Jean Piaget and his Theory of Cognitive Development

Does talking matter?

Historical Background

Born in 1896 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Self-described precocious youth.

10; managed first publication on albino sparrow

15; decided to direct his work toward a biological explanation of knowledge

1915 (18); received baccalaureate from the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland

1918 (21); received doctorate in the natural sciences

- studied the development of mollusks

- Had published 25 professional papers (mostly on mollusks)

His intensive biological studies led him to conclude that biological development was due not only to maturation (and heredity) but also to variables in the environment.

After his doctorate, Piaget’s primary interest turned to psychology

- 1918; went to Zurich where he studied and worked in several psychological clinics

- 1919; went to Paris and spent two years at the Sorbonne during this time he was able to work in Binet’s laboratory (a grade school) standardizing several tests. This is where he found his research interest.

1921; offered position of director of studies at the Institut J.J. Rousseau in Geneva

30; Piaget was famous for his initial works in psychology

Untiring worker

Schemata: cognitive structures by which individuals intellectually adapt to and organize the environment; the mental counterparts of biological means of adapting.

Assimilation: the cognitive process by which the person integrates new perceptual matter or stimulus events into existing schemata or patterns of behavior. (Syncretism)

Accommodation: the creation of new schemata or the modification of old schemata.

Equilibrium: “balance” between assimilation and accommodation.

Operation: the essence of knowledge; an interiorized action which modifies the object of knowledge.

Interiorization: the dissociation between the general form of a co-ordination to the particular content of an external action; leads from sensori-motor to operational intelligence and is the precondition for objective knowledge as well as symbolic representation.

Internalization: the eventual diminution of external movements that become covert and sketchy; the dissociation between the general form of a co-ordination and the particular content of an external action.

Content: observable behaviors

Function: characteristics of intellectual activity that are stable and continual throughout cognitive development

Structure: inferred organizational properties that explain occurrence of behaviors

Juxtaposition: the converse of syncretism; the lack of explicit relation between propositions which imply such a relation.

Fundamental Terms

Additional Terms to Remember

Semiotic function: activities having to do with different signifier

Signifiers: a mental tool used solely represent something else and is differentiated such as language, mental image, symbolic gesture

Scalars: Single dimension

Vectors: multiple dimensions

Reversibility: Inversions (+A is reversed by –A) and reciprocity (A<B and B<A); does not change everything at the same time.

Seriation: arranging elements according to increasing or decreasing size; basic operational structure.

Development: the process which concerns the totality of the structures of knowledge.

Concrete Operations: provide a transition between schemes of action and the general logical structures involving both a combinatorial system and a “group” structure coordinating the two possible forms of reversibility. Structured by classification, seriation, correspondences, and matrices.

Classification: Understanding of the relative sizes of an included class to the entire class and is achieved around 8; marks the achievement of a genuine operatory classification.

Social Interaction: interchange of ideas between two people; the child is dependent on social interaction for the construction and validation of his concept.

More additional terms

Social Exchange: gives rise to a process of gradual structuration or socialization which leads from a state of relative lack of coordination or differentiation between the child’s own point of view and cooperation in action and communication.

Conservation: the conceptualization (schematization) that the amount or quantity of a matter stays the same regardless of any changes in shape or position.

Syncretism: the spontaneous tendency on the part of a comprehensive act of perception instead of by the detection of details; the tendency to connect everything with everything else. I.E. Assimilation.

Theory of Cognitive Development

Four major periods or stages

Transitional Factors

Intellectual Organization and Adaptation

“Piaget came to believe that biological acts are acts of adaptation to the physical environment and organizations of the environment.” (Wadsworth 9)

Periods or Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensori-motor (0-2 years)

2. Pre-operational (2-7 years)

3. Concrete Operations (7-11 years)

4. Formal Operations (11-15 years)• Factors Affecting Period Transition

• Maturation

• Physical Experience

• Social Interaction

• Equilibration (Progression towards equilibrium)

Purpose

Will Piaget’s research on verbal interaction as part of his theory of cognitive development hold true with modern day children?

Do opportunities for social, specifically verbal, interaction in the classroom stimulate cognitive development?

Hypothesis

I believe that the Private school environment will allow greater opportunities for verbal, social interaction.

Thought Process in Social Interaction

Appears at around age 7

“Childish language consists of two distinct varieties, one made up of gestures, movements, mimicry etc., which accompany or even completely supplant the use of words, and the other consisting solely of the spoken word.” (Piaget 1973, 62)

Directed thought and Autistic thought

- Experience, logic

- Symbols, desires

“Intelligence, just because it undergoes a gradual process of socialization, is enabled through the bond established by language between thoughts and words to make an increasing use of concepts...” (Piaget 1973, 64)

Ego-centric Logic: syncretism, lack of proof, personal schema of analogy, visual schema, value judgements

Communicated Intelligence: deductive, proof, schemes of analogy eliminated, visual schemas eliminated, personal judgements eliminated in favor of collective judgement.

Function of Language used by the child

1. Egocentric speech

a. Repetition: pleasure of talking; no thought of talking to anyone

b. Monologue: thinking out loud

c. Collective Monologue: listener’s point of view never taken into account

2. Socialized Speech

a. Adapted Information: actual exchange of thoughts; adopts the point of view of hearer

b. Criticism: remarks made about behaviors or actions of others

c. Commands, requests and threats

d. Questions

e. Answers: to actual information based questions

Conversation stages and types between age 4-7

1. No conversation: Monologue/Collective Monologue

2. (A)

i. Association with the action; no collaboration

ii. Collaboration in action or in non-abstract thought

2. (B)

i. Quarrel: clash of assertions

ii. Primitive Argument: Statement of opinions; no logical justification

3. (A) Collaboration in abstract thought: real interchange of thought

(B) Genuine Argument: mental operations connected with logical operations

Verbal Understanding in children between the age of 9-11

Verbal Syncretism

Syncretism of Reasoning

The need for justification at any price

Procedure

Passive observation of daily classroom environment and routine of children in grades three and five.

Data

Used a Likertian type of scaling method

Limitations

Insufficient amount of time

Improved communication between myself and the school’s

More clear and careful observation instrument

Insufficient amount of data observations

Inability to research all areas entailed in hypothesis

Conclusions

I can’t work I can’t work on this on this

presentation presentation any more...any more...

The Actual Conclusions

Piaget’s theory and research on social, specifically verbal among children still holds true today

Also, other aspects of his theory of cognitive development also hold true i.e. hierarchic integration

Works Cited

Crain, William. Theories Of Development, Concepts And Applications. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson College Div, 2011. Print.

Emler, Nicholas, Valiant, Gayle L. "Social Interaction And Cognitive Conflict In The Development Of Spatial Coordination Skills." British Journal Of Psychology 73.2 (1982): 295. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 08 Nov. 2011.

Harris, P.L. "Cognitive Prerequisites To Language?." British Journal Of Psychology 73.2 (1982): 187. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 08 Nov. 2011

Hargreaves, David J.Molloy, Colleen G.Pratt, Alan R. "Social Factors In Conservation." British Journal Of Psychology 73.2 (1982): 231. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.

Lourenço, Orlando, and Armando Machado. "In Defense Of Piaget's Theory: A Reply To 10 Common Criticisms." Psychological Review 103.1 (1996): 143-164. PsycARTICLES. Web. 08 Nov. 2011.

Piaget, Jean. "Development and Learning." CognitiveDevelopment in Children:Piaget. 2.3 (1964): 176-186. Print.

Piaget, Jean. Judgment And Reasoning In The Child. Braithwaite Pr, 2007. Print

Piaget, Jean, and Bärbel Inhelder. The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic Books, 1969. Print.

Wadsworth, Barry. Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development: An Introduction for Students of Psychology and Education. New York: David McKay, 1971. Print.

Piaget, Jean. The Language and Thought of the Child. New York: World Publishing, 1973. Print.

Psaltis, CharisDuveen, GerardPerret-Clermont, Anne-Nelly. "The Social And The Psychological: Structure And Context In Intellectual Development." Human Development (0018716X) 52.5 (2009): 291-312. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 15 Oct. 2011.

Works cited con’d

Piaget, Jean. "Development and Learning." CognitiveDevelopment in Children:Piaget. 2.3 (1964): 176-186. Print.

Piaget, Jean. Judgment And Reasoning In The Child. Braithwaite Pr, 2007. Print

Piaget, Jean, and Bärbel Inhelder. The Psychology of the Child. New York: Basic Books, 1969. Print.

Piaget, Jean. The Language and Thought of the Child. New York: World Publishing, 1973. Print.

Psaltis, CharisDuveen, GerardPerret-Clermont, Anne-Nelly. "The Social And The Psychological: Structure And Context In Intellectual Development." Human Development (0018716X) 52.5 (2009): 291-312. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 15 Oct. 2011.

Tenezakis, Maria D. "Linguistic Subsystems And Concrete Operations." Child Development 46.2 (1975): 430-436. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 08 Nov. 2011.

Wadsworth, Barry. Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development: An Introduction for Students of Psychology and Education. New York: David McKay, 1971. Print.

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