Jean Piaget
Stage theorist, viewed children as little scientists
Constructivist perspective- children
According to Piaget, how does learning occur?
Through watching others, experimenting with objects, and recognizing the limits of one’s own thoughts.
How is cognitive development characterized in Piaget’s theory?
By discrete, qualitative stages that all children progress through in the same order, without regression.
What defines the Sensorimotor Stage?
0-2 years
Infants learn about the world through their senses and motor actions.
What is object permanence?
The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen.
What mistake do children make in tHe sensorimotor stage?
They fail to understand object permanence until later in the stage.
They are babies and depend on others for survival
What age is the preoperational stage
2-7 years old
What are key limitations of preoperational thought?
Egocentrism, lack of conservation, and centration.
What is egocentrism?
The belief that others see, hear, and feel the same way the child does.
What task demonstrates egocentrism?
The Three Mountains Task.
The child has seen all sides of the mountain but fails to recognize that the person across the table does not see the same things as them.
What is lack of conservation?
The failure to understand that certain properties (like volume or number) remain the same despite changes in form or arrangement.
thinking one glass has more liquid in it simply because it is taller.
What characterizes the Concrete Operational Stage?
Logical reasoning about concrete objects and events.
7-11 years
What can children now do that they couldn’t before?
(concrete operational stage)
Understand conservation, perform seriation, and reason about transitivity.
What is seriation?
The ability to order objects along a dimension (e.g., size, color).
What is transitivity?
Understanding logical relationships (if A > B and B > C, then A > C).
What are the limitations of this stage?
(concrete operational)
Children struggle with abstract or hypothetical thinking.
Formal Operational Stage
The ability to think abstractly, hypothetically, and logically.
11+years
What is hypothetico-deductive reasoning?
The ability to form hypotheses and test them systematically.
Example of hypothetico-deductive reasoning?
Testing which factors affect how long a pendulum takes to swing (weight, height, string length).
piaget says that past 11 years this is done systematically not just random variables
What is propositional thought?
Reasoning based on logical relationships, not just concrete experiences.
What are some limitations of Piaget’s theory?
Underestimates how early some skills develop (e.g., object permanence).
Children, especially infants, may understand concepts before they can demonstrate them.
Cognitive development is not strictly stage-like.
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Neuroscience20
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Brain Structures63
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Brain Measurement Techniques22
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Memory14
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Review session notes28
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Cognitive Development21
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Attachment29
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Identity and Social Psychology8
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Nature Vs Nurture8
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Personality traits22
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Social influence21
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Personality Disorders12
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Anxiety and Depression Disorders31
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Therapy22
