Theories On Child Development - Piaget

Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development 

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the 20th centuries most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology.  He was mainly interested in the biological influences on ―how we come to know.

Piaget believed that what distinguishes human beings from other animals is our ability to do ―abstract symbolic reasoning. There are two major aspects to his theory:

•  the process of coming to know and
•  the stages we move through as we gradually acquire this ability.

Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. His contributions include a theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.Before Piaget’s work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are merely less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think in strikingly different ways compared to adults.

According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and
knowledge is based.

Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:

1. t is concerned with children, rather than all learners.
2. It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning of information or specific behaviours.
3. It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences, rather than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviours, concepts, ideas, etc.

The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and
think using hypotheses.

To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience.
Children construct an understanding of the world  around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they
discover in their environment.

There Are 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 accommodation).

3. Stages of Development:

·           sensorimotor,

·         preoperational,

·         concrete operational,

·         formal operational.

Schemas

Piaget (1952) defined a schema as 'a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a
core meaning'.

In more simple terms Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behaviour – a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, 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.

Wadsworth (2004) suggests that schemata (the plural of schema) be thought of as 'index cards' filed in the brain, each one telling an individual how to react to
incoming stimuli or information. When Piaget talked about the development of a person's mental processes, he was referring to increases in the number and complexity of the schemata that a person had learned.

When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e. a state of cognitive (i.e. mental)balance.

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.

For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The schema is a stored form of the pattern of behaviour which includes looking
at a menu, ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema called a 'script'. Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve
this schema from memory and apply it to the situation.

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.

Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas - even before they have had much opportunity to experience the world. These
neonatal schemas are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically programmed into us.

For example, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching the baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's finger. Piaget therefore assumed that the baby has a 'sucking schema'.

Similarly the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a baby's hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something which touches its cheek, were assumed to result operations: for example shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas, grasping and shaking.

Assimilation and Accommodation

Jean viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the
world. This happens through:

Assimilation – Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.

Accommodation – This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.

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).

Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.

Stages in Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor stage (birth – 2 years old) - 

The child, through physical interaction with his or her environment, builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works.

1. Development from Reflex Activity to Sensori Motor Ways of Solving a Problem
2. Co ordination of Sensory Motor Actions
3. Primitive Ways of Anticipating Future Events
4. The First Signs of Curiosity
5. Tendency to Imitate or Repeat Behavior or Actions of Models
6. Perception of Objects and People
7. Object Permanence develops towards the end.

Preoperational stage (ages 2-7) — 

The child is not yet able to conceptualize abstractly and needs concrete physical situations.

1. During the  First half of this Stage, Extremely Rapid Development of Language Occurs
2. The Child’s Thought is Dominated by Perception
3. Thinking is marked marked by Egocentrism, Animinism and Realism 

Egocentrism refers to the inability of the children to look at a problem from the point of view of others. 

Animinism implies the belief of a child that things are alive because they are moving Realism implies a belief that all that they see are real nothing is fictitious.

Concrete operations (ages 7-12)— 

As physical experience accumulates, the child starts to conceptualize, creating logical structures that explain his or her physical experiences. Abstract problem solving is also possible at this stage. For example, arithmetic equations can be solved with numbers, not just with objects.

1. Logical thinking using concrete objects occurs during this stage 
2. Child’s Egocentrsm waves and he is able to take others view point
3. The concrete operational child understands conservation of numerousness, length, area and ultimately volume
4. Decentering and reversibiliy of thought
5. Capacity to classify group and arange objcts srially

Formal operations (beginning at ages 11-15)— 

By this point, the child's cognitive structures are like those of an adult and include conceptual reasoning.

1. System of mental operation has reached a degree of equilibrium
2. Ability to apply logical thoughts to all classes of problems
3. Ability to use abstract rules to solve a whole class of problems
4. Formal thought is rational and systematic
5. Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, abstract and the future

Piaget outlined several principles for building cognitive structures. During all development stages, the child experiences his or her environment using whatever mental maps he or she has constructed so far. If the experience is a repeated one, it fits easily--or is assimilated--into the child's cognitive structure so that he or she maintains mental "equilibrium." If the experience is different or new, the child loses equilibrium, and alters his or her cognitive structure to accommodate the new conditions. This way, the child erects more and more adequate cognitive structures. 

Educational Implications

Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages, the notion of 'readiness' is important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts should be taught.

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.

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.