PIAGETAbout 11 min

From Cognition to Development…• Most theories of cognition (e.g., CIP, schema

theory, situated cognition theory) have been tested with adults

• But cognition in children is different. The process by which children approximate adult cognition is cognitive development.

• We will cover various approaches to understanding cognitive development– Piaget– Bruner & Bandura– Vygotsky

Jean Piaget

• Examined the seemingly qualitative differences between child and adult learning processes

• Why do these differences exist?

Cognitive Development

EXPERIENCE MATURATION

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

STAGE THEORIES (Piaget, Bruner)

PROCESS THEORIES (Vygotsky, Bandura)

Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology

• Genetic Epistemology = origins of knowledge

• Piaget believed that knowledge (cognition) is an interaction between the heredity and the environment

• That is, learners acquire knowledge by interacting with the environment – Constructivism = knowledge acquisition is a

process of continuous self-construction

Piaget’s Stage Theory of Cognitive Development

• Each stage is associated with a particular cognitive structure (scheme), which dictates how we interact with the world

• Children acquire three kinds of knowledge– Physical Knowledge– Logical-Mathematical Knowledge– Social Knowledge

3 Processes of Developmental Change

• Assimilation = perceive new objects in terms of existing schemes or operations

• Accommodation = modify existing schemes to account for new experiences

• Equilibration = confronting existing schemes with conflicting knowledge; moving past confused state leads to development into next stage

***Compare these processes to those you learned about in the Schema Theory unit***

Next: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development