1. Ms. Seetin

2. Do-Now (4/29 & 4/30) Recall what you read about last class (Baby Einstein article) now think about what you know about early development (from Piaget) and answer Why are children’s videos bad? How do babies learn best- Provide an example of an activity that you could do with a child that would help them develop cognitively (learn). (If you were not here last class try to answer these to the best of your ability)

3. Notes- please create a chart that looks like this TermDefinitionExample Schema Assimilation Accommodation

4. Developmental psychology Developmental psychology is the study of age- related changed in behavior and mental processes from conception to death. Development is an ongoing, lifelong process.

5. Jean Piaget Just as a child’s body and physical abilities change, his or her way of knowing and perceiving the world also grows and changes. While this may seem obvious to us, most early psychologists focused on physical, emotional, language and personality development. The one major exception was Jean Piaget

6. Jean Piaget Demonstrated that a child’s intellect is fundamentally different from an adult’s. He showed that an infant begins at a cognitively “primitive” level and that intellectual growth progresses in distinct stages

7. Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory: 1. Schemas (building blocks of knowledge). 2. Adaptation processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (equilibrium, assimilation, and acoomodation) 3. Stages of Development 1) sensorimotor, 2) preoperational, 3) concrete operational, 4) formal operational.

8. First let’s review the Stages of Development

9. Stages of Development Review During this stage there are still several limits such as egocentric thinking (unable to consider another’s point of view), and conservation. What stage is this?

10. Preoperational Stage! Ages 2 to 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXjYV8nfIYg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLj0IZFLKvg

11. Review (Stages) During this stage children are likely to play with their food (using senses and motor skills to explore and develop cognitively) What stage is this?

12. Sensorimotor Stage! Birth to age 2 Beginning of the stage child also lacks object permanence (understanding that things continue to exist even when not seen, heard, or felt) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVqJacvywAQ

13. Review (Stages) Less “egocentric” but still cannot think abstractly and hypothetically What stage is this?

14. Concrete Operational Stage! Ages 7-11 Limits: Cannot think abstractly and hypothetically Thinking tied to concrete, tangible objects and events Abilities Can perform “operations” on concrete objects Understands conservation (that changes in shape or appearance can be reverse) Less egocentric Can think logically about concrete objects and events https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJyuy4B2aKU

15. Schema A Schema is the basic building block of intelligent behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. It is useful to think of schemas as “units” of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions and abstract (i.e. theoretical) concepts. Schemas Schemas: cognitive structures or patterns consisting of a number of organized ideas that grow and differentiate with experience.

16. Schema continued Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development, and described how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when needed.

17. The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this - especially those used by infants. He described how - as a child gets older - his or her schemas become more numerous and elaborate. For example, in the first few weeks of life, the infant apparently has several schemas based on the innate reflexes of sucking, grasping, and so on. These schemas are primarily motor and may be little more than stimulus-and-response mechanisms- the nipple is presented, and the baby sucks.

18. Soon, other schemas emerge. The infant develops a more detailed schema for eating solid good, a different schema for the concepts of “mother” and “father” and so on. Schemas, our tools for learning about the world, expand and change throughout our lives.

19. Assimilation and Accommodation Jean Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through: Assimilation Accommodation Equilibration

20. Assimilation Assimilation (In Piaget’s theory)- the process of absorbing new information into existing schemas. Using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. For example: infants use their sucking schema not only in sucking nipples, but also in sucking blankets and fingers.

21. Examples of Assimilation A college student learning how to use a new computer program A child sees a new type of dog that he's never seen before and he immediately points to the animal and says, "Dog!" A chef learning a new cooking technique A computer programmer learning a new programming language In each of these examples, the individual is adding information to their existing schema. If new experiences cause the person to alter or completely change their existing beliefs, then it is known as accommodation.

22. Accommodation In Piaget’s theory- the process of adjusting old schemas or developing new ones to better fit with new information This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation. (either new schemas are developed of old schemas are changed to better fit the new information) Example: and infants first attempt to eat solid food w/ a spoon is a good example of accommodation

23. Examples of Accomodation A child believes that "All furry four legged animals are dogs". He sees a breed of dog that he's never seen before and says, "That's a dog." That's assimilation. Then the child sees a raccoon (or a cat, squirrel whatever) and the child says, "That's a dog." But his parents tell him it isn't a dog, it's a raccoon. So the child accommodates, "Not all furry four legged animals are dogs, some are raccoons."

24. More Examples of Accommodation For example, imagine a young boy raised in a home that presents a stereotyped schema about another social group. When the young man moves away to college, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by people from this group. Through experience and real interactions with members of this group, he realizes that his existing knowledge is completely wrong. This leads to a dramatic change, or accommodation, in his beliefs about members of this social group.

25. (Byrnes, 2008) "Piaget argued that assimilation and accommodation work in opposition to each other. The central tendency for assimilation is to keep the existing knowledge structure the same and find a place for new information in this structure. The central tendency for accommodation, in contrast, is to change the existing knowledge structure. It is not possible to keep things the same and change them at the same time. Thus, only one or the other - assimilation or accommodation - 'wins out' in a given situation."

26. Schemas, Accommodation, and Assimilation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOB2Mhw6XCE

27. Equilibration This is the force which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds. Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation). Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge (accommodation).

28. Read AAP- “Children, Adolescents, and Television” 10 minutes to read this quietly Answer ALL questions (that were attached to Einstein reading) What you do not finish will be due next class

29. Educational Implications Piaget (1952) did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers have explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning. Discovery learning – the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring - was seen as central to the transformation of primary school curriculum. 'The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the centrality of play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery and the importance of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should 'not assume that only what is measurable is valuable.'

30. Educational Implications Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages the notion of 'readiness' is important.. According to Piaget's theory children should not be taught certain concepts until they have reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development. According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, not a passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered.

31. Educational Implications Within the classroom learning should be student centered a accomplished through active discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than direct tuition. Therefore teachers should encourage the following within the classroom: Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it. Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths". Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from each other). Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the child. Evaluate the level of the child's development, so suitable tasks can be set.

32. Discussion Based on these sorts of traits of a “good” (active) classroom & good teaching methodology describe to me what you think it would look like? Did you ever have a classroom like this?

33. The Secret Life of the Brain Episode 1: The Baby’s Brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfCffnjfo3w