. Sensorimotor Stage – Repeating Chance Behavior Newborn reflexes are the building blocks of sensorimotor intelligence By repeating chance behaviors (primary circular reactions), reflexes come under voluntary control and become simple motor habits

7. Sensorimotor Stage Primary Circular Reactions (Substages 1-2) Centers around the infant’s own bodily sensations Secondary Circular Reactions (Substages 3-4) Manipulation of objects and people Tertiary Circular Reactions (Substages 5-6) Producing novel effects, experimental

8. Sensorimotor Substages 1) simple reflexes 2) 1st habits & primary circular reactions 3) secondary circular reactions 4) coordination of secondary circular reactions 5) tertiary circular reactions & curiosity 6) internalization of schemes

9. The Sensorimotor Stage Primary Circular Reactions 1 (birth to 1 mo.) reflexes 2 ( 1-4 mos.) simple motor habits Secondary Circular Reactions 3 (4-8 mos.) repeating, imitation 4 (8-12 mos.) intention Tertiary Circular Reactions 5 (12-18 mos.) exploration 6 (18-24 mos.) mental depictions

10. Sensorimotor Stage – Intentional Behavior Substage 4 (8-12 months) Deliberately coordinating schemes to reach a goal or solve a problem Object permanence – infants retrieve hidden toys Anticipate and try to change events

11. Sensorimotor Stage – Gaining Object Permanence Overall, search strategies improve during the first year. Awareness of toy’s disappearance (violation-of-expectations research methods) Looks for toy by 8 months (Piaget) A-not-B search error Invisible displacement (finds toy moved while out of sight)

12. Sensorimotor Stage – More Recent Research Violation-of-expectation method – infants look longer at an impossible than at a possible event May reflect only infant’s perceptual preferences or limited awareness Led to conclusions that infants understand, explore earlier than Piaget believed, possibly from birth Renee Baillargeon – possible events Carrot and screen study Train through the box study

13. End of Sensorimotor Stage – Mental Representations Internal depictions of information that the mind can manipulate Images Concepts (categories, groups) Sudden solutions rather than trial and error Invisible displacement – finding a toy moved while out of sight Deferred imitation

14. Mental Representations (Memory)More Recent Research Piaget says 18 months; others say 8-month olds recall object locations. Deferred imitation, present at 6 weeks (adult facial expression). 24-hour memory for activity board objects among 6-9-month olds.

15. Sensorimotor Stage - Evaluation Piaget’s perspective – Skills acquired through learning, motor behavior Vs. Core knowledge perspective – babies are born with innate knowledge systems or prewired understandings Physical numerical Linguistic psychological

16. Piaget Pre –Operational Stage

17. The PreOperational Child Is age 2-7 Has achieved object permanence Initiates & explores Uses mental representations & symbols (language) Is not logical

18. During the Preoperational Stage – ages 2-7 The child will: Gain ability to reconstruct in thought what is experienced in behavior Gain in ability to use symbols – words, drawings, images Form stable concepts By the end of the stage show an emerging capacity to reason

19. Preoperational Symbolic Function Substage Egocentric – cannot take another’s point of view Three-mountains task Animistic – believe inanimate objects have lifelike qualities such as wishes, feelings, intentions Magical beliefs Show in drawings

20. Preoperational Intuitive Thought Substage Intuitive thought is a combination of primitive reason and fast acquisition of knowledge. Cannot answer the question “what if?” Asks the question “why?” frequently. Begin to grasp functionality – that actions and outcomes are related in fixed ways. Begin to grasp identity-the reality that some things do not change (underlies conservation)

21. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Cannot conserve Unable to understand that certain physical characteristics stay the same even though outward appearance changes (identity) Because of centration Unable to classify hierarchically Also lack reversibility

23. Criticisms of Piaget’s Pre-Operational Stage They are not egocentric, the 3 mountains task is the problem Animism is overestimated because Piaget asked about objects like the moon with which children have little experience They see magic as out of the ordinary, but they do attribute lifelike qualities to dolls and stuffed toys

24. Summary Criticism of the First Two Stages Logic develops more gradually than Piaget believed that it did The primary problem of Piaget’s observations was complexity of the task(s)

25. Piaget Concrete Operational Stage

26. Concrete Operational Stage Piaget said that thought is more logical, flexible and organized at ages 7-11. Terms for operations they can perform Conservation Reversibility Classification Seriation Transitive inference

27. Concrete Operational Thought Children are logical only when dealing with concrete information that they can perceive directly. Example is a transitivity task. Horizonal decalage – development within a stage (working out the logic of each problem separately)

28. Piaget Formal Operational Stage

29. Piaget –Formal Operational Stage Starts at age 11 - 15 Develop the capacity for abstract, scientific thinking

30. Two Major Features Hypothetico-deductive reasoning Deduce hypotheses from theory Start with possibility and end with reality Piaget’s pendulum problem Propositional thought Algebra and geometry

31. Consequences of Abstract Thought Argumentativeness Idealism Planning and indecision Self-consciousness Imaginary audience Personal fable

32. Adolescent Egocentrism Imaginary audience Personal fable uniqueness destiny invincibility

33. Do all adults reach formal operations? No, 40-60% of college students fail the formal operations problems. People are most likely to reach it in subjects where they have had experience. It may be a culturally transmitted way of thinking.

34. Piaget & Education Constructivist approach – set up classroom for exploration and discovery Let learning occur naturally, facilitate Consider the child’s knowledge & level of thinking – sensitive to readiness, accept individual differences Use ongoing assessment

35. Piaget and Education Too time-consuming to implement, requires individual portfolios Educators have always ignored developmental maturation; the system makes it difficult to deal with individual differences

36. Summary: Evaluating Piaget Still major cognitive theorist Criticisms Cognitive abilities emerge earlier than he thought Development more gradual, not as stagelike as he thought Can train some children to next stage He ignored culture & education as factors