Schemas
Mental representations/set of rules enables children to interact through defining category of behaviour. Develop through experience, change through:
- assimilation- integration of new input into existing schemas- consolidate knowledge
- accommodation- adjustment of schemas to new input- growing and changing knowledge
Disequilibrium:
- new knowledge leads children to realise their current understanding is inadequate
Piaget stage theory
Sensorimotor
0-2 years
Dependence on on presence of object reduces - develop mental representation
Object permanence- out of sight out of mind
Awareness of being distinct from the environment (self-awareness)- rouge test
Conquer sensory motor system, environment through developing greater motor skills (deferred imitation)- repetition
Roots of intelligence present sucking, crawling, grasping
Piaget stage theory
Pre-operational stage
2-7
Pre-conceptual sub stage (2-4):
-egocentrism- their p.o.v
-inability to acknowledge others perspectives
-Piaget & Inhelder (1965)- doll and mountain:
=4yr= what they see, 6yr=incorrect view, 7/8yr= chose correct
-reduction in animism
-mentally represent ideas and objects
Intuitive thought sub-stage (4-7):
- develop symbolic thought- object represent something else
- systematically order and classify items
- Deloaches- don’t understand objects can be different sizes, act in same way e.g., toy car
- conservation of number
Piaget stage theory
Concrete operational
7-12
Conservation, classify and categorise of mass, length, weight and volume
Metacognition develops- thinking without thinking
Cause-effect relationships
Compensation observation e.g different shaped glasses
Reversibility- appearance of item has changed, change can be undone
Piaget stage theory
Formal operational
12+ years
Abstract reasoning- speculate and reason
Reason hypothetically
Reason with and test verbal hypotheses and deduce conclusions
Piaget’s influence
Set groundwork for developmental psychology as a sub-discipline
Education:
- distinctive ways of thinking at different ages considered in teaching
- child centred approach- focus on play, children as active learners
Limitations of Piaget
- stages not accurate- some master conservation at early age, abstract thinking later than 12
- tasks too advanced, not child friendly- demand on children’s memory, explaining why young children performed so badly
Limitations of Piaget
Infants may have object permanence
- show “surprise” when an object disappears from behind a screen
- adopted eye movement paradigms to measure infant looking time
Limitations of object permanence
Infants form mental representations
- can imitate actions they saw previously
- 6-week-old infants could repeat tongue protrusion after 24hr delay
Limitations of Piaget
Children pass egocentrism tasks when materials change
- when 3 mountain was perspective of Sesame Street character, 3-5 year olds could complete the task
- 60% of 3 year olds can hide a doll so policemen can’t see it
Limitations of Piaget
Conservation when instructions are simplified
- ‘naughty teddy’ got muddled and changed materials, 4yr olds answered better to “is the same height/weight/length as before?”
- 70% of 4yr demonstrate conservation skills if change of container is “explained”
