PIAGET THEORY OF COGNITIVE

DEVELOPMENT

By Andrew Laux

Jean Piaget

Born August 9, 1896 in  Neuchatel, Switzerland Died September 16, 1980 wrote over 50 books, 180 major studies, 500

papers, 37 volumes in the series Etudes d'Epistemologie Genetique, and published, brief autobiographies.

Studied at the University of Neuchatel and University of Zurich

Professor at the Sorbonne, University of Geneva, University of Lausanne and University of Neuchatel

Director of the International Bureau of Education,  director of the Rousseau Institute in Geneva

Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor Period (0-2 years old)

Pre-Operational Period (2-7 years old)

Concrete Operational Period (7-11 years old)

Formal Operational Period (11+ years old)

Do Children Think Differently Than

Adults?

YES!

Transition from Concrete Operational to Formal Operational Stage

In order to advance from the concrete operational stage to the formal operational stage, a child must be able to :

Think abstractly Incorporate principles of logic Think hypothetically and not just concretely “There is no doubt that the most distinctive feature of

formal thought stems from the role played by statements about possibility relative to statements about empirical reality. Thus, compared to concrete thought, formal thought constitutes a new equilibrium”- Piaget

Key Terms

Hypothetico-deductice reasoning- Thinking of all possible factors that could affect the outcome when facing a problem, even those not immediately suggested by the concrete features of the situation. Then trying them out in a step-by-step fashion to find out which ones work in the real world.

Propositional though- Able to evaluate the logic of statements by reflecting on the statements themselves. Does not need to consider them against real-world circumstances.

The Experiment

I gave 8 children and 8 adults a test made up of hypothetical questions to see if they think differently as Piaget suggests.

Hypothesis

The children’s answer will differ from the adult’s answers showing that they think differently.

The children will probably have a wide variety of answers due to a lack of logic and inability to do hypothetico-deductive reasoning.

The adults will be probably have very similar answers.

The Test If you could have a third eye, where would

you put it? On your forehead On the back of your head On the top of your head On your hand Other, explain

_________________________________________________________

  What would you do if you were walking

through the woods and saw this bear? Run Play dead Ignore it Throw something at it Other, explain

________________________________________________________

What would you do if a homeless man asked you for money?

Give him some money Tell him no Buy him some food Ignore him Other,

explain_________________________________________________________

If you won a million dollars, what is the first thing that you would buy?

A house A car A TV Food Other, explain

____________________________________________________________

 

Test, continued What would you do if there was a fire in your

house? Run outside Walk outside Grab all of your favorite stuff and then go

outside Try to put the fire out Other, explain

__________________________________________________________

  What would you do if your dog ran away? Drive around looking for it Put up signs with a picture of the dog Do nothing and hope it comes back Get a new dog Other,

explain_________________________________________________________

  What would you do if you saw one of your

favorite celebrities (athlete, actor, singer, etc.) a few feet away from you?

Ask for an autograph Get a picture with him/her Try to have a conversation with him/her I would be too scared to approach him/her Other, explain   What would you do if someone took your

lunch? Tell on them to a teacher or policeman Confront them and try to get your lunch back Go buy something else for lunch Ask a friend if you can have some of their

food Other, explain

Participants

8 children Ages 7,7,8,9,9,10,11,11 6 boys (7,7,8,9,10,11) 2 girls (9,11)

8 adults Ages (21,21,22,22,23,37,40,42) 5 boys(21,21,22,23,40) 3 girls (22,37,42)

Results

Scale: 3pts-adult answer 2 pts- in between 1 pt- child answer

#(Age Gender)

1(21 B)

2 (22 B)

3 (23 B)

4 (22 G)

5 (21 B)

6 (40 B)

7 (37 G)

8 (42 G)

9 (7 B)

10 (9 B)

11 (10 B)

12 (11 B)

13 (7 B)

14 (8 B)

15 (11 G)

16 (9 G)

Q1 D (3) D (3) B (3) B (3) D (3) B (3) B (3) D (3) A (1) A (1) C (1) A (1) E (1) B (3) D (3) B (3)

Q2 A (3) B (3) B (3) B (3) A (3) B (3) A (3) B (3) A (3) A (3) D (1) B (3) B (3) B (3) B (3) B (3)

Q3 C (2) B (3) B (3) A (2) C (2) B (3) B (3) B (3) A (2) B (3) A (2) B (3) A (2) D (1) B (3) C (2)

Q4 A (3) B (3) A (3) A (3) B (3) A (3) B (3) A (3) E (1) B (3) D (1) E (1) E (1) C (1) E (1) E (1)

Q5 B (3) D (3) B (3) B (3) A (2) D (3) D (3) B (3) A (2) A (2) C (1) A (2) B (3) C (1) A (2) B (3)

Q6 C (3) A (3) C (3) A (3) A (3) C (3) D (2) A (3) B (1) B (1) B (1) A (3) B (1) D (2) B (1) B (1)

Q7 C (3) B (3) C (3) B (3) C (3) C (3) B (3) B (3) A (1) A (1) D (1) A (1) E (1) D (1) B (3) B (3)

Q8 B (3) B (3) B (3) C (3) C (3) B (3) C (3) C (3) A (1) A (1) D (1) D (1) A (1) D (1) A (1) A (1)

23 24 24 23 22 24 23 24 12 15 9 15 13 13 17 16

Observations

The 7 and 8 years olds had some trouble understanding the questions and took the longest to finish.

One 7 year old answered the question “If you could have a third eye, where would you put it? with “I’m not sure”

The two children that were girls had the highest scores of the children

0 adults picked E (other) while E was picked 7 times by children.

Examples for E (Other)

4. If you won a million dollars, what is the first thing you would buy? A zoo A bunch of toys PlayStation 4 Clothes Shoes

If you had a third eye, where would you put it?

This question was used by Piaget The adults all said “on the back of your

head” or “on your hand” which are the two most logical answers.

The children selected all 5 answers, which proves their inability to think logically or use hypothetico –deductive reasoning

Analysis

Adults had little variance in their answers. 5/8 questions had only 2 different answers 3/8 had 3 answers.

Children had much more variance. 1/8 questions had 2 different answers, 3/8 had 3 answers, 3/8 had 4 answers, 1/8 had all 5 answers.

Adults answer were practical and logical Children’s answers had more creativity, but

were often illogical

Conclusions

My hypthesis was correct. Piaget was correct in saying that children think differently than adults

The children were able to answer some questions like adults, but many of their answers showed a lack of logic and inability to use hypothetico- deductive reasoning

What I Could Have Done Differently

It would have been helpful to have more participants

I could have tested adolescents to get a better idea of when children start to think like adults

I could have been beneficial to do multiple tests, such as an interview in addition to the written test to get a better idea of how the participants think

Sources

Inhelder, Barbel and Jean Piaget. Trans. by Anne Parsons and Stanley Milgram. The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence. USA: Basic Books, Inc., 1958.

Phillips, John L. Piaget’s Theory: A Primer. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman and Company, 1981.

Piaget, Jean. trans. by Joan and Andrew Tomlinson. The Child’s Conception of the World. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams, and Co., 1969.

Piaget, Jean. trans. by Anita Tenzer and David Elkind. Six Psychological Studies. New York: Vintage Books,1968.

Piaget, Jean. trans. b Derek Coltman. Experiments in Contradiction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1980.

Pass, Susan. "A Biographic Comparison Tracing The Similarities In The Lives Of Jean Piaget And Lev Vygotsky." (2003): ERIC. 2013.

http://dante.udallas.edu/edu3327/piaget_formal.htm