Epistemology
The branch of philosophy concerned with the
nature and origin of knowledge.
Epistemology
The branch of philosophy concerned with the
nature and origin of knowledge.
Epistemology primarily addresses the following
questions: "What is knowledge?", "How is
knowledge acquired?", and "What do people
know?
Jean Piaget called his theory of learning
genetic epistemology.
Empiricists argue
that knowledge
results from an
accumulation of
experience,
Empiricists argue
that knowledge
results from an
accumulation of
experience,
whereas nativists
believe that the
organism is born with
an innate set of ideas
that form the basis of
knowledge.
Piaget was highly critical of empiricism, but he
was not particularly comfortable in presuming that
knowledge is entirely innate (the nativist position).
Instead he had a view consistent with
interpretivism that suggested a compromise
between nativism and empiricism.
He labeled his view interactionalism, since
cognition was assumed to be an interaction
between heredity and environment.
Piaget also called his view constructivism because
he firmly believed that knowledge acquisition is a
process of continuous self-construction.
Piaget also called his view constructivism because
he firmly believed that knowledge acquisition is a
process of continuous self-construction. That is,
knowledge is not out there, external to the child
and waiting to be discovered.
But neither is it wholly performed within the child,
ready to emerge as the child develops.
But neither is it wholly performed within the child,
ready to emerge as the child develops. Instead,
knowledge is invented and reinvented as the child
develops and interacts with the world surrounding
her.
Piaget believed that children actively approach
their environments and acquire knowledge through
their actions.
The actions are neither random nor aimless.
Very young infants immediately suck upon any
object place in their mouths.
And they mouth objects as a way to learn about
their worlds.
Piaget called these goal directed behaviors
schemes and contended that schemes evolve as
children develop.
Piaget distinguished among three types of
knowledge that children acquire:
physical,
logical-mathematical,
and social learning.
Physical knowledge
also called empirical
knowledge,
Physical knowledge
also called empirical
knowledge,
has to do with knowledge about
objects in the world,
Physical knowledge
also called empirical
knowledge,
has to do with knowledge about
objects in the world, which can be
gained through their perceptual
properties.
Blocks are solid and cube-shaped and come in
different colors and sizes.
Blocks are solid and cube-shaped and come in
different colors and sizes.
Children acquire knowledge about the properties
of blocks by seeing and handling the blocks.
Logical-mathematical knowledge
Logical-mathematical knowledge is abstract and
must be invented,
but through actions on objects that are
fundamentally different from actions enabling
physical knowledge.
The abstract character of logical-mathematical
knowledge gives it an advantage over physical
knowledge in its greater range of application.
The abstract character of logical-mathematical
knowledge gives it an advantage over physical
knowledge in its greater range of application.
Physical knowledge of blocks, for instance, can be
extended only to other blocks, but conservation of
number applies to blocks, pennies, people, or what
have you.
The cognitive result, therefore, of schemes
enabling the invention of logical-mathematical
knowledge is a coherent set of mental operations.
These operations exist within relational structures
or networks of operations that are considered to be
the highest order mental organizations (also called
schemata).
Social Learning
culture-specific
Social Learning
In acknowledging the social aspect of children’s
development, he distinguished a third type of
knowledge. Social knowledge is culture-specific
and can be learned only from other people within
one’s cultural group.
culture-specific
Social Learning
In acknowledging the social aspect of children’s
development, he distinguished a third type of
knowledge. Social knowledge is culture-specific
and can be learned only from other people within
one’s cultural group.
Actions again hold the key to the
acquisition of this kind of
knowledge—that is, actions on, or
interactions with, other people.
culture-specific
The Stages of Development
The concept of stage has already been implicated
in the discussion of physical versus
logical-mathematical knowledge.
The concept of stage has already been implicated
in the discussion of physical versus
logical-mathematical knowledge.
Knowledge about blocks
precedes a child’s ability to
reason or solve problems
using blocks.
The concept of stage has already been implicated
in the discussion of physical versus
logical-mathematical knowledge.
Knowledge about blocks
precedes a child’s ability to
reason or solve problems
using blocks.
Thus, reasoning is evidence
of a later stage in
development.
Piaget believed that children progress through an
invariant sequence of four stages.
Piaget believed that children progress through an
invariant sequence of four stages.
1.
Each stage must represent a qualitative
change in children’s cognition.
2.
Children progress through the stages in a
culturally invariant sequence.
3.
Each stage includes the cognitive structures
and abilities of the preceding stage.
4.
At each stage, the child’s schemes and
operations form an integrated whole.
4.
At each stage, the child’s schemes and
operations form an integrated whole.
What schemes a child employs to explore her
world depend upon her stage of development.
4.
At each stage, the child’s schemes and
operations form an integrated whole.
What schemes a child employs to explore her
world depend upon her stage of development.
If children are in different
stages,
4.
At each stage, the child’s schemes and
operations form an integrated whole.
What schemes a child employs to explore her
world depend upon her stage of development.
If children are in different
stages, they would each
employ different schemes
4.
At each stage, the child’s schemes and
operations form an integrated whole.
What schemes a child employs to explore her
world depend upon her stage of development.
If children are in different
stages, they would each
employ different schemes
and exhibit different
cognitive capabilities.
The Sensorimotor Period (Birth to 2 years)
Newborns come into the world with a variety of
innate reflexes (e.g., sucking, reacting to noises,
focusing on objects within their view).
With a short time, they begin to modify these
reflexes to make them more adaptive (e.g., sucking
a finger becomes a different action from sucking a
nipple).
Initially, infants’ actions are directed primarily at
their own bodies, but they increasingly center on the
external world. In addition, infant’s behavior
begins to reflect clear, goals, and these goals
progress from concrete to abstract.
Piaget (1951) described his son deliberately
dropping objects (a concrete goal) and then
varying the heights from which he dropped them
(an abstract goal).
Toward the end of the sensorimotor period,
children begin to mentally represent objects and
events.
Piaget (1951) described his daughter Lucienne, for
example, playing with a partly open matchbox in
which a watch chain had been placed. Apparently
aware of what the opening represented and
wanting it to become wider, Lucienne opened her
mouth wider and wider.
The Preoperational Period (2 to 7 years)
Early in the preoperational period, children
acquire what Piaget called the semiotic function.
The Preoperational Period (2 to 7 years)
Early in the preoperational period, children
acquire what Piaget called the semiotic function.
This means they are able to mentally represent
objects and events, as evidence in their imitation
of some activity long after it occurred.
Pretending, or symbolic play, is highly
characteristic of this stage,
Pretending, or symbolic play, is highly
characteristic of this stage, and language
acquisition proceeds rapidly.
Also characteristic of preoperational intelligence
are children’s egocentrism and centration, which
are thought to place limits on their thinking.
Also characteristic of preoperational intelligence
are children’s egocentrism and centration, which
are thought to place limits on their thinking. First,
preoperational children have difficulty in seeing
points of view other than their own.
A conversation between two preschoolers sounds
less like a conversation than like two monologues.
Children typically talk past another rather than to
one another.
This egocentrism is also evident in children’s
inability to mentally rotate spatial arrangements in
order to identify a different perspective.
This egocentrism is also evident in children’s
inability to mentally rotate spatial arrangements in
order to identify a different perspective.
As for centration, preoperational children focus
solely on one dimension of a problem.
The Concrete Operational Period (7 to 11 years)
Children overcome the limitations of egocentrism
and centration when they enter the stage of
concrete operations.
The Concrete Operational Period (7 to 11 years)
Children overcome the limitations of egocentrism
and centration when they enter the stage of
concrete operations.
It is at this stage that
they demonstrate
logically integrated
thought.
Through actions that have become increasingly
internalized,
Conservation
Through actions that have become increasingly
internalized, they invent logical-mathematical
knowledge
Conservation
Through actions that have become increasingly
internalized, they invent logical-mathematical
knowledge
resulting in
operations.
Conservation
Operations are reversible and maintain some
invariant property through a series of
transformations.
Despite their ability to solve many different kinds
of problems, concrete operational children still
cannot think hypothetically. They have difficulty
thinking about and discussing possible answers to
the question. “If people could know the future,
would they be happier than they are not”
The Formal Operations Period (11 Years Onward)
The Formal Operations Period (11 Years Onward)
Propositional logic is the hallmark of formal
operations.
The Formal Operations Period (11 Years Onward)
Propositional logic is the hallmark of formal
operations.
Operations become more abstract so that the
individual can reason, not just with objects, but
with formally stated premises or propositions.
The Formal Operations Period (11 Years Onward)
Propositional logic is the hallmark of formal
operations.
Operations become more abstract so that the
individual can reason, not just with objects, but
with formally stated premises or propositions.
This enables children not
only to think
hypothetically,
The Formal Operations Period (11 Years Onward)
Propositional logic is the hallmark of formal
operations.
Operations become more abstract so that the
individual can reason, not just with objects, but
with formally stated premises or propositions.
This enables children not
only to think
hypothetically, but to plan
a systematic approach to
solving problems.
Piaget presented children and adolescents with a
chemistry problem in which they were to mix clear
liquid chemicals from four beakers until they
achieved a yellow color.
Concrete operational children were rather random
in their approach to the problem, sometimes
repeating combinations of chemicals they had tried
before.
In addition, they typically combined only two
chemicals at a time, or all four, without
considering combinations of three. By contrast,
formal operational adolescents generated a
systematic plan of testing chemical combinations
until they found the solution.
Finally, the ability to imagine possibilities above
and beyond current reality is characteristic of
formal operational reasoners.
The Processes of Development
If Piaget’s description of stages answers the
question of psychological states children pass
through in development,
If Piaget’s description of stages answers the
question of psychological states children pass
through in development,
what mechanism did he
propose as responsible for
children’s progression from
If Piaget’s description of stages answers the
question of psychological states children pass
through in development,
what mechanism did he
propose as responsible for
children’s progression from
one stage to the next.
In essence, he considered three processes as being
critical to development:
In essence, he considered three processes as being
critical to development:
assimilation,
In essence, he considered three processes as being
critical to development:
assimilation,
accommodation, &
In essence, he considered three processes as being
critical to development:
assimilation,
accommodation, &
equilibration.
Assimilation. Assimilation occurs when a
child perceives new objects or events in terms of
existing schemes or operations.
Assimilation. Assimilation occurs when a
child perceives new objects or events in terms of
existing schemes or operations.
Consider once again the infant who puts things in
his mouth.
Assimilation. Assimilation occurs when a
child perceives new objects or events in terms of
existing schemes or operations.
Consider once again the infant who puts things in
his mouth.
This scheme, and others such
as grasping, throwing, or
shaking, are means of
assimilating information about
the object.
Children and adults alike tend to apply any mental
structure that is available to assimilate a new
event, and they will actively seek to use a newly
acquired structure.
Children and adults alike tend to apply any mental
structure that is available to assimilate a new
event, and they will actively seek to use a newly
acquired structure.
Children learning to talk,
for example, have been
observed to talk endlessly
to themselves,
Children and adults alike tend to apply any mental
structure that is available to assimilate a new
event, and they will actively seek to use a newly
acquired structure.
Children learning to talk,
for example, have been
observed to talk endlessly
to themselves,
whether or not anyone
else is there to listen.
Even adults who have learned a new skill
(such as how to use a word processor) will
seek to apply their knowledge in as many
situations as possible.
Accommodation
When existing schemes or operations must be
modified to account for a new experience,
accommodation has occurred.
Obviously, accommodation influences
assimilation and vice-versa.
Obviously, accommodation influences
assimilation and vice-versa.
An adequate attempt to assimilate some new event
into existing schemes of operations may result in
Obviously, accommodation influences
assimilation and vice-versa.
An adequate attempt to assimilate some new event
into existing schemes of operations may result in
some adjustment of those
schemes or operations thus
accommodating the event.
Such accommodation, however, affects subsequent
assimilation, which will not proceed in accord
with the new structure.
Equilibration
Equilibration
Equilibration is the master developmental process,
encompassing both assimilation and
accommodation.
Equilibration
Equilibration is the master developmental process,
encompassing both assimilation and
accommodation.
Equilibration particularly
characterizes the child’s
transition from one stage of
development to the next.
Within each stage, children operate from a set of
logical structures that, for their purposes, work
quite well, but toward the end of a stage,
Within each stage, children operate from a set of
logical structures that, for their purposes, work
quite well, but toward the end of a stage, they may
become aware of
Within each stage, children operate from a set of
logical structures that, for their purposes, work
quite well, but toward the end of a stage, they may
become aware of shortcomings in their
way of thinking.
Anomalies of experience create a state of
disequilibrium which can only be resolved when
a more adaptive, more sophisticated mode of
thought is adopted.
Criticisms of Genetic Epistemology
Claim 1: the Sequence of Stages is Invariant.
Piaget believed that all
children,
Piaget believed that all
regardless of culture,
children,
Piaget believed that all children,
regardless of culture, progress
through the four stages of
sensorimotor to formal operations.
Piaget believed that all children,
regardless of culture, progress
through the four stages of
sensorimotor to formal operations.
Moreover, once a particular stage is
reached, regression to a earlier
stage cannot occur, and all
children are expected to eventually
reach formal operations.
However, the age at which children
reached certain stages varied from
culture to culture and reaching
formal operations was by no means
assured.
Claim 2. The Stages Represent
Qualitative Changes in Cognition.
This claim carries two implication: (1) that
development is discontinuous
This claim carries two implication: (1) that
development is discontinuous and (2) that
reasoning on different problems is consistent
within a given stage.
This claim carries two implication: (1) that
development is discontinuous and (2) that
reasoning on different problems is consistent
within a given stage.
Whether the cognitive
changes that occur
during development are
continuous or
discontinuous is
difficult to judge.
The analogy of a bridge collapsing suggests that
development might be reasonably viewed as either
continuous or discontinuous.
The analogy of a bridge collapsing suggests that
development might be reasonably viewed as either
continuous or discontinuous. The forces that
cause a bridge to give way, for example, build up
over a long period of time.
But the collapse itself is sudden.
But the collapse itself is sudden.
Perhaps, then, what appear to be sudden changes
in children’s thinking are actually part of a gradual
progression.
Studies attempting to
train children on
Piagetian tasks have
shown that
Studies attempting to
train children on
Piagetian tasks have
shown that children
can learn more than
Piaget thought they
could.
Children should learn to solve, at the same time, a
variety of problems that share a dependence on the
logical structures developed during that stage.
Children should learn to solve, at the same time, a
variety of problems that share a dependence on the
logical structures developed during that stage.
However it is
increasingly
apparent that
Children should learn to solve, at the same time, a
variety of problems that share a dependence on the
logical structures developed during that stage.
However it is
increasingly
apparent that this
view does not
accurately
characterize
children’s thinking.
To confound the issue, researchers using nonPiagetian tasks have discovered that
To confound the issue, researchers using nonPiagetian tasks have discovered that children
sometimes demonstrate unsuspected cognitive
strengths.
Claim 3
Children Exhibit the Characteristics of Each
Stage
Do children consistently behave in these ways?
The answer is somewhat mixed.
With respect to egocentrism in preoperational
children,
With respect to egocentrism in preoperational
children, Piaget’s work records a deep insight:
With respect to egocentrism in preoperational
children, Piaget’s work records a deep insight: for
every task where point of view is an issue,
With respect to egocentrism in preoperational
children, Piaget’s work records a deep insight: for
every task where point of view is an issue, one can
find an age such that children younger than that
age usually err by failing to see the other person’s
viewpoint.
This suggests that children are egocentric,
This suggests that children are egocentric, but the
nature of the task
This suggests that children are egocentric, but the
nature of the task rather than the stage of
development appears to be the critical factor
determining when they are egocentric.
Children well beyond the
preoperational period
continue to be at risk for
egocentrism in particular
types of tasks.
Preoperational children are not egocentric all the
time.
Preoperational children are not egocentric all the
time. In some situations they will communicate
nonegocentrically.
Preoperational children are not egocentric all the
time. In some situations they will communicate
nonegocentrically.
If you ask 3-year olds to show you their drawings,
Preoperational children are not egocentric all the
time. In some situations they will communicate
nonegocentrically.
If you ask 3-year olds to show you their drawings,
they hold the side with the artwork toward you.
Preoperational children are not egocentric all the
time. In some situations they will communicate
nonegocentrically.
If you ask 3-year olds to show you their drawings,
they hold the side with the artwork toward you. if
they were completely egocentric, they would do
the opposite, since they would assume that what
they see is what you see.
Claim 4.
Global Restructuring Characterizes the Shift
from Stage to Stage.
In part, this claim results from Piaget’s
requirement that stages represent qualitative
changes in children’s cognition.
In part, this claim results from Piaget’s
requirement that stages represent qualitative
changes in children’s cognition. But more that
that,
In part, this claim results from Piaget’s
requirement that stages represent qualitative
changes in children’s cognition. But more that
that, for children to make the transition between
stages, cognitive restructuring
In part, this claim results from Piaget’s
requirement that stages represent qualitative
changes in children’s cognition. But more that
that, for children to make the transition between
stages, cognitive restructuring
(i.e., accommodation in response to
disequilibrium) must occur.
Carey called this global restructuring
Carey called this global restructuring since it is
assumed, in Piaget’s theory, to constrain children’s
ability to acquire knowledge in all domains.
Carey called this global restructuring since it is
assumed, in Piaget’s theory, to constrain children’s
ability to acquire knowledge in all domains. But
Carey showed that children
Carey called this global restructuring since it is
assumed, in Piaget’s theory, to constrain children’s
ability to acquire knowledge in all domains. But
Carey showed that children knew more
than the theory predicted.
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was
certainly ground-breaking in its recognition that
children are not just mini-adults.
Children learn differently than adults do.
Beyond Piaget: Alternative Perspectives on
Cognitive Development
Children think about any
particular topic in only one way at
most points in development.
A major goal of developmental
theory should be identifying the
way of thinking used by children
at particular ages.
What makes the alternative theories different from
Piaget’s is an additional assumption that thinking
is information processing.
Thus, researchers from this perspective focus on
“the information that children represent, the
processes they use to transform the information,
and the memory limits that constrain the amount
of information they can represent and process.