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Piaget's theory of cognitive development - Coggle Diagram
Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years of age)
感觉运动阶段
Very first stage of development.
Baby is still learning to connect what they can see (sensory) to what they can do (motor)
Key characteristics: they still do not have object permanence in the beginning of this stage, which means that when something is removed from their sight, they will stop looking for it.
Pre-operational stage 前运算阶段
2-7 years old
"Operational" refers to logical operations.
By the beginning of this stage, toddlers can walk and use basic language, but their thoughts still lack logic.
Key characteristics: children at this stage lack conservation ability and are egocentric.
Concrete operational stage (7-11 years)
Piaget said that most children were able to understand conservation and were less egocentric by about 7, but they still struggled with abstract logical thinking.
Children can understand concrete logical operations, such as conservation of quantity, but still struggle with abstract operations
key characteristic: Logical thinking: children under the age of 11 will struggle with logical thinking if it is not presented in a concrete way.
Children under the age of 11 still struggle with class inclusion, which is the ability to classify objects as belonging to two or more categories simultaneously
Concrete logical operations are ones that can be seen without using a metaphor or abstract thinking
抽象思考 = abstract thinking
具体思考 = concrete thinking
正式运作阶段 = Formal Operational Stage
Formal operational stage: Piaget believed that at the age of about 11, children were able to focus on the form of an argument without thinking about the content.
"All yellow cats have two heads. I have a yellow cat. How many heads does it have?"
The ability to focus on the form of an argument without being distracted by content allows for scientific reasoning.
Weaknesses of Piaget's theory:
underestimated the abilities of young children, as demonstrated with the naughty teddy study and the police doll study.
Overestimated the abilities of older children. For example, children older than 11 may still struggle with abstract thinking.
Strengths of Piaget's Theory
The basic idea behind the stages of cognitive development is correct.
Applications of Piaget's theory
Education
Readiness: Learners must be at a stage where the information they learn is understandable. For real learning to happen, activities should be appropriate for the child's age. As an example, trying to teach abstract mathematical calculations to a preoperational child would be a waste of time.
Learning by discovery: Piaget believed that students learn best by discovering the information rather than memorizing it. The teacher's role is to create an environment that will allow students to explore new information with questions and projects. (so that assimilation and accommodation will take place in the child's thinking).
Individual learning: Teachers have a responsibility to ensure that classroom activities are differentiated based on student ability level and stage of development.
Applications to stages of development
Sensorimotor stage: Rich and stimulating environment, with opportunities for experimenting with sensory experiments and learning motor coordination.
Pre-operational stage: Children benefit from role-playing games that challenge them to reduce egocentricity. They also experiment with games and toys that teach them about quantity.
Concrete operational stage: During this stage, children will be given concrete materials to manipulate, for example, and abacus or blocks to learn about addition and subtraction. Cooking is a useful activity because it involves practical work and following sequences of instructions.
Formal operational stage: Scientific activity will help develop an understanding of logic. Discussions in groups enable young people to think about things like what their ideal world would be like.
Evaluation
One strength of the application of Piaget's theory to education is that is has helped improve the quality of education children receive. For example, the teachers at schools have a guide for how to teach children at different stages of brain development correctly. Using Piaget's theory, teachers won't teach students concepts they are not ready for.
Another strength of the application of Piaget's theory to education is that it is very influential. The influence of Piaget's theory can be seen in schools in Hong Kong, the UK, America, and many other countries. Some schools, such as Montessori schools, are very heavily influenced by Piaget's theory and they use a focus on learning activities that are developmentally appropriate.
A weakness of Piaget's theory applied to education is that if learning occurs in stages based solely on individual brain development, then it may discourage teachers from teaching key concepts at certain ages. But, there is some evidence that practice can teach these skills. For example, children in the preoperational stage could learn to be less egocentric through practice.
Traditional methods may also be good, and the teaching style Piaget's theory recommends may not be the most effective. There have been some studies that have found children taught using more traditional methods with lots of practice of key concepts did better than those that learned through student-centered learning.