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Term Paper #9

Getting a journal (or book)• Identify which book or journal you want—e.g.,

from a search using PsycInfo• Jot-down the following information about the

articles: Title of title of article (author), journal, year (volume), inclusive pages, and possible issue number

• Go to the Marriott electronic catalogue and find the article’s location (e.g., Science Serials, Level 4) and call # (e.g.,  RJ504 .C467)

• Go to that location and pluck the journal from the shelf. If its not there, check it’s whereabouts with the librarian

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Psychology 1230: Psychology of Adolescence

Don Hartmann, Autumn 2005Lecture 9: © Piaget

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WEB Discussion Process

Group #1 due #2 due #3 due #4 due #5 dueWhippets 09/12Hotties 09/134♀+1♂ 09/19GypsyMafia 09/20JusticeLeague 09/21Psyched 09/22PithHelmets 09/23MAJACS 09/26

----------Note: Anyone can contribute to any WEB discussion; group members are responsible to

summarizing the discussion. The last day to contribute to any discussion is 3 days before the due date.

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Handout Summary Handout WEB

Date Date• 14. HO-Completing a Film Review* 08/14• 15. HO-Preparing a Book Review 08/14• 16. Completed Class Locator 08/31• 17. Lect. #4: Introduction to Theory 09/02• 18. Lect. #5: Bandura 09/02• 19. Supplemental Lecture: Termpaper 09/06• 20. Lect. #6: Method I 09/07• 21. Lect. #7: Method II 09/09• 22. Lect. #8: Puberty 09/13• 23. Lect. #9: Piaget 09/16-----*Indicates handouts discussed in class.

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Parents Have Cognitions?

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Overview of Piaget Lecture

• Material articulates with pp. 121-130• Topics

– Introduction to Cognition– Coffee & Cream– Introduction to Piaget– Piaget’s Theory– Evaluation– Summary– Black & White Marbles

• Next: Lect. 10 (Social Cognition)

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Introduction to Cognition

Changes in cognition are one of the hallmarks of adolescence

• Thinking about possibilities

• Systematically evaluating hypotheses—as do scientists. Can do so because – can use hierarchical classifications– understand inclusion relationships– perform serialization

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More Changes in Cognitions in Adolescence

• Thinking ahead, planning• Thinking about thinking (meta‑cognition)• Out of the box: Thinking beyond old limits!

In general, these are changes from the concrete to the abstract

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Real Life Implications

• Can begin to deal with important issues, such as career goals and means of achieving them.

• Better able to engage in role taking ‑‑ thinking about other's thought and feeling; development of empathy.

• Increased introspection: the reflected life (the one worth living).

• Ability to handle abstractions, such as algebra and symbolic logic.

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Coffee & Cream

• Begin with two cups, Cup 1 containing 16 oz. of cream, Cup 2 containing 16 oz. of coffee (cold decaf.)

• Remove 1 oz. of cream from Cup 1 and place it in Cup 2. Mix thoroughly.

• Remove 1 oz. of the coffee/cream mixture in Cup 2 and place it in Cup 1.

• Question: Is there1. More coffee in Cup 1 than cream in Cup 2?

2. More cream in Cup 2 than coffee in Cup 1?

3. The same amount of cream in Cup 2 as coffee in Cup 1?

4. None of the above.

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Introduction to Piaget

• 3rd Most influential psychologist of the 20th century

• Originator of Cognitive Developmental Theory

• Background facts

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The Nature of Piaget’s Theory

• Strong stage theory. Stages are:– Qualitative (rather than quantitative)– Coherent (consistent)– Fixed (just four, no more)– Universal (applicable to all, though not all are believed

to achieve all the stages), and – Invariant (we all go through them in the same order;

no skipping).!

Based on structure of thought, rather than on content of thought

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Piaget’s Theory Stages of Cognitive Development

SensorimotorPreoperationalConcrete OperationalFormal Operational

Cognitive Developmental View

Sensorimotor:From birth to about age 2, infants construct understanding of world by coordinating sensory experiences with physical, motoric actions.

Preoperational:From about ages 2-7, children begin to represent their world with words, drawings, images, and drawings.

Concrete operational:From about 7-11, logical reasoning replaces intuitive thought as long as reasoning can be applied to concrete examples.

Formal operational:Emerging at age 11-15, it is characterized by abstract, idealistic, and logical thought.

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Stages 1 & 2

• Sensorimotor (0‑2). From reflex to reflective!

• Preoperational (2‑7). At this stage children have not yet gained the operations that allow them to think logically. Perception is characterized by centration & thinking by egocentrism

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Egocentrism

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Stages 3 & 4: The ones important for understanding adolescence

• Concrete operation (7‑12); use operations (e.g., transitivity), but fixed on real. E.g., if Sally is taller than Mindy, and Mindy is taller than Jeremiah, what is the relationship between Sally and Jeremiah?

• Formal operations (12‑?). Abstractions, logical reasoning. If A>B, and B>C, what is relationship between A & C?

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Conservation Tasks

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How does Growth Occur?

1. Through both nature and nurture; maturation + certain critical experiences

2. Schema changes occur through accommodation and assimilation

3. Though cognitive disequilibrium

4. Though Interactions with Peers

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What about Learning?

• Learning is a product of one's cognitive development. – The child's existing cognitive structures

determine how he/she interprets social experiences and, hence, what is likely to be learned from interactions with others

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If this could only happen in cabinet meetings!

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What about Personality?

• Dependent upon cognitive development; e.g., can't have notion of gender, until conservation.

The Brain: Cognition; you get it, right?

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Evaluation: Strengths

1.That in evaluating performance, we must take into account developmental level

2.Importance of cognition -- even for social content!

3.Process of thinking rather than content of thought

4.Stage notions are wonderful descriptive framework

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Evaluation: Weaknesses (1)

• Strong on general developmental trends; weak on individual differences (IDs)

• Specific ages often erroneous. – When we think an event or a process occurs is in part a

function of how we conduct the assessment!– 17% to 67% of college students think at the formal

operational stage—depending upon method of assessment

• Characteristics of stages—not entirely upheld: – Coherence of stages: conservation problems not

conservation problem....(Gertrude Stein)– Backsliding

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Evaluation: Weaknesses (2)

• Is it useful to conceive of cognitive development as a series of stages versus continuously changing? Certainly open to debate.

• Is it all really over during the early teens, or is there something after formal operations—e.g., wisdom?

• Description not explanation

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Summary

• Cognition changes in adolescence• What about Coffee & Cream? See

the WEB!• Piaget in all his glory • Next: #10 (Social Cognition)• Go in Peace!

P.S. What about black & white marbles? Problem on the WEB!