Piaget's Approach to cognitive development

Question 1

What is Genetic epistemology?

Answer 1

The development of Knowledge

Question 2

What evidence did piaget use to conclude that stages of development exist?

Answer 2

“We have seen that there exist structures which belong only to the subject, that they are built, and that this is a step-by-step process.”

Question 3

What did Piaget say about children’s logical thought between stages?

Answer 3

That it is qualitatively different.

Question 4

What mechanisms are involved?

Answer 4

• Children’s knowledge is organised into cognitive structures, or ‘schemas’
• Early schemes involve internalised action (e.g., sucking, grasping) -organised behavioural response to objects
• Later schemes can involve intellectual activit (e.g., abstract reasoning)

Question 5

What is the the technical name for the infancy stage (0-2 years)?

Answer 5

Sensorimotor stage

Question 6

What are the key features of the Sensorimotor stage?

Answer 6

1. Move from reflexes to reflecting

• newborn reflexes
• primary circular reaction
• secondary circular reactions
• coordination of secondary
• circular reactions
• tertiary circular reactions
• mental representation

2. Object permanence
   * Recognition that objects exist in the absence of any sensory perception

Question 7

What is the Technical name for the ‘Early to middle childhood’ stage (2-7 years)

Answer 7

Preoperational stage

Question 8

What are the key features of the preoperational stage?

Answer 8

• Increase in mental representations
• Difficulty in manipulation of mental representations (i.e. operations)
• Conservation

Question 9

Exaplain the purpose of Piaget’s Mountain test?

Answer 9

To test for egocentrism

Question 10

What is the technical name for the Middle childhood/pre-adolescence stage (7-11 years)?

Answer 10

Concrete operational stage

Question 11

What are the key features of the Concrete operations stage?

Answer 11

1. Applying operations to concrete objects

• Classification can take place along multiple dimensions
• Understanding of compensation, reversibility etc.
• BUT physical presence of objects often still needed in order for operations to be applied to them “Edith is lighter than Suzanne and Edith is darker than Lily; which is the darkest of the three?” (Piaget, 1958)

2. Limited ability to reason with abstract representations

Question 12

What is the technical name for the Adolescence to adulhood stage?

Answer 12

Formal Operations stage

Question 13

What are the key features of the Formal operations stage?

Answer 13

1. Applying logical operations to abstract, intangible entities

• dissociation of truth from logic
• systematic hypothesis-testing
• strategic planning
• appreciation of multiple alternatives

_–> Problem-solving _