Cognition and Piaget's Cognitive Theory

Cognition

• Cognition is the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.
• Piaget's theory of cognitive development is the most widely known, and it emphasizes the role of children as "scientists" who test and explore hypotheses about the world by reflecting on their experiences.

Piaget's Cognitive Theory

• Three basic components:
  • Schemas: organizing knowledge and representing it mentally.
  • Adaptation processes: learning and transitioning from one stage to another.
  • Stages of development: characterized by equilibrium and disequilibrium.

Stages of Development

• Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years):
  • Exploring the world through senses and motor activity.
  • Lacking understanding of cause and effect.
  • Difficulty distinguishing between self and environment.
• Preoperational Stage (2-7 years):
  • Rapidly developing language and communication.
  • Imagining the future and reflecting on the past.
  • Difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality.
• Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years):
  • Developing abstract reasoning and ability to generalize.
  • Understanding conservation of matter.
  • Ability to describe transformations and make inferences.
• Formal Operations (12-15 years):
  • Developing adult thinking.
  • Hypothetical thinking and forming/testing hypotheses.
  • Organizing information and scientific reasoning.

Criticisms of Piaget

• Methodologically flawed tasks.
• Underestimation of cultural impact.

Lev Vygotsky

• Social constructivist theory of cognitive development:
  • Emphasizing the role of social and cultural interactions.
  • Importance of language in learning and representing reality.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

• Lower limit: child's independent developmental level.
• Upper limit: potential skill level with assistance.
• Scaffolding: instructional technique providing individualized support.

Self

• Self-concept: perception of oneself.
• Characteristics: traits, preferences, social roles, values, beliefs, interests, and self-categorization.
• Self-understanding develops throughout the lifespan.

Development of Self

• Infancy (0-18 months):
  • Basic sense of self.
  • Recognizing physical self.
• Early childhood (18-30 months):
  • Recognizing mirror image.
  • Developing self-awareness.
• Middle and late childhood:
  • Shift to internal traits and abilities.
  • Describing social roles and ideal selves.
  • Realistic assessment of abilities.

Perspective Taking

• Opposite of egocentrism.
• Ability to assume another's perspective.
• Stages of development (Selman).

Self-Concept

• Self-worth.
• Ideal self: the person one wants to be.
• Self-efficacy: confidence in controlling one's motivation, behavior, and environment.

Morality

• Understanding of right and wrong, or good and bad behavior.
• Moral dilemma: ambiguous situation requiring a moral decision.

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

• Describes how sense of right and wrong changes with age.
• How do we develop a sense of justice?
• How do we learn to make moral judgments?

Levels of Moral Development

• Level 1: Pre-conventional Morality
  • Stage 1: Punishment Obedience Orientation (2-3 to 5-6 years).
  • Stage 2: Instrumental Relativist Orientation (5-7 years).
• Level 2: Conventional Morality
  • Stage 3: Good Boy – Nice Girl Orientation (7-12 years).
  • Stage 4: Law and Order Orientation (can start as early as 10 years).
• Level 3: Post-Conventional Morality
  • Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation (can start as early as 12 years).
  • Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation (can start as early as 12 years).

Attachment

• First social relationship; strong emotional bond between infant and caregiver.
• Infants show attachment through proximity-seeking behaviors.
• Bowlby's phases of attachment formation:
  • Phase 1: Indiscriminant Sociability (0-2 months).
  • Phase 2: Attachments in the Making (2-7 months).
  • Phase 3: Specific, Clear-Cut Attachments (7-24 months).
  • Phase 4: Goal-Coordinated Partnerships (24 months).

Types of Attachment

• Type A: avoiding attachment.
• Type B: secure attachment.
• Type C: anxious-resistant attachment.
• Type D: disorganized-disoriented attachment.

Deprivation and Separation

• Deprivation: break in an infant's attachment.
• Separation: absence of the main caregiver.
• Separation can lead to deprivation.