Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget

·      The idea that we are born with basic skills to allow for cognitive development that grow as we become older.

·        He believed that the child underwent two processes:

o   Accommodation- When a schema is altered in order to fit in new information i.e. learning that birds don’t have to fly to be birds. At this point, the child is in disequilibrium.

o   Assimilation- When new information is able to be fitted into an existing schema. At this point, the child is in equilibrium.

·      Disequilibrium is an uncomfortable mental state which is made better by being in equilibrium.

·        Stages of Cognitive Development:

o   Sensorimotor- Birth-10 months. Lack of an understanding of object permanence (things out of sight are not believed to exist). Develop the ability to form schemas based on the sensation an action produces i.e. putting object in mouth forms a Mental Representation.

o   Pre-Operational- 18 months- 6 years. Begin to operationalise (think through actions before carrying them out). Able to communicate but only about their own opinions and are Egocentric (can only see things…