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PIAGETS THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Cognitive = Refers to mental processes like thinking, problem solving, categorizing, and remembering.Cognitive Development = Means the orderly change across age in these mental processes.

Assimilation = Refers to child to a child incorporating a new perception into existing schemes.Scheme = Is a cognitive structure such as image, perception, or thought.Accommodation = Refers to a child revising a scheme so that a new experience make sense.

AGE TRENDS IN PIAGETS COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENTAL THEORYSensorimotor stage ( from birth to 2 yrs.)= This stage is characterized by the absence of language. The period is based primarily on immediate experience through the senses.= During the sensorimotor stage, children become capable of deferred imitation that is they can mentally represent, remember, and then imitate an action they observed in the past.= Sensorimotor infants develop object permanence or the knowledge that objects that are out of view continue to exist. At 8 to 12 months, infants will search for the toy if is hidden before their eyes. But they make an interesting mistake consistently: they will search for the object at point A even if object is moved to point B in full view. For ex. Piaget twice hid his 10 month old daughters toy parrot under her mattress at point A while she watched. Both times Jacqueline retrieved the parrot. Then, Piaget hid the toy parrot under the mattress in a different place, at point B while she watched. Jacqueline searched for the parrot at point A instead of point B. This is called the A-not B error .

Preoperational stage ( 2 to 7 yrs)= The richer the verbal environment, the more likely it is that language will develop . Children in this stage talk to stuffed toys, they will tell about imaginary friends, and tell wild stories.= Cognitive process during the intuitive or preoperational stage increases the ability to store words and language structures.

COGNITIVE DEFICITS ACCORDING TO PIAGETSAnimism = Is the belief that nonliving, inanimate objects have lifelike qualities.Hierarchical classification = means that things can be members of multiple levels of categories at the same time.Egocentrism = young children egocentric, which is the tendency to see the world from their own point of view and to assume that other people do too. Collective Monologues in which they speak with another child and even take turns talking so they appear to be conversing, but neither is listening to the another.Conservation = refers to the fact that the properties of the objects appearance change. For ex.if you have a ball of clay, the amount of clay in the ball does not change if you smash it down it into a pancake shape, though the appearance changes. Preoperational children might say that the smashed lump of clay has more mass than the ball. This is because they center on the superficial attributes of object. They are unable to decenter and simultaneously consider that the smashed clay covers more surface area but is thinner than it was.

Concrete Operational Stage ( 7 to 11 yrs)= The children's thinking becomes more logical and systematic. Learning and gaining increased skill in reading is a key developmental task at this period. They are learning symbol systems and concepts and concepts of time, space, and distance.Formal Operational Stage ( Age 12 and older)= Children can think in the abstract: that is they can think about possibilities that may not physically exist. They can follow clear logic and reason in a hypothetical deductive manner, even if the premises are not true. Evidence That Contradicts Piagets Stages= Today, Piagets stages are not widely accepted among researches. Some researchers also challenge his notion that knowledge begins with experience through the five senses, which is then stored as concrete knowledge and later becomes the basis for abstract concepts.Underestimation and Observation of Abilities= Recent research suggest Piaget underestimated the cognitive abilities of young children. Infants know many surprising things about their world, scientist call this core knowledge.Primacy of Language= When children begin to learn language, they pay more attention to context than to words. In fact, they often learn words through clues the context. The child first make sense of the context and then uses that to make sense of what is said.Diversity in Cognitive Developmental Theory= Piaget believed that stages of cognitive development occur in a predictable sequence from child to child because each is necessary for the formation of the next stage.If Piaget is wrong about some things, why study him? For two reasons:1. His theory is good starting point because it caused scientist to try to understand why children respond so oddly to Piagets task. Science evolves through our quest for understanding. As a result of newer research that test Piagets theory, we now understand more about in the next two chapter.

2. Piagets theory continues to be widely applied in education. Sometimes this is misguided but not always.Classroom Implication of Cognitive Developmental Theory:= There are several school based legacies from Piagets theory. One legacy is the notion of school readiness. Piaget believed little can be done to accelerate development

Because each child has a biologically based rate of transition from one stage to the next.Developmentally Appropriate Practice= Another concept that was influenced by Piagets theory is developmentally appropriate practice, whish is an approach to educating children from birth to age 8 that emphasizes the child as an active participant in learning, not just passive receiver knowledge.

Constructivist Teaching= Third legacy from Piagets. He asserted that children construct their own knowledge and should be encouraged to do so. He stated that each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered for himself that child is kept from inventing it and consequently from understanding completely.In constructivist teaching, teachers minimize adult authority. Instead of simply lecturing on facts, constructivist teacher provide experience, ask question, provoke discourse and encourage experimentation and deep through.There are many variations on constructivism that you may hear about such as project- based instruction, who language, discovery learning and minds on instruction.Using hands-on materials when appropriate, particularly for novices.

Encouraging students to connect new material to familiar objects and events.Allowing students to choose some of their learning activities when possible.Following the childrens lead. Following up on their questions.. Talking less and listening more.Asking more question than giving answers. Asking open-ended question that foster deep thinking rather than questions that ask for a single word of answer . Presenting students with puzzling or unexpected information that cause them to revise their schemas.