Cognitive Development and
Jean Piaget VTfT
Sensory Motor (Birth-2)
Characteristics
• Learn through their senses• Develop object permanence by
the end of this stage• Sensory Motor Overview
Pre-Operational Stage (2-6)
Characteristics• Language development is an important task
of this period• Child relies on intuition• Animism • egocentric• Answer “what” but not “why” questions• Understand that drawings or words stand for
something• Understanding of past and future• lack of conservation
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)
Characteristics
• Can reason deductively• Still cannot reason abstractly nor
do problem solving in their head• Capable of conservation,
seriation, and classification• Conservation
Formal Operational Stage (12+)
Characteristics
• Mastery of Thought• Abstract reasoning• Can answer “how” and “why”
questions• Formal Operational thought
There are seven cognitive processes a formal operational thinker can do better
than a concrete one:
• Logic• Abstract reasoning• Hypothetical reasoning• Extended thinking or mental
leaps• Projective thinking• Metacognitive thinking• Reflective thinking
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO PIAGET
Cognitive Learning Theory
• Cognition: the mental process by which knowledge is acquired
• stimulus (the questions)• Response (the answer)• Cognition (the thought process)
Three steps to understanding Piaget’s
theory:• Reflexes: simple blocks of
cognition that help infants to adapt
• Sucking, grasping• Sucking (rooting) reflex• Grasping reflex
Piaget believed people learn in the following ways:
• Assimilation: fitting new information into an already existing schema
• Accommodation: adjusting schema to fit new situations or demands; adjusting existing knowledge to accommodate new information
Equilibrium
• Balance between the learner and his environment (assimilation and accommodation)
• because some children can reach equilibrium faster, they are able to advance more quickly in logic development
Learner-Centered
• Piaget’s theory emphasizes the need for the learner to participate in the learning
• Learner must explore, manipulate, experiment, question, and search
• Learning is a social process that is enhanced through collaboration and peer interaction
• Teachers take more of the role of facilitator