PiagetBy Jennifer Selby

LTMS 525How Humans Learn

What do you already know?• http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/piaget

Jean Piaget

1896-1980

Key Ideasof Piaget’s theory of development

• Children are active and motivated learners.• Children organize what they learn from their

experiences.• Interaction with the physical environment is

critical for learning and cognitive development.• Children adapt to their environment through the

processes of assimilation and accommodation. • The process of equilibration promotes progression

toward increasingly complex forms of thought. • Children think in qualitatively different ways at

different age levels.

Stages of Cognitive Development

Stage  Characterised by 

Sensori-motor  (Birth-2 yrs) 

Differentiates self from objects Recognises self as agent of action and begins to act intentionally: e.g. pulls a string to set mobile in motion or shakes a rattle to make a noise Achieves object permanence: realises that things continue to exist even when no longer present to the sense (pace Bishop Berkeley) 

Pre-operational  (2-7 years) 

Learns to use language and to represent objects by images and words Thinking is still egocentric: has difficulty taking the viewpoint of others Classifies objects by a single feature: e.g. groups together all the red blocks regardless of shape or all the square blocks regardless of colour 

Concrete operational  (7-11 years) 

Can think logically about objects and events Achieves conservation of number (age 6), mass (age 7), and weight (age 9) Classifies objects according to several features and can order them in series along a single dimension such as size. 

Formal operational  (11 years and up) 

Can think logically about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systemtically Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the future, and ideological problems 

Additional Resourcehttp://childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm

Video

Stages of Cognitive Development

Video

Sensorimotor Stage(birth to about 2 years)

• Reflexes Video• Object Permanence• Goal-Directed behavior• Symbolic thought

Preoperational Stage(2 until about 7 years old)

• Egocentrism

• Video

http://www.flickr.com/photos/macrophile/10352127/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Concrete Operational Stage(about 7 years to about 12 years)

Video

Formal Operational Stage(about 11 or 12 to adulthood)

• Preoperational Thinking• Video

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• http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/piaget

• http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm

• http://mirror-uk-rb1.gallery.hd.org/_c/baby/_more2005/_more12/newborn-baby-girl-three-3-days-old-first-time-in-pram-1-PAR.jpg.html

http://childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml