Cognitive
Development
Jean Piaget
Constructivism Theory
Kinds of Knowledge
• physical knowledge
• logico-mathematical knowledge
• social knowledge
Constructivism
•children are active learners, not
passive observers
•organize their knowledge into schemes
•schemes change through
–assimilation
–accommodation
Stages of Cognitive Development
•children’s schemes change over time
•cognition develops in stages, not
gradually
•each stage builds on accomplishments
of prior stage
Sensori-motor Stage
• ages birth – 2 years old
• infant uses senses and motor
abilities to explore
• first explorations are innate reflexes
• goal-directed behaviors
• object permanence
Substages of Sensori-motor Stage
• 1st: (birth - 1 mo)
– innate reflexes,
– circular reactions
• 2nd: (1-4 mo)
– primary circular reactions
• 3rd: (4-8 mo)
– secondary circular
Substages of Sensori-motor Stage
• 4th: (8-12 mo)
– goal directed behavior
– object permanence
• 5th: (12-18 mo)
– tertiary circular
• 6th: (18-24 mo)
– Symbolic
representation
Preoperational Stage
•ages 2-7
•child uses mental representations
of objects
•play moves from using real objects
to more complex play
•child’s thinking is perceptionbound, egocentric, irreversible,
centrated, intuitive, animistic
Concrete operations
•ages 7-11
•child uses logical operations
•ability to
–conserve
–think flexibly
–seriate
–classify with more than 1 attribute and with
hierarchical thinking
Conservation Tasks
Formal operations
• ages 12 and up
• child uses logical operations in a
systematic fashion
• can think abstractly
• hypothetico-deductive thinking
• propositional thinking
Contributions of Piaget's
Theories to Current Practice
•focus on active, hands-on learning
•play is important
•sensitivity to a child's current level of
understanding
•acceptance of individual differences
Criticisms of Piaget's Ideas
•research methods
•underestimated/overestimated the
abilities of children
•didn't adequately consider the role of
culture and experience in children’s
undertaking of his tasks
•stage theory
Lev Vygotsky
Socio-cultural Theory
•Importance of culture and society on a child’s
learning
–knowledge is socially constructed
–culturally determined
•Importance of interactions with more-abled
members of the society
–zone of proximal development
–scaffolding
•Language is the foundation of all higher
cognitive processes
–private speech
–inner speech
•Development is continuous, not
occurring in stages
Contributions of Vygotsky's
Theories to Current Practice
•opportunities for discovery and
play
•opportunities social interactions for
learning
•use of language to enhance
conceptual development