Piaget's sensorimotor View Flashcards
(19 cards)
4 main stages of development
Sensorimotor (0-2yrs)
Pre-operational (2-7yrs)
Concrete Operational (7-12yrs)
Formal Operational (12+yrs)
2 Central assumptions of Piaget’s stages of development
1) Process of knowledge evolution: cognitive system naturally seeks equilibrium therefore, cognitive development is caused by assimilation and accomodation
2) Within each stage children think and reason differently which requires fundamental cognitive restructuring
Assimilation
Interpreting new experiences in terms of current cognitive schemes
Accomodation
Adapting and changing cognitive schemes/general concepts for viewing the world to better fit reality
Limitation of stage chronology (Chapman, 1988)
Chronology of stages may be extremely variable, such variability may also occur within any given stage. Piaget recognised that acquisition of each new stage may not be synchronous across all different domains of thought.
Timeline of imitation as proposed by Piaget
0-8 months: Infants only imitate actions they van see themselves perform (e.g sticking out tongue)
8-12 months: Infants begin to imitate novel actions
12-18 months: Deferred imitation emerges - ability to imitate actions observed earlier.
Central claim of sensorimotor stage
“Thought stems from action”
Logic of action existed prior to, and in addition to, logic of thought.
6 substages of Sensorimotor period
Reflex activity (0-1 month)
Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months)
Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months)
Co-ordination of secondary schemata (8-12 months)
Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months)
Beginning of Thought (18-24 months)
What happens in substage: Reflex activity
- innate reflexes modified to suit world
- simultaneously sucking response assimilated to increasing range of objects, gradually distinguishing objects that satisfy hunger
- e.g. baby modify sucking behaviour to fit contour of mother’s nipple
What happens in substage: Primary Circular Reactions
- infant engages in repetitive action -> Piaget concluded must have cognitive value
- repetitive behaviours concerned with self
- pleasure
What happens in substage: Secondary circular reaction
- repetitive actions involving outside world
What happens in substage: Co-ordination of secondary schemata
- co-ordinate series of behaviours to achieve goal
- Piaget called this ‘means-ends’ behaviour
What happens in substage: Tertiary Circular Reactions
- ability to recreate events sophisticated
- Trial-and-error exploration
- Piaget argued these reactions led to discovery of spatial and causal relationships between involved objects
What happens in substage: Beginning of Thought
- Symbolic thought developed
- anticipatory of consequences -> can work out actions needed to attain goal before performing
- cognitive representations of actions and consequences developed
Object Permanence
Understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen,heard, touched
- measured via searching task
Progression of object permanence outlined by Piaget
0-4 months: None
4-8 months: Partial
8-12 months: full =. A-not-B error appears
12-18 months: Can track invisible displacements. A-not-B error disappears
Evaluation of object permanence (limitations)
- Piaget wrong about how slowly early cognitive representations develop
- Piagetian view that development of object occurence at 18months is wrong
Evaluation of object permanence (strengths)
- SM responses = primary source of info.
- idea that SM experiences play integral role in knowledge fits with other learning mechanisms
-Neuroimaging data available supports central assumption of ‘logic of action’
General criticisms of Piaget
- small sample size
- lack of standardised measurement
- underestimation of infant ability
