1. Chapter 7: Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development
Module 7.1 General Principles of Piaget’s Theory
Module 7.2 Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Module 7.3 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory
Module 7.4 Beyond Piaget’s Theory
Children and Their Development, 3/e by Robert Kail

2. 7.1 General Principles of Piaget’s Theory
Schemes
Assimilation and Accommodation
Equilibration and Stages of Cognitive Development

3. 7.1 Schemes
Schemes are like categories; they organize experience and knowledge
Schemes first based on actions, then functions, and conceptions

4. 7.1 Assimilation and Accommodation
In assimilation, new experiences are readily incorporated into existing schemes
In accommodation, existing schemes must be changed to incorporate new information

5. 7.1 Equilibration and Stages of Cognitive Development
Equilibrium: when assimilation and accommodation are in balance
Periodically, schemes are inadequate and disequilibrium occurs. Equilibration is the process of reaching a new state of equilibrium
Metaphor of child as scientist
Three reorganizations of theories lead to 4 stages of cognitive development

6. 7.2 Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
The Sensorimotor Stage
The Preoperational Stage
The Concrete Operational Stage
The Formal Operational Stage

7. 7.2 The Sensorimotor Stage
From birth to approximately 2 years
Begins with reflexive responding and ends with using symbols
Object permanence: understanding that objects exist independently

8. 7.2 The Preoperational Stage
From approximately 2 to 7 years
Children use symbols but are many errors in thinking
Egocentrism
Centration
Confuse appearance and reality

9. Three Mountains Problem
7.2: The Preoperational Stage

10. Conservation Tasks
7.2: The Preoperational Stage

11. Models as Symbols or “Shrinking Rooms”
7.2: The Preoperational Stage

12. 7.2 The Concrete Operational Stage
From approximately 7 to 11 years
Thinking based on mental operations (strategies and rules that make thinking more systematic and powerful)
Operations can be reversed
Focus on the real and concrete, not the abstract

13. 7.2 The Formal Operational Stage
From approximately 11 years to adulthood
Adolescents can think hypothetically
Use deductive reasoning

14. 7.3 Evaluating Piaget’s Theory
Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development
Criticisms of the Theory

15. 7.3 Piaget’s Contributions to Child Development
the study of cognitive development itself
a new, constructivist view of children
fascinating, often counterintuitive, discoveries

16. 7.3 Criticisms of the Theory
Some criticisms:
alternative accounts of performance
consistency in performance
training on Piagetian concepts
actual versus possible thinking

17. Object Permanence and the “Impossible Event”
7.3: Criticisms of the Theory

18. 7.4 Beyond Piaget’s Theory
Neo-Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development
The Child as Theorist
The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory

19. 7.4 Neo-Piagetian Approaches to Cognitive Development
Retain Piaget’s basic claim of stages of intellectual development
Each child develops distinct conceptual structures that reflect experience
Working memory improves with age which allows children’s thinking to become more complex

20. 7.4 The Child as Theorist
Builds on Piaget’s metaphor of child as scientist
Research traces children’s knowledge of
naive physics (understanding objects)
naive psychology (theory of mind)
and naive biology (understanding unique properties of animate objects)

21. “Impossible” Physics Problem
7.4 The Child as Theorist

22. Movement in Animate and Inanimate Objects
7.4 The Child as Theorist

23. Theory of Mind
7.4 The Child as Theorist

24. 7.4 The Sociocultural Perspective: Vygotsky’s Theory
Cognitive development is inseparable from social and cultural contexts
Zone of proximal development: difference between what can do alone or with assistance
Scaffolding: teaching style that matches assistance to learner’s needs
Private speech: comments intended to regulate own behavior
Inner speech: thought

25. Cultural Differences in Parental Scaffolding
7.4: The Sociocultural Perspective