Piaget

Question 1

Explain Piaget’s constructivist theory of cognitive development

Answer 1

Children are active learners who construct their own knowledge through interacting with the environment. They make hypotheses and test them.

Question 2

Define assimilation

Answer 2

The integration of new input into existing schemas, leading to more consolidated knowledge

Question 3

Define accommodation

Answer 3

The adjustment of schemas to new input, leading to growing and changing knowledge

Question 4

What are Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development

Answer 4

1. Sensorimotor (0-2 years)
2. Pre-operational (2-7 years)
3. Concrete operational (7-12 years)
4. Formal operational (12+ years)

Question 5

What are key milestones of the sensorimotor stage of development

Answer 5

• Object permanence
• Development of mental representations
• Self awareness

Question 6

What are 2 substages of the pre-operational stage of cognitive development

Answer 6

1. Pre-conceptual sub stage (2-4 years)

2. Intuitive thought sub stage (4-7 years)

Question 7

What are key milestones of the pre-conceptual sub-stage of cognitive development

Answer 7

• Egocentrism

- Reduction in animism

Question 8

What are key milestones of the intuitive thought sub-stage of cognitive development

Answer 8

• Symbolic thought
• Able to order and classify items
• Conservation

Question 9

What are key milestones of the concrete operational stage of cognitive development

Answer 9

• Metacognition
• Ability to conserve, classify and categorise in multiple domains using compensation and reversibility
• Understanding of cause/effect relations
• Hypothetical reasoning