Learning  outcomes of theory of cognitive development  by Piaget

·        Define the schemas, assimilation ,accommodation and equilibration.

·        To describe the concept of  schemas, assimilation ,accommodation and equilibration and different stages of cognitive development .

·        To illustrate the concept of  schemas, assimilation ,accommodation and equilibration with different types of examples.

·        To differentiate  between assimilation ,accommodation

.       Instructions:
   While  reading the my academic note try to answer following questions.

• 1.Why Piaget gave the stage model of cognitive development?
• 2. Why a child of four year is unable to categorise the horse and Zebra in different categories ?
• 3. After what age child attains the object permanence?
• 4.Why we we should not teach a child of five years child with abstract symbols ?
• Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget's (1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a fixed trait, and regarded cognitive development as a process which occurs due to biological maturation and interaction with the 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).

Stages of Cognitive Development

        o   sensorimotor,

o   preoperational,

o   concrete operational,

o   formal operational.

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Schemas

Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from your past experience or to plan future actions.

Schemas are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental representation of the world. Piaget (1952, p. 7) 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 behavior – 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.

 ·        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).

Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development which reflect the increasing sophistication of children's thought:

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)

2. Preoperational stage (from age 2 to age 7)

3. Concrete operational stage (from age 7 to age 11)

4. Formal operational stage (age 11+ - adolescence and adulthood).

Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and child development is determined by biological maturation and interaction with the environment.

Although no stage can be missed out, there are individual differences in the rate at which children progress through stages, and some individuals may never attain the later stages.

Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although descriptions of the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average child would reach each stage.

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2 yrs)

The main achievement during this stage is Object Permanence - knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden.

It requires the ability to form a mental representation (i.e., a schema) of the object.

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

During this stage, young children can think about things symbolically. This is the ability to make one thing - a word or an object - stand for something other than itself.

Thinking is still egocentric, and the infant has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)

Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought.

This means the child can work things out internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in the real world).

Children can conserve number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9). Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.

Formal Operational Stage (11 years and over)

The formal operational stage begins at approximately age eleven and lasts into adulthood. During this time, people develop the ability to think about abstract concepts, and logically test hypotheses.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-A9SgbAK5I

Instructions :After watching the video try to give the answers of following questions.

How does a child construct knowledge according to Piaget?

• 1.Why Piaget gave the stage model of cognitive development?
• 2. Why a child of four year is unable to categorise the horse and Zebra in different categories ?
• 3. After what age child attains the object permanence?
• 4.Why we we should not teach a child of five years child with abstract symbols ?

Instructions :        For more information on this topic you can see the following OER

Instructions:  Make the group of five and do the group discussion on whether  cognitive theory by Piaget should be kept in your syllabus. Every group will present three report on the finding of the discussion.