PRESENTER: DR. MD. OSMAN ALI

JEAN PIAGET

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT STAGES

SCHEME OF PRESENTATION

Part 1 introduction Part 2 Sensory motor Stage (0 – 2 y) Part 3 Pre Operational Stage (2-7y/) Early

childhood Part 4 Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 12y)

Later Childhood) Part 5 Formal operational Stage (12 to 16y)

adolescence Part 6 Cognitive Development in adulthood

and old age Part 7 Application of JPCDT

Q. Jack is Fairer than the Sarah

Jack is darker than Nicola

Who is the darkest?

Q. If the radius of the circle is 2, what is the area of the square containing it?

Part 1 Introduction

What is cognitionWhat is development Who is Jean PiagetPrinciples of Jean Piaget’s cognitive

development theory.

1.1What is Cognition

Cognition means knowing or understanding

Cognition consist of intelligence, Perceiving, recognizing, recalling, interpreting, reasoning.

Different approaches to cognitive development….

Piagetian Approach Life Span Approach / Age Changes Shown in

intelligence test score in specific cognitive processes, - memory and learning

1.2 What is Development

Development is characteristic changes in behavior that occur as they progress through lifespan.

Major areas of human development are ….

Physical Development . Social Development . Cognitive Development.

1.3 Who is Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980)

A Swiss biologist, philosopher and psychologist .

Developed the most detailed and comprehensive theory of cognitive development in 1970s.

He developed many of his ideas through daily observation of few subjects usually his 3 children and a nephew.

Thinking of normal children is not just a simpler version of thinking of adults. It is qualitatively different.

  According to JP, combination of assimilation

and accommodation results in adaptive behavior- development of knowledge.

Third phenomenon that contributes acquisition of knowledge is –Equilibrium.

Principles of JPCDT Principles of JPCDT

Principles of JPCDT

Assimilation-modifying one’s environment so that it fits into one’s already developed way of thinking and acting.

Accommodation—modifying oneself so as to fit in with existing characteristic of environment.

Equilibrium – The tendency of the developing individual to stay in balance intellectually

by filling in gaps in knowledge by restructuring beliefs when they fail to test

out against reality.

He called his approach as genetic epistemology as

It focuses on origins Based on the study of nature and

acquisition of knowledge. 

He concentrated upon thought.

Scheme -- is specific way of knowing or action sequences guided by thought.

Operations– flexible mental actions that can be combined with one another to solve problems

Piaget does not explain in any significant detail how cognitive development takes place even at the level of formal operations.

He described relationship between modes of thinking and age.

His approach reflects close observation much like that of Darwin.

Part 2 Sensory motor Stage (0 – 2 y)

2.1 Lack of symbols 2.2 achievement of OP

Child merely senses things and act upon then(sensory motor period)

They are concerned not with thinking about things but rather with experiencing them (Practical Intelligence)

First 2 months-- baby uses inborn reflexes to interact and accommodate to the external world. The inborn reflexes are—sucking and grasping.

  2—5 months—coordinates activities of own body

and fine senses(Primary circular reaction)

5—9 months—seek out new stimuli in the environment and begins intentional behavior (Secondary circular reaction)

  9m—1y – uses familiar means to obtains ends

beginning of OP. imitation of novel behavior.

1y – 18m – varies efforts, and discover through active experimentation. (Tertiary circular reaction)

  18m—2y— that has been carried through sensory

and motor is increasingly carried on internally(symbolic thought). Attains OP. Shows signs of reasoning.

2.1 Lack of symbols

Up to 8 months – do not carry around in their head the symbols or images of objects, they have no representational ability.

Eg: when toy is shown, the baby wriggled with delight. But when it is hidden, she immediately lost interest.

2.2 Achievement of OP   12m onwards the understanding that an

object continues to exist even when it is not directly available to the sense.

It marks the end of sensorimotor period. Eg:When the toy is hidden, baby search

for it.  They carry images of rattle, balls, and

other things in their head—perhaps the beginning of thinking.

2.3 significance of sensorimotor stage

In the absence of mother a child of middle of sensorimotor stage searches for mother.(separation anxiety)

Part 3 Pre Operational Stage (2-7y) Early childhood

3.1 Concept of ego centrism 3.2 Concept of centration 3.3 Development of Language

It is characterized by unsystemic thinking—child does not understand the use of symbols and basic operations.

Children learn without the use of reasoning (Intuitive thinking).

Events are not linked by logic( Illogical thinking)

Eg: If children drop a glass that then breaks, they have no sense of cause and effect. They believe that the glass was ready to break, not that they broke the glass.

Later in their development, there may be episodes children suddenly seem to spot the logical gap.

  Reason from particular to

particular(Transductive reasoning)

Eg: tea and oranges both are orange color

Events that occur together are thought to cause one another(Phenomenalistic causality)

Eg: thunder cause lightning, bad thoughts cause accidents

Fail to recognize operations of chance and luck

Eg: why do you have a such a long nose when you are so short

  Can name objects, but not class of

objects(primitive concepts)

Eg: all men are daddy

Unable to think in flexible way that involve reversibility (Rigid irreversible thinking)

Eg: cannot understand broken bones amend, blood loss in accident is replaced

The tendency to endow physical events and objects with life like psychological attributes such as feelings and emotions (Animistic thinking)

  Cannot grasps the sameness of an object in

different circumstances.

Eg: the same doll in a carriage, a crib or a chair is perceived to be three different things.

Things are represented in terms of their function.

Eg: child defines a bike as to ride, a hole to dig

Believe that punishment for bad deed is inevitable(Immanent Justice).

  Cannot deal with moral dilemmas

Eg: who is more guilty the person who breaks one dish on purpose, the person who breaks ten dishes by accident.

Engage in symbolic play.

 

3.1 concepts of ego centrism

  Preoperational thought is characterized by

egocentric thought, because the child is unaware of others perspective.

Perceptual egocentrism—child do not realize that other people see things from a view point different from theirs. (seen in 2—4 age)

Eg: young girl, playing hide and seek, shuts her eyes and says “ha ha can’t see me”

Three mountain test

Cognitive egocentrism—children find it difficult to understand other people don not know their thoughts. In communicating with other children often forget to put themselves in the role of listener and to adapt their message to that person.

Eg: they do not listen to a command to be quiet because their brother has to study

3.2 concept of centration

Preoperational thought also focuses on a single, striking feature of an object or events, a tendency called centration.

Conservation of identity in terms of length, mass, numbers etc is not present.

Eg: two tall jars, one low wide jar,

Child reasons in terms of dominant perceptual

experience, no operation involved. ( do not use knowledge in making judgments )

Because they are unable to think in flexible ways that involve reversibility

3.3 development of language

Gradually, the child’s representational ability become more sophisticated and most important children to use language to communicate ideas to other.

Early object identity concept may be related to the self identity concept, gender identity.

Eg. Mirror image experiment

  Children use a symbol or sign to stand for

something, which starts as playful exercise (Semiotic function).

Children use a symbol or sign to stand for something, which starts as playful exercise (Semiotic function).

3.4 significance of preoperational stage

Steady unfolding of the child’s intellect occurs by means of appropriate stimulation in the form of explorations.

  Orphanage children who are not allowed to play have

decline in cognitive development.

  The child’s curiosity is not just a nuisance or amusing

characteristic it is a impetus to intellectual development.

  Preoperational child benefit more from role playing than

by verbal description.

Part 4 Concrete Operational Stage (7 to 12y)

Later Childhood

4.1 Syllogistic Reasoning 4.2 Concept of Conservation and

reversibility

It is characterized by appearance of systemic reasoning—thought process are logical and reversible (flexible).

  But is limited to a child’s area of concrete

experience—real world of objects and events.

They can think clearly about things that are real, but not very clear about more hypothetical propositions and also cannot grasp the broad meaning of abstract concepts such as freedom, integrity and truth.

They can regulate themselves

They begin to develop a moral sense and a code of values.

They are able to reason and follow rules and regulations.

4.1 Syllogical thinking

  Logical conclusions are formed from two

premises.

Eg: all horses are mammals (premise 1)

All mammals are warm blooded (premise 2)

Therefore all horses are warm blooded (conclusion)

4.2 Concept of conservation of constants and reversibility

These are characteristic features of operational stage

Conservational of constants--- is ability to recognize that although the shape of objects may change, the objects still maintain or conserve other characteristics (length, area, mass) that enable them to be recognized as same.

Reversibility—the capacity to understand the relation between things, to realize that one things can turn into another and back again.

Eg: two longer beaker one wide short beaker with marble with marble child counts and proves both are same

Other examples—for length, area

  Muller—Lyer illusion Subtraction—addition, multiplication—division  Child considers other factors besides the

dominant perceptual experience. At the end of this stage –child is capable of

reversing the transformation in mind.

Can solve problems that require classification, ordering and sequencing.

Children can now see things from some one else’s perspective.

  Invention of alternate strategies.

Eg: two ways of getting to the store

Organize the world using hierarchies—a given thing can fall some where on more than one dimension at the same time. ( co-ordination of part-whole hierarchical classification)

Eg: picture of seven people- two adults and five children

Dimension of people VS non people Dimension of children Vs adults Flexible operations allow them to think in

terms of hierarchy involving two dimensions on broader than the other.

4.2Significance of concrete operational stage

  Children who become overly invested

in rules may show obsessive compulsive behavior: children who resist a code of values often seem willful and reactive . 

Part 5 Formal operational Stage (12 to 16y) adolescence

5.1 Abstract Thinking 5.2 Hypothetical Thinking 5.3 Deduction and induction 5.4 Inter Propositional Logic 5.5 Reflective Thinking

It is the capacity for reasoning apart from concrete situations—can imagine possibilities inherent in operation.

  Young persons thinking operates in a formal,

highly logical, systematic and symbolic manner.

As the formal operations develop, the adolescent moves beyond conventional standards of morality toward construction of his own moral principles.

5.1 Abstract thinking

  The general feature of formal operational thought

is ability to think terms of abstract concepts that link concrete objects or action together.

e.g. what is the purpose of the law keeping people from stealing helping people live

in harmony

what they like about their mother—she fixes me chili she care

   abstract thinking is shown by adolescents interest

in variety of issues—philosophy, religion, ethics and politics

5.2 hypothetical thinking

  Thinking about how things might be if certain

changes took place. Hence, they will be able to judge the reasonableness of a purely hypothetical line of reasoning—can reason entirely in abstract terms.

 

Eg. I am glad I don’t like onions, if liked them I would always be eating them, and I hate onions .

9y -- onions taste awful, onions are aren’t so bad

 

12y-- if I liked they wouldn’t be unpleasant .

5.3 deduction and induction

  Deduction—reasoning from abstract

general principles to specific hypothesis that follow from these principles

Induction—the complementary process of observing a number of specific events or instances and inferring an abstract, general principle to explain those instances

Hypothetical and abstract thinking make sophisticated deduction and induction possible.

Deductive reasoning is more complicated than inductive reasoning.

5.4 Interpropositional logic

  It is the ability to judge whether

propositions are logically connected to another regardless of whether propositions are true. 

Eg.. all college students are green

Sylvia is a college student

Therefore, Sylvia is green.

 

5.5 Reflective thinking

The process of evaluating or testing your own reasoning.

  It allows the person to be his or her own circle(evaluate from

the perspective of outsider and to find errors and correct them)

  It also make the adolescent a powerful experimenter and

problem solver.

 

Can reflect on their own and other person’s thinking, they are susceptible to self-conscious behavior.

   Emergence of skills for dealing with

permutations and combinations

  Can grasp the concept of probabilities.

  Language is complex

5.6Application of formal operations

Development depends not only on maturation but also the task involved and on environmental stimulation.

Adolescent turmoil result from normal development coming to grip with newly acquired abilities to deal with the unlimited possibilities of the world

Part 6 Cognitive Development in adulthood and old age

6.1 Piagetian perspective in adulthood

6.2 Piagetian perspective in old age

6.3 Life span cognitive perspective in adulthood and old age

6.1 Piagetian perspective in adulthood

  Reasoning may operate differently in

adults than adolescents.

Adolescents hypothetical reasoning is playful where as adults put it in the dimensions of real life (realistic thinking)--- may be a real advance that goes beyond formal operations'.

6.2 Piagetian perspective in old age

The elderly do not do as well on many tests as do adolescence and younger adults .

The explanation most Piagetian tests are designed for children

So ,when training provided they show marked improvement

Performance can also be hampered by health problems , educational limitations and generational differences

6.3life span cognitive perspective in adultrs and old age

Intelligence adults in different generations may differ in their intellectual performance but a given individual will probably change very little throughout early and middle adulthood

True intellectual decline before the late fifties are unusual From late fifties on ,there is often a decline in abilities

that involves speed of response Beyond 80 , performance declines of some sort become

the rule rather than an exception Many of the intellectual limitations found in older adults

reflect obsolesce ( generational difference ) Outdated skills that can be upgraded with training and

experience

Learning and memory

In old age classical conditioning takes longer

Verbal learning declines Memory performance deficit

especially in encoding and retrieval

Creativity

In young age , they are creative in fields where fresh insight is required

Eg: maths, physics  In 40 and after ,fields where thoughtful

synthesis of accumulated knowledge required

Eg : philosophy , history and literature

Past 65 , can be a time of real consolidation Ideas and skills developed over most of a life

time can be brought together to produce new achievement

Part 7 Application of JPCDT

7.1 Psychiatric application 7.2 Implications for

psychotherapy 7.3 Educational Application 7.4 Extension of Piagets Theory

7.1 In psychiatry

Adults under stress , may regress cognitively as well as emotionally .

Their thinking can become preoperational and sometimes animistic

In psychotherapy , increasing emphasis on the cognitive component of therapeutic endeavor

Cognitive approach to therapy focused on thoughts , including automatic assumptions ,believes , plans , and intentions

Eg: Beck’s cognitive therapy ,developmentally based psychotherapy( by Stanley Green Span )

7.2 implications for education

1) discover method of education for reasoning

2) lecture assigned reading & modeling

For conveying of specific socially constructured content

7.3: Extensions of Piagets theory

Laurence Kohlberg’s stages of morality James Youniss theory of children’s

concept of other people ( social cognition ) ,based on abstractions from interpersonal interactions .

Theory of mind

Awareness that others have internal states and mental representations

THANK YOU

REFERENCES

MORGAN &KING

MUNN

KAPLAN SYNOPSIS