Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget

• Swiss psychologist who is known for his research into children's cognitive development
• Born August 9, 1896
• Died September 16, 1980
• Known for his systematic study of the acquisition of understanding in children
• Studied at the University of Neuchatel and University of Zurich

Stranger's Anxiety

• Common fear displayed by children between 8 months of age
• A child's fear of unfamiliar people

Attachment

• Emotional tie to another person
• Shown in young children by seeking closeness to caregivers
• Young children show distress when separated from their caregivers

Habituation

• Decreasing responsiveness with a repeated stimulation
• A child's ability to become used to a certain stimulus

Conservation

• Principle that a properties like mass, volume, and number stay the same even if the form of an object changes
• Children's understanding that changing the appearance of something doesn't change its properties

Egocentrism

• Inability to understand another person's point of view
• This is common in children in the preoperational stage of development

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

• Stages represent how children understand the world around them, and how their thinking changes

The Sensorimotor Stage

• Birth to age 2
• Infants learn through their senses and motor actions
• During this time, children develop concepts of objects, cause and effect

Proximodistal Principle

• Growth starts in the center of the body and moves outwards
• From the core of the body outwards

Cephalocaudal Principle

• Development progresses from the head down
• The head develops first, moving to the rest of the body.

Universal vs. Context-Specific Development

• There is some universal development, but individual variation is common
• Context-specific development, based on environment and experiences

Individual Differences in the Development Process

• Heredity and environment play a role in an individual's development
• Both factors contribute to personality, well-being, intelligence, physical development, ability and others

Development Depends On Maturation and Learning

• Perceptual development relies on the maturation of sensory organs and the central nervous system
• Newborn infants have many perceptual skills that prove the skills do not need to be learned through experience

Cognitive Development

• Depends on a child's readiness to understand themselves and their environment

Periods of Development

Prenatal Development (Conception to 9 Months)

• Three phases: Germinal Period, Embryonic Period, Fetal Period

Germinal Period

• Conception to implantation of the fertilized egg in the lining of the uterus

Embryonic Period

• From the third week of pregnancy, the blastocyst has implanted in the uterine wall.
• The multicellular organism is now considered an embryo

Fetal Period

• From the ninth week of pregnancy until birth, the organism is considered a fetus
• Major structures continue to develop during this stage.

Infancy and Toddlerhood (Birth to 36 Months)

• Dramatic changes during this period
• Average newborn in the United States weighs about 7.5 pounds
• Infants usually double their birth weight by the time they reach 4 months, and triple it by the age of one
• By the age of 2, infants quadruple their birth weight

Early Childhood (3 to 5 Years Old)

• Similar to toddlers with a relatively large head and stomach, short arms, and legs
• Torso elongates as the child ages, and body proportions become more adult-like by the age of 6

Mid-Late Childhood (6 to 11 Years Old)

• Greater control over body movement
• Mastery of gross and fine motor skills
• Brain changes during this age contribute to reasoning, flexibility of thought

Adolescence (10 to 18 Years Old)

• Begins with puberty and ends with the transitional period to adulthood
• Hormonal changes trigger physical development during puberty
• Changes in brain development increase the risk of risky behaviors in adolescence

Early Adulthood (18 to 29 Years Old)

• End of relative dependency of childhood and adolescence
• Period for exploring possible directions in life, time of higher independence

Middle Adulthood (45 to 65 Years Old)

• Period between Early Adulthood and Late Adulthood
• Middle-aged adults have a large amount of knowledge and experience to draw on for problem solving
• Increased ability to focus on important elements of a problem, and ignore the irrelevant

###Late Adulthood (Mid Sixties - Death)

• A time of transition, with its own issues of change
• Transitional identity system, both before and after the peak of adult responsibilities
• Acceptance of life and inevitability of death is an important aspect of this stage
• Finding meaning in life and accepting accomplishments is common
• Acknowledgement of things that didn't go as planned is also common

Format

• Abstract logic
• Potential for mature moral reasoning
• Operational stage
• Thinking through logic and reasoning
• 12 through adulthood