LESSON 6 Cognitive

LESSON 6
Jean Piaget’s
Cognitive
Developmental Theory
(1896-1980)
Switzerland
Cognitive theory of Jean Piaget deals with the development of a
person's thought processes, how they change and influence the
way people understand and interact with the world.
Piaget identified that children are not less intelligent than adults
instead children think differently from the way adults think.
To him intelligence is not a fixed trait from birth
Intelligence and thought processes change as we grow
Due to biological maturation and environmental experiences
The term Cognition derived from Latin word "cognoscere"

means "to know“; "to recognize" or "to conceptualize.
Children’s ability to understand the world, think about and solve
problems, develops in a stop-start, discontinuous manner rather
than gradual changes over time
People construct an understanding of the world around them,

then experience discrepancies between what is already known
and what is new in the environment
Knowledge cannot simply emerge from sensory experiences
Every child is born with basic mental structure, genetically

inherited, on which all subsequent learning and knowledge is built
THE BUILDING BLOCK OF KNOWLEDGE

Schema: A schema is a logically organized pattern of thought
(cognitive framework) that helps to interpret or understand
aspects of one’s experiences in the world they inhabit
Types of schemas
Object schemas: Focuses on what an inanimate object is and
how it works. For example, your overall schema for a car might
include subcategories for different types of automobiles such as
a compact car or sports car.
Person schemas: Focuses on specific individuals. For example,

your schema for your friend might include information about her
appearance, her behaviors, her personality, and her preferences.
Social schemas: General knowledge about how people behave in
certain social situations.
Self-schemas: Knowledge about yourself. This can include both

what you know about your current self as well as ideas about
your idealized or future self.
Event schemas: Patterns of behavior that should be followed for

certain events. This acts much like a script informing you of what
you should do, how you should act, and what you should say in a
particular situation.
Role of schema in learning process.
1. Schemas influence what we pay attention to. People are more
likely to pay attention to things that fit in with their pre-existing
schemas.
2. Schemas impact how quickly people learn. People learn more

quickly when the information fits with the existing ideas.
3. Schemas help simplify the world. New information could be

classified and categorized by comparing new experiences to
existing old experiences.
4. Schema allow us to think quickly. When things are rapidly
changing or new information is coming in quickly, people are
able to assimilate it automatically without spending a great
deal of time interpreting it.
5. Schemas can also change how we interpret incoming

information. When learning new information that does not fit
with existing schemas, people sometimes distort or alter the
new information to make it fit with what they already know.
6. Schemas can also be remarkably difficult to change. People
often cling to their existing schemas even in the face of
contradictory information.
7. Prejudice is one example of a schema that prevents people

from seeing the world as it is and inhibits them from taking in
new information.
PROCESSES THROUGH WHICH SCHEMAS ARE ADJUSTED OR
CHANGED:
Assimilation: new information is interpreted into pre-existing

schemas
Accommodation: existing schemas might be altered or new

schemas might be formed as a person comes in contact with
new information or have new experiences.
Children try to strike a balance between assimilation and
accommodation through a mechanism called equilibration.
Equilibrium helps explain how children are able to move from one
stage of thought to the next.
Piaget's Four Stages of Development
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that
intelligence is something that grows and develops through four
different stages of mental development.
The sequence of stages is universal across cultures and

unchanging order but not at the same rate
They are:
Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
An infant's knowledge of the world and behavior is limited.
At this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers
acquire knowledge through basic reflexes, sensory experiences,
motor responses and manipulation of objects.
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

Children learn about the world through basic actions such as
sucking, grasping, looking, and listening
Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot
be seen (object permanence)
Objects are separate and distinct entities that have an existence of

their own outside of individual perception hence they attach names
and words to objects.
Infants realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the
world around them
SUB STAGES OF SENSORIMOTOR:
Reflexes (0-1 month): The child understands the environment
purely through inborn reflexes such as sucking and looking.
Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months): Coordinating sensation

and new schemas. A child may suck his or her thumb by accident
and later intentionally repeat the action because he/she finds them
pleasurable.
Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months): The child becomes more
focused on the world and intentional repeat of action to trigger a
response in the environment.
Coordination of Reactions (8-12 months): Showing clear intentional

actions; exploring the environment and imitating the observed
behavior of others.
Children recognize certain objects as having specific qualities. For

example, a child might realize that a rattle will make a sound when
shaken.
Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months): A period of trial-and-
error experimentation. For example, a child may try out different
sounds or actions as a way of getting attention from a caregiver.
Early Representational Thought (18-24 months): Children begin to

move towards understanding the world through mental operations
rather than purely through actions.
Object Permanence: According to Piaget, developing object
permanence is one of the most important accomplishments at the
sensorimotor stage of development.
Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7 (toddler and early childhood)
Children begin to engage in symbolic play and learn to
manipulate symbols but do not yet understand concrete logic,
cannot mentally manipulate information.
Language development is one of the hallmarks of this period.
Kids at this stage learn through pretend play.

Pretending a broom is a horse. Role-playing many other
characters "mommy," "daddy," "doctor," .
Key features of this stage:
Egocentrism: The child's thoughts and communications are
typically egocentric. Unable to take on another person's
perspective or world view.
Animism: Treating inanimate objects as living ones. Example,

children dressing and feeding their dolls as if they are alive.
Concentration: The process of concentrating on one limited

aspect of a stimulus and ignoring other aspects.
Conservation: Struggle with understanding the idea of constancy:
For example, give a child the choice between two pieces objects, one
piece is rolled into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat
shape;
the preoperational child will likely choose the flat shape since it looks
bigger even though the two pieces are exactly the same size.
Developmental psychologists refer to the ability to understand that other
people have different perspectives, thoughts, feelings, and mental
states as theory of mind.
Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
Children gain a better understanding of mental operations. And
begin thinking logically about concrete events but have difficulty
understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts.
Important processes during this stage:

Seriation: The ability to sort objects in an order according to size,
shape or any other characteristic. Example, if children are given
different-sized objects, they may place them accordingly.
Transitivity (inductive logic): The ability to recognize logical
relationships among elements in a serial order.
For example, a child may learn that A is taller than B and B is

taller than C, but might still struggle to understand then that A
must be taller than C.
Classification: The ability to group objects together on the
basis of common features.
Example, there is a class of objects called dogs. There is also

a class called animals. But all dogs are also animals, so the
class of animals includes that of dogs.
Decentering: The ability to take multiple aspects of a situation into
account. Example, the child will no longer perceive wide but short cup
to contain less than a normally-wide, taller cup.
Reversibility: The child understands that numbers or objects can be

changed, then returned to their original state. E.g. the child will be able
to determine that if 4+4=8 then 8-4=4, the original quantity.
Conservation: Kids at this stage understand that if you break a candy
bar up into smaller pieces it is still the same amount at when the
candy was whole.
Socio-centric (elimination of egocentrism): The ability to view

things from another's perspective.
The child performs operations: combining, separating, multiplying,

repeating, dividing etc
Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up to adulthood
A period of developing the ability to think about abstract concepts.
Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic
planning also emerge during this stage.
Conclusion
Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning
process, acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments,
make observations, and learn about the world.
As kids interact with the world around them, they continually add new
knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held
ideas to accommodate new information.
Criticism
Much of Piaget's focus at this stage of development focused on what
children could not yet do. The concepts of egocentrism and
conservation are both centered on abilities that children have not yet
developed; they lack the understanding that things look different to
other people and that objects can change in appearance while still
maintaining the same properties.
Martin Hughes, for example, reasoned that children failed at the
three mountains task simply because they did not understand it.
He believed that children as young as age 4 were able to
understand situations from multiple points of view hence
children become less egocentric at an earlier age than Piaget
believed.
OUR THOUGHT
Rom 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this present world, but
be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you
may test and approve what is the will of God – what is good
and well-pleasing and perfect.”
1Cor 13:11 “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I

thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. But when I
became an adult, I set aside childish ways.”

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LESSON 6

Intelligence and thought processes change as we grow

Due to biological maturation and environmental experiences

The term Cognition derived from Latin word "cognoscere"

People construct an understanding of the world around them,

Every child is born with basic mental structure, genetically

THE BUILDING BLOCK OF KNOWLEDGE

Person schemas: Focuses on specific individuals. For example,

Self-schemas: Knowledge about yourself. This can include both

Event schemas: Patterns of behavior that should be followed for

2. Schemas impact how quickly people learn. People learn more

3. Schemas help simplify the world. New information could be

5. Schemas can also change how we interpret incoming

7. Prejudice is one example of a schema that prevents people

Assimilation: new information is interpreted into pre-existing

Accommodation: existing schemas might be altered or new

The sequence of stages is universal across cultures and

Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:

Objects are separate and distinct entities that have an existence of

Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months): Coordinating sensation

Coordination of Reactions (8-12 months): Showing clear intentional

Children recognize certain objects as having specific qualities. For

Early Representational Thought (18-24 months): Children begin to

Kids at this stage learn through pretend play.

Animism: Treating inanimate objects as living ones. Example,

Concentration: The process of concentrating on one limited

Important processes during this stage:

For example, a child may learn that A is taller than B and B is

Example, there is a class of objects called dogs. There is also

Reversibility: The child understands that numbers or objects can be

Socio-centric (elimination of egocentrism): The ability to view

The child performs operations: combining, separating, multiplying,

1Cor 13:11 “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I

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