Piaget's Stage Theory example essay topic

Overview Four theoretical approaches to cognitive development Piaget's theory Information processing theories Core knowledge theories Sociocultural theories (Vygotsky) General Themes Nature and nurture Continuity vs. discontinuity Active vs. passive child Nurture (environment, learning) John Locke (1632-1704) -Infant's mind as "tabula rasa" Behaviorism (e.g. Watson, Skinner) Nurture (environment, learning) 'A child's mind is a blank book. During the first years of his life, much will be written on the pages. The quality of that writing will affect his life profoundly. ' Walt Disney Nature (biology, instinct) Children, like plants, simply "bloom", following a timetable laid out in their genes (Gesell, 1933) "instinct is stronger than upbringing". -- Irish proverb How would a blank slate learn? Word learning 'by association " Word learning 'by association " Problems with association? category individual part color state of mind Jean Piaget (1896-1980) 'Constructivist' Child plays an active role in achieving developmental outcomes Stage like discontinuity Piaget "the study of stages of intelligence is first a study of the formation of operational structures.

I shall define every stage by a structure of a whole, with the possibility of its integration into succeeding stages, just as it was prepared by preceding stages". (Piaget, 1962, p 121). Piaget "the study of stages of intelligence is first a study of the formation of operational structures. Piaget's stage theory pre-operational sensori-motor formal operations concrete operations 10-13 yr 0-2 yr 2-6 yr 7-10 yr Sensorimotor stage Little knowledge at birth: Some perceptual abilitiesReflexesBasic learning mechanisms Here, the child begins to organize sensory and motor co-ordinations Pre-operational thought Development in understanding symbols example Failure to grasp logical relations (e.g. reversibility in conservation task) example Egocentrism Concrete & Formal Operational Stages Concrete Operational Stage: Reason logically about concrete objects & events, but does not reason in abstract terms Example Formal Operational Stage: Can reason about abstract / hypothetical situations Example Additional example Summary: The Piaget ian Infant Nature & Nurture Discontinuity Child active not passive construction output processing input Information Processing Theories "The child as a computational system " Click to add title Click to add title Children are active problem solvers Cognitive development is gradual improvement in problem solving capacity increased speed of processing better use of strategies Increases due to both maturation and experience Speed of processing Development of different strategies 'Counting on' in math The information processing infant problem solving problem solving Mixture of experience (nurture) and maturation (nature) Continuity in development Active problem-solvers Focus on processes (e.g. memory, attention) Core knowledge theories "Human reasoning is guided by a collection of innate domain specific systems of knowledge. Each system has a set of core principles that define the entities covered by the domain and support reasoning about these entities". (Carey & Sp elke 1994, p 169) the rationalist alternative (n. b. there still needs to be environmental input) "a central part of what we call 'learning' is actually better understood as the growth of cognitive structures along an internally directed course under the triggering and partially shaping effect of the environment...

Innate factors permit the organism to transcend experience, reaching a higher level of complexity that does not reflect the limited and degenerate environment. We may usefully think of the language faculty, the number faculty, and others, as 'mental organs'". Noam Chomskythe rationalist alternative 'My own suggestion is that a central part of what we call 'learning' is actually better understood as the growth of cognitive structures along an internally directed course under the triggering and partially shaping effect of the environment... Noam Chomsky.