Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

AO1:

• Most influential theory
• Child's understanding develops because: brain maturation and experiences
• Four stages: sensori-motor stage (0-2 years, develops object permanence), pre-operational stage (2-7 years, egocentrism and lack conservation), concrete operations stage (7-11 years, conservation, seriation) and formal operations stage (11+, abstract thought, hypothetical thinking)
• Cognitive structures: schemas and operations develop through assimililation accompanied by equilibrium and accomodation accompanied but disequilibrium

AO2:

• Confirmatory bias - most evidence came from Piaget's work with his collegues
• Observed and interviewed children - unreliable pp, demand characteristics, underestimate their abilities
• Cultural bias - initial observations from own children from Swiss
• Sensori-motor stage - Bower and Wishart - children below 8 months still reach for objects when they are not visible…