Cognitive Development Pages 87-94

Jean Piaget and Cognitive Development Children at same ages got same questions wrong on IQ tests Piaget’s idea - “Maybe children’s thought isn’t just simpler than adults, but different” Stages of Development

Piaget’s important concepts Schemas – a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information ▫An active process Assimilation – incorporating our experiences into existing schemas Accomodation – information that doesn’t fit will lead to a changing or new schema

Typical Age Range Description of Stage Developmental Phenomena Birth to nearly 2 yearsSensorimotor Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, mouthing) Object permanence Stranger anxiety About 2 to 6 years About 7 to 11 years About 12 through adulthood Preoperational Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning Pretend play Egocentrism Language development Concrete operational Thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations Conservation Mathematical transformations Formal operational Abstract reasoning Abstract logic Potential for moral reasoning Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor (birth -2) Acquire knowledge through the senses Learn through manipulation

Sensorimotor  Object Permanence (around 6 months)  the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.  Object permanence 2 - YouTube Object permanence 2 - YouTube

Preoperational (2-7) “Prelogical” Gains in language – symbols represent sounds Fantasy play

Preoperational Stage Children in the preoperational stage are egocentric (the inability to take on another’s point of view).

Egocentrism

Preoperational Stage Difficulty with Conservation – the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects Conservation task - YouTubeConservation task - YouTube

Concrete Operational (7-11) Thinking and logic are tied to concrete reality. Understands reversibility – 9+5 and 5+9 are the same “Friendship is when someone plays with me.” Cannot understand hypotheticals (what if’s)

Formal Operational (12 and up) We can reason abstractly. ▫“Friendship is mutual trust, loyalty, empathy, and shared beliefs.” If John is in school, then Mary is in school. John is in school. What can you say about Mary? God is love. Love is blind. Stevie Wonder is blind. Stevie Wonder is God.

Criticisms of Piaget Human development does seem to unfold in his sequence around the globe BUT ▫It maybe displayed earlier in certain areas of cognition ▫Does a child reach the formal operational stage in all subject areas at the same time?  Formal operational looks different in non-Western cultures