Piaget´s Theory
The first comprehensive theory on cognitive development (early 1920’s)
Assimilation
- Interpreting new information in terms of existing schemes
“Trying to call grandma using the TV remote”
Accommodation
- Changing the existing schemes to incorporate new information
- Adding to the knowledge about phones how they differ from remotes
Stages of cognitive development
- sensorimotor stage (0-2)
- Preoperational stage (2-7)
- concrete operational stage (7-12)
- Formal operatinal stage (12 +)
A- not B Error
also called place error. (4. Coordinating secondary circular reaction, 8-12 m)
Infants repeatedly reach for an object at location A (where it was previously hidden) even after seeing it hidden at a new location, B.
Obs. Much more correctly if the communicator is not communicating (s.pp)
Animate-inanimate distinction
Sensorimotor stage (0-2)
Infants learn about the world through sensory experiences and motor actions, developing object permanence and the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.
- Concrete operational stage (7-12)
Children develop logical thinking and can perform operations on concrete objects (e.g., addition, subtraction) but still struggle with abstract concepts.
- Preoperational stage (2-7)
Children begin using symbols, language, and imagination, but their thinking is still egocentric, meaning they struggle to understand perspectives other than their own.
- Formal operatinal stage (12 +)
Adolescents develop the ability to think abstractly, reason logically, and plan systematically, which allows for problem-solving beyond immediate, tangible experiences.
Stage 6 in sensorimotor stage
Symbolic thought / mental combinations. (18-24 m)
Internal depictions of objects and events
Solving invisible displacement, language, deferred imitation
Sens
Stage 1 in Sensorimotor stage
Use of reflexes 0-1 m.
Reflexes: the simplest, early forms of schemes
Modifying the sucking reflex through
accommodation
Stage 2 in sensorimotor stage
- Primary circular reactions. (1-4 m)
Modifying reflexes into more effective
behaviors
Sucking the thumb first by accident
and later intentionally
Stage 3 in sensorimotor stage
Secondary circular reactions (4-9 m.)
Applying new schemes to external objects
Shaking a rattle first by accident and
later intentionally, permanence of
partially covered objects
Stage 4 in sensorimotor stage
Coordinating secondary circular reactions (9-12 m. )
Integration of different schemes
Retrieving a fully covered object, but
committing the A-not-B error
Stage 5 in sensorimotor stage
Tertiary circular reactions (12-18 m)
Intentional use of schemes
Repeatedly dropping a toy from
various positions and observing the
results
Understand the A-not- B error, but Failure to understand Invisible displacement
infants understand that an object can be moved and hidden out of sight, even when they don’t directly see the movement
(Stage 5, 12-18 month)
Early Principles Guiding Object Understanding
◦ Continuity: Objects move on a connected path and don’t go in and out of existence
◦ Cohesion/solidity: Objects are solid
◦ Contact/no action at a distance: When objects make contact, they influence each other
◦ Gravity: Unsupported objects fall
◦ Inertia: Objects don’t rapidly change direction without encountering other forces
◦ Principle of persistence: Objects don’t change any of their properties or behavior without a cause
Egocentric representation
notes where things are relative to one´s own body
Allocentric representation
notes where things are relative to other landmarks in the world
Levels of Categories
- Subordinate level
- Basic level
- Superordinate level
- Animate/Inanimate level (se eksempel på immitating person vs robot)
How do infants know whether something is animate or inanimate?
◦ Featural cues, e.g., face vs. no face, legs vs. wheels, curvilinear vs. rectilinear contours, smooth vs.
angular joints, texture, odor, and sound
◦ Dynamic cues, e.g., self-generated motion, motion pattern (biological motion), goal-directed
movement, and contingency
