Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development PDF

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Introduction Piaget’s theory describes qualitative changes or stages in the growth of cognition from infancy through adolescence within the context of the individual’s social experience.  Piaget’s theory divided into four main stages...

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Introduction Piaget’s theory describes qualitative changes or stages in the growth of cognition from infancy through adolescence within the context of the individual’s social experience.  Piaget’s theory divided into four main stages: stage 1: Sensorimotor intelligence (from birth to 2 years) Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and stage 2: Preoperational thought (age 2–7 years) stage 3: Concrete operations (age 7–11 years) stage 4: Formal operations (age 11 to 15 years).  Piaget’s Terminology Maturation: it is the process by which children seek a balance between what they know and what they are experiencing. Experience: denotes the active interaction of the child with the environment. Social transmission: represents the information and customs that are transmitted from parents and other people in the environment to the child.  Object permanence: It is realizing that the thing is here even it is outside of vision. Egocentric: It is understanding the world only from child’s own perspective and finding it difficult to understand the point of view of another person. Conservation Process: the principle that the shape or Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and appearance of something can change without there being a change in quantity. Scheme: a method of dealing with the environment which can be generalized to many situations. It is a tool for learning about the world e.g. the infant explores the environment in their own way by sucking on it, so when an infant places a block in mouth and sucks on it denotes that sucking scheme is being used.  Adaptation: child being adapt to his environment in order to survive. The child adapts his cognitive structure to the demands of the environment through two main process, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation: It refers to the process by which information is altered to fit into one’s already existing structure e.g. a child may bang a rattle against side of crib, but when he given another toy, he will assimilate it by banging it against crib as Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and well. Accommodation: it is the process by which one’s existing structures are altered to fit new information. It involves modifying an existing scheme to satisfy request of new experience e.g. a child may be good at using a one handed to pick up thing, that is lifting an item with one hand (scheme), but when he confronted with a more heavier item, he should accommodate by using two handed to pick up (modified scheme)  Stages of cognitive development I- The sensorimotor stage or period from birth to 24 month The infant understanding of the world in six substages. During this period, infants learn about Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and the world primarily through their senses (sensori-) and through physical action or movement (motor). Children at this stage are egocentric, able to see the world only from their own viewpoint. Phase 1 The use of reflexes (birth through first month): The infant experiences the world through direct sensation and interaction, by sing five senses and motor contact For providing mental health the parents should Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and respond to and stimulate the child’s senses Phase 2 Primary circular reactions (1 to 4 months): the infant begins to repeat actions that happen by chance e.g., the infant may suck on thumb apparently by chance, but will then repeat the Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and action later and more frequently as he progresses through this stage. The actions become more deliberate and coordinated For providing mental health the parents should stimulate the child’s senses through the objects the child can interact with as rattles.  Phase 3 Secondary circular reactions (4 to 8 months): Now the infant is repeats action by choice, his behavior starts to show connections with objects. Object permanence develops commonly by 6 to 8 months For providing mental health the parents have to provide Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and toys to handle with various shapes, textures and colors. In addition, they have to partially hide a toy while the child watches to encourage the development of object permanence. Phase 4 coordination of secondary schemas (8 to 12 months): The child learnt the connection between an action and a response (such as shaking the toy to hear the bell tinkle) The child begins to coordinate or modify the previous scheme to fit the new one, i.e. if the child use one hand to raise the ball and he found it heavy so, he start to use the other hand to raise Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and the ball. Imitation of facial expressions and vocal sounds becomes possible For providing mental health the parents should provide children with familiar toys and encourage imitation. Phase 5 Tertiary circular reactions (12 to 18 months): The child begins to experiment with their learned schema. He will test out different uses for the toy – banging it softly and much harder, banging the top and side, or rolling Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and it along the ground, i.e. he is playing with the ball and change in the way of raising up and falling it down. For providing mental health the parents should provide experience with sand and water as well as include toys which can be manipulated to turn, nest, roll open or close. Phase 6 Invention through mental combination (18 months to 2 years): Children start to form mental images of things and get what they want and will climb out of to reach it. They apply old skills in new situations and practices imitation. Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and Children begin to put words together and to make decisions without tangible examples put in front of them. For providing mental health the parents have to provide opportunities to apply old skills to new experiences and to encourage peer contact and interaction. II-Preoperational stage /thought (2 to 7 years): (2-4 years preoperational substage, 4-7 years intuitive substage): This stage describes the child’s abilities in imaginative play. The use of symbols that represents real life is prevalent. They may play ‘mummies and daddies’ with a toy doll, feeding the doll with a bottle. children show an enormous capacity for learning new words and develop language. The children are egocentric The child can use things to represent another e.g. a piece of wood may symbolize a boat. Child’s inability to understand logical concepts as conservation process for liquids, coins and materials In intuitive substage, The child can complete simple operations, but cannot explain why e.g. when showing the child 10 apples and 3 oranges and he or she can tell you that there are more apples but cannot explain why. Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and For providing mental health the parents should provide dolls, blocks, crayons, paste, paper book and musical instruments. Also, they should communicate at the child’s level or above. Provide experience with liquid, mass and length informally. Encourage decision making.  III-Concrete operational thought/ stage (7 to 11 years): The child now begins to grasp the concept of conservation. Children can also understand that objects can be sorted according to many qualities A little less egocentric. Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and This ability to categorize objects is known as classification. Also, the children can seriate i.e. they can line up in order of size serration. This ability to understand that something can be changed and then returned to their original state is known as reversibility  For providing mental health the parents should provide opportunities to pursue areas of interest. Uses questions to understand child’s reasoning processes but do not question too much. Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and  Formal operational thought/ stage (11 years to 15 years): The final stage signifies a move from being able to consider the concrete concepts in problem solving, to being able to consider abstract concepts. Able to use, an abstract thought and systematic problem solving. learn to take the perspective of others and able to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions. Able to make decisions that have long-term consequences.  For providing mental health the parents have to propose hypothetical problems for the child to solve, discuss ethical questions and encourage personal decision making and problem solving. Bacon Copyright 2001 by Allyn and