Evaluating Piaget’s Theory

Is Cognitive

Development Really Stage-like?

Does Piaget Underestimate

Children’s Thinking?

Can Cognitive Development Be

Trained?

Evidence Against Stage-like Development

• Decalage

• Success of Training Studies

– reinforce correct answer

– practice reversing transformation

– create cognitive conflict

– screen misleading information

– model higher-order answer

• Cross-cultural Data

Chronology of Conservation Mastery

Age 6 - number conservation

Age 8 - solid quantity conservation

Age 10 - weight conservation

How would you test weight conservation?

Age 12 - volume conservation

How would you test volume conservation?

CLASSIC STUDY: BRUNER’S SCREENING STUDY

Participants: 5 to 8 year old children who clearly failed the conservation of liquid substance task.

Step 1: Screen is placed in front of the beakers before the liquid is poured.

CLASSIC STUDY: BRUNER’S SCREENING STUDY

Step 2: Blue liquid is poured from one of the tall beakers to the wide beaker.

Step 3: Child is asked whether the liquid is still the same amount.

Results: When children do not have the misleading visual information, they say “It’s the same, you only poured it”

When a Child Fails a Piagetian Task Why?

Piaget: The Child Lacks Relevant Cognitive Skills

Alternative View: Piaget’s Method Underestimates

the Child’s Skills

Perhaps - the instructions/question are not clear

- the materials are unfamiliar/novel

- child fails to attend to significant factors

- there is a memory problem

- child performs better in real world context

Classification Skills – A Case Study

Piaget: Are there more cats or animals?

Restating the Question: Are there more cats or dogs or animals?

Redirecting the child’s attention to the superordinate category:

animals vs fruit

Role-taking in a Real World Context

Theo at 2 yrs of age

Theo has been told that he will be spanked for showing anger. I (Mom) tell him he can’t do something, and he stamps his foot in anger. I turn around and give him a serious look. He stamps his foot again, this time saying, “Look at the floor! A spider!” There is, of course, no spider, on the floor.

Role-taking in a Real World Context

George at 2 yrs of age

George was told he couldn’t have any more jelly beans. Shortly thereafter, while I was sitting watching television, he slowly maneuvered his chair from the table toward the counter where the jelly beans had been placed. He was singing and appeared to be playing with the chair. As he passed by me, he looked out of the corner of his eye. I had failed to catch the drift of his maneuver until he looked back. Our eyes met, and a look of recognition flashed across my face. George smiled -- he had been found out.

Can We Train Cognitive Development?

Pro

- success of training studies

- some tasks are easier than others, perhaps we can order them from simpler to more difficult

then introduce the easier ones sooner

Con

- development is a global, spontaneous process

- transfer from training is limited