1 Psychology 3260: Personality & Social Development Don Hartmann, Spring 2007 Lecture 9: Piaget

2 Overview of Piaget Lecture Intersects with text, pp Coffee & Cream Lecture: Introduction to Piaget Piaget’s Theory A Practical Application Evaluation Summary Black & White Marbles Next: Lecture #10: Peers I

3 Coffee & Cream Begin with two identical large cups, Cup 1 containing 8 oz. of cream, Cup 2 containing 8 oz. of coffee (or diet Coke) Remove 2 oz. of cream from Cup 1 and place it in Cup 2. Mix thoroughly. Remove 2 oz. of the coffee/cream mixture in Cup 2 and place it in Cup 1. Question: Is there 1. More coffee in Cup 1 than cream in Cup 2? 2. More cream in Cup 2 than coffee in Cup 1? 3. The same amount of cream in Cup 2 as coffee in Cup 1? 4. None of the above.

4 Introduction to Piaget 3 rd Most influential psychologist of the 20 th century Father of Cognitive Developmental Theory Background facts

5 Major Thesis Social development is a consequence of changes in cognitive development Responsible in large part for Social Cognition (e.g., gender conceptions, humor)

6 The Nature of Piaget’s Theory Strong stage theory. Stages are: Qualitative (rather than quantitative) Coherent (consistent) Fixed (just four, no more) Universal (applicable to all, though not all are believed to achieve all the stages), and Invariant (we all go through them in the same order; no skipping).! o Based on structure of thought, rather than on content of thought

7 How does Growth Occur? o1. Through both nature and nurture; maturation + certain critical experiences o2. In general, through accommodation and assimilation o 3. Though Cognitive Disequilibrium o 4. Though Interactions with Peers— particularly when older

8 Stages (1) Sensorimotor (0 ‑ 2). From reflex to reflective! Develops distinction between self & non-self Object… Delayed… Preoperational (2 ‑ 7). At this stage children have not yet gained the operations that allow them to think logically. Perception is characterized by centration & thinking by egocentrism Increasing use of symbols (e.g., pretend play), but Perceptual centration & Egocentrism, which together Preclude conservation

9 Egocentrism

10 Stages (2) Concrete operation (7 ‑ 12) use operations (e.g., transitivity), but fixed on real Can conserve Formal operations (12 ‑ ?); can deal with Abstractions logical reasoning hypotheticals

11 Some Conservation Tasks

12 Still More Conservation Tasks

13 Some important implications of Piaget: Learning? Learning is a product of one's cognitive development. The child's existing cognitive structures determine how he/she interprets social experiences and, hence, what is likely to be learned from interactions with others

14 What about Personality? Dependent upon cognitive development; e.g., can't have notion of gender, until conservation. The Brain: Cognition; you get it, right?

15 A Practical Application: Teaching Traditional Gender Behavior Match the instructional approach to the developmental level of the child Has the child developed the notion of gender constancy? Help the child form concept that she is a girl.

16 How Stages are “Discovered” Someone has a notion that a stage-like progression typifies some developmental phenomena (e.g., how babies occur) Select children of various ages (cross-sectional study), and inquire about the phenomena Follow up with longitudinal study to insure that the changes typify each individual’s developmental trajectory Adjust design so that time period covers critical growth period Insure that sufficient assessments are conducted to distinguish continuous from stage-like development

17 Evaluation: Strengths Importance of cognition -- even for social content! o Process of thinking rather than content of thought o Wonderful descriptive framework o Always take into account developmental level

18 Evaluation: Weaknesses Strong on developmental function; weak on IDs Specific ages often erroneous a. When we think an event or a process occurs is in part a function of how we conduct the assessment! Characteristics of stages gone awry a : Coherence of stages: conservation problems not conservation problem....(Gertrude Stein) Backsliding, Training individuals at an age earlier than when the operation is to have developed Universality (e.g., in moral development we have substantial cultural differences) Description not explanation a Kuhn, D. (1992). Cognitive development. In M.H. Bornstein & M.E. Lamb (Eds.) Developmental psychology: An advanced textbook (3 rd ed.) Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

19 Summary What about Coffee & Cream? Answer tomorrow. Piaget in all his glory Next: Lect. #10: Peers I oGo in Peace!

20 What about Black & White Marbles? Urn 1 contains 100 white marbles; Urn black marbles. Take 20 of the white marbles from Urn 1 and place them in Urn 2. Mix the marbles well. Take 20 of the mixture of marbles in Urn 2 and place them in Urn 1 The Question: 1. Is there more black marbles in Urn 1 than white marbles in Urn 2? 2. Is there more white marbles in Urn 2 than black marbles in Urn 1? 3. Is there is same number of white marbles in Urn 2 as black marbles in Urn !? 4. None of the above.