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Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development, Piaget's Theory of…
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Conservation
Piaget demonstrated that younger children find it difficult to understand the idea that quantities do not change
Younger children think quite differently from older children who might say to themselves "well it does look like there is more water but I know there can't suddenly be more water
Piaget demonstrated this with number as well as volume. He showed children two identical rows of six counters each, equally spaced. Young children correctly reasoned that each row of counters had the same number. However when the counters in the rows were pushed closer together, younger children struggled to conserve and usually said there were fewer counters in the row
McGarrigle and Donaldson's "naughty teddy study"
Aim
McGarrigle and Donaldson wanted to see whether the childs reaction would be different if there was no deliberate change in the row of counters, i.e the change was accidental
Method
There were 80 children in the study all from Edinburgh in Scotland; 40 of the children were at Nursery schools and 40 were from primary school
The children were introduced to naughty teddy who was liable to escape from his box and try to mess up the toys and spoil the game. The children were then shown two rows of counters: one with 4 red counters and one with 4 white counters
The teddy jumped out of the box and pushed the counters in one row about, in a haphazard fashion. He transformed the display making one row look smaller
Before and after the transformation each child was asked the same question while the researcher pointed to each row in turn, "Is there more here or more here or are the both the same number"
Results
About 41% (33 out of 80) of the children gave the correct answer, if the display was deliberately changed
About 68% (54 out of 80) gave the right answer if the change was accidental
For the primary children both figures were higher than for the nursery school children
Conclusions
This study shows that the traditional method of testing conservation underestimated what children can do. In this study, many of the nursery school children did conserve quantity. Piaget said that children of this age couldn't do this.
However they were still different ages. The primary school children did better over all than the nursery school children. This does support Piaget's idea that the way children think changes as they get older
Evaluation
Primary School sample from one school, so comparisons between groups may not be valid
Children may appear to conserve because they simply didn't notice the change as they were distracted by the teddy
The study shows that Piaget confused young children with his style of questioning. This helps to refine his theory
The theory
Piaget suggested that young children are not
able to think logically about the world. Their brains are simply not mature enough to think in a logical way: in the same way that a very young child cannot walk because their muscles and coordination are not mature enough
As a child gets older their brain develops different kinds of thinking are possible.
Piaget described how children learn new information. As children develop, they construct more and more detailed and complex mental representations of the world.
These representations are stored in the form of
Schemas
. A schema is a mental structure containing all the information we have about one aspect of the world.
As adults we have schemas for people, for objects, physical actions and also for more abstract ideas like justice and morality.
Gradually these schemas become more numerous and more complex through the processes of assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation:
Let us imagine that a young child has a schema for "car". The child knows that you get into a car and the car makes a noise and it moves. A car is red and shiny. One day the child encounters a blue sports car. This doesn't fully match their existing schema - the colour is different, only one other person can get in, the car makes a different noise, etc. So the child's "car schema" needs a bit of change to take in the new information.
We say that assimilation takes place when we understand a new experience and add that new information to our schema.
Accommodation
On another occasion the child gets to ride in a tractor - this also moves and is shiny and red but makes quite a different noise and has very large tyres. This requires a bit of change to the existing car schema or the formation of a new one - a tractor schema.
Gradually we develop the detail of each existing schema and, on some occasions, develop and entirely new ones. This is how we acquire knowledge about the world
It says assimilation and accommodation
Evaluation
A strength is that theory has led to an enormous amount of research to test his ideas. Theories depend on research evidence to demonstrate whether it is right or wrong. Numerous studies have been conducted proving some elements of Piaget's study.
Another strength is that Piaget's ideas have influenced classroom teaching
Egocentricity
Piaget's study of egocentricity: Piaget demonstrated how young children display ego centrism in his three mountains task.
He showed that most children under the age of 7 can only think in terms of their own personal perspective. from the age of 7 onward they develop the ability to decentre or see the world from multiple viewpoints
Piaget believed this was another example of the unique way that younger children think about the world
However as with conservation Piaget's ideas have been challenged
Hughes' "policeman doll study"
Aim
Martin Hughes suggested that younger children might have less difficulty if the task made social sense to them. His aim, therefore, was to create a test that would be more understandable and see if children could cope better with the egocentrism task.
Method
Hughes tested 30 children aged 3 1/2 to 5 years old. They were also from Edinburgh
Each child was introduced to the task very carefully. He or she was shown a model with two intersecting walls. The policeman doll was placed as shown in the diagram with the child to one side.
Hughes then put a boy doll in each section and asked if the policeman could see the boy doll.
The policeman was then moved to another point and the child asked to hide the boy doll from the policeman. If the child made any mistakes, their error was pointed out and the task was repeated.
Then the test proper started, the time with two policeman dolls - one placed in another point. The child was asked again to hide the boy doll from the policeman.
Results
90% of the children were able to position the boy doll where two policemen could not "see" him.
In more complex trials, using 5 or 6 sections, the three-year-olds had more trouble (60% of trials correct). The four-year-olds had 90% success.
Conclusions
As with the "naughty teddy study", this study again shows that Piaget underestimated younger children's abilities. If the task is designed in a way which is related to everyday experience, the younger children are able to see the world from another persons perspective.
However, there did continue to be age differences, which suggest that Piaget was right in his view that the way children think changes with age
Evaluation
Task made better sense to Children and they were given practice so they understood, so a more realistic test of abilities
Unconscious cues from the researcher may have influenced the children's behaviour, so the results lack validity
The study shows that Piaget's task confused the children making them appear less able thinkers. This helps to refine his theory.
Stages of cognitive development
Sensorimotor stage (age 0-2 years): a babies early focus is on physical sensations and on developing some basic physical coordination
key characteristic of this stage: object performance
Pre-operational stage (2-7 years): by the age of two a toddler is mobile and can use language but still lacks reasoning ability. they might think in apparently logic ways but not in a way that makes sense.
key characteristics of this stage: lack of conservation and egocentrism
Concrete operational stage (7-11 years): piaget found that from the age of around 7 most children can conserve and perform much better on tasks of egoscentrism this shows that children now have better reasoning abilities.
key characteristic of this stage: logical thinking
Formal operation stage (11+ years): piaget believed that from the age of 11 children became capable of formal reasoning this means that children become able to focus on the form of an argument and not be distracted by its content
Evaluation
Some types of thinking develop earlier than Piaget proposed
Suggested that children 11+ are capable of abstract reasoning but most can't cope with Wason's card sorting task in abstract form
Does show children's thinking changes with age so theory is valid
Application to education
Readiness
According to Piaget, each stage of cognitive development appears through the natural process of ageing. Therefore, in his view, you cannot teach a child to perform certain activities before they are biologically "ready". For example, trying to teach a
pre-operational child to perform abstract mathematical calculations would be a waste of time
For real learning to take place, activities should be at the appropriate level for a child's age. If a child is not mature enough, they would only acquire skills superficially in order to truly understand and become competent, it is important to wait until he child is ready.
Learning by discovery and the teacher's role
Piaget also believed that, in order for true understanding to develop, a child must discover concepts fro themselves rather than rote-learning material that is given to them. It is important that children play a roll in their education.
The teacher's role is to create an environment which will stimulate the children to ask questions. The teacher should plan activities so that a learner is stimulated to accommodate current schemas to cope with new information. Thus assimilation and accommodation will take place and the child's thinking will develop.
Individual learning
Piaget's theory claims that all children go through the same developmental stages in the same order: however, they do so at different rates. Because of this teachers must make a special effort to arrange classroom activities for individuals and groups of children rather than for a whole class group
Application to stages
Sensorimotor stage - provide a rich stimulating environment with opportunities to experiment with sensory experiments and learn motor coordination. For example, allowing a child to play with toys that squeak when squeezed.
Pre-operational stage - Games that involve role play and dressing up may reduce egocentricity. Hands on activities with, for example, Plasticine allow children ti experiment with quantities. Focus should not be written work but on experimentation
Concentrate operational stage - Children should be given concrete materials to manipulate, for example an abacus to develop numerical skills. Cooking is a useful activity because it involves practical work and involves following a logical sequence 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
Positive impact on UK education as more child-centered activity in primary schools
Thinking can develop at an earlier age if given enough practice, not just when ready
Direct instruction is a better teaching method in some subjects
Piaget's Theory of Language and Thought
Language depends on thought.
Children develop language by matching the correct words to their existing knowledge of the world. The child's understanding of a concept comes first (the schema), and then they learn how to express their understanding of it - through the words they use. So, for Piaget thought and understanding come first, then language develops after
Young children
Piaget was not suggesting that young children cannot be taught new words without having a schema. However, he did say they will only understand those words when they are "ready". In other words, they only understand the concepts when they have reached the right stage on cognitive development. If a child learns a word before they have a schema for that word, then they are just like a parrot - repeating words that they don't understand. This means that language can exist without thought, but a child can only use language properly when they understand what they are talking about.
The development of language
Children only begin to speak towards the end of their first year, in the sensorimotor stage. Before the age of one they are developing schemas as they learn to co-ordinate sensory and motor information. Children understand the idea or concept of language before they actually begin to use it.
In the second pre-operational stage (from two onwards) children's language development makes rapid progress. They start to talk about things that are not physically present, like the future and their feelings. However, their language still tends to be quite self-centred as they cannot see things from someone else's point of view (this is called ego-centrism.
Logical thinking
According to Piaget, by the concrete operational stage (seven years onwards), children's language use becomes much more mature and logical. As they begin to decentre, they can consider and talk about the views of other. They also begin to question, criticise and come up with new ideas.
Evaluation
A strength of Piaget's theory is that early language development is not random. When children start talking they will often use two-word phrases such as "Mummy sock" - as in a sock that is owned by Mummy. This demonstrates that children already have some understanding of the relationship between objects and people in the real world before they start to talk. If they did not, their early talk would just be a series of unconnected words.
This suggests that children start to use language only when they have developed the right schema.
A weakness is that the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests the opposite. This theory claims that people only think about and understand the world through the language that is available to them. If Someone is raised in a culture where there is no word or phrase for a particular idea, then there person is not able to think about this This is supported by cross-cultural studies of language and thought. This suggests that Piaget was wrong about the relationship between language and thought.
Another weakness is that schemas cannot be scientifically measured. In Piaget's theory of language the idea is that schemas develop first and then language develops afterwards. But how do we know someone has developed a schema? Without being able to ask young children - or look inside their heads - it is very difficult to know if schemas exist. We cannot measure schemas - and if we cannot measure them, we have no proof that they are there. This suggests that Piaget's theory is not based on solid scientific evidence.
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Language and Thought
Thinking depends on Language
Unlike Piaget, Sapir and Whorf believed that language comes first and thought comes after. Words influence thoughts, memories and perceptions.There is a strong and weak version of this hypothesis shown by if words influence our thoughts or if words determine our thought.
Evaluation
One weakness is that the evidence from boas may have exaggerated the differences in language between cultures
Explanation
Other researchers say boas exaggerated the difference between inuit speakers and English speakers. Geofferey Pullum called it the Great eskimo vocabulary hoax. He argued there was only two words for now in the inuit culture.
The strong version of the theory argues that language determines thought. According to this, if a particular language has no words relating to a certain thought, object or idea, then people who speak that language will have no way of thinking about it. The language you learn determines how you think.
This is why it is often difficult to translate words and ideas between languages. Language and culture are linked. Cultures may be able to perceive certain things in more ways than other cultures.
The weak version says that language influences how we think, but does not directly determine them. Having words makes it easier to think about things, but it is still possible to think about the possibilities of what those things could be.
Both psychologists thought the weak version was better. Language can influence thinking in two ways: perception and memory. Information that is described better in a specific language will be better understood by speakers of that language.
