The development of schemas

The important apect of Piagt's development theory was that children go through a series of stages of intellectual development

Schema - a category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring the knowledge. A child develops concepts about the world around them.

Equilibrium - a state of cognitive balance when a child's experience is within what they undersatnd.

Disequilibrium - a state of cognitive imbalance between experience and what is understood.

Accomodation - modifying scemas (concepts) in relation to new information and experiences.

Example, Jack is 2, loves to see animals and knows a cow is large, has 4 legs and a tail. Initially when he sees a hors he calls it a cow. Once told a horse is another animal his schema will be modified.

Abstract logical thinking - the ability to solve problems using imagination without having to be invovlved practically. This is an advanced form of thinking that does not always need a practical context in order to take place.

Egocentric thinking - not being able to see a situation from another persons point of view. Piaget thought that a young child assumed that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same way as the child does.

Concrete logical thinking - the ability to solve problems providing an individual can see or physically handle the issues involved.

Stages 

Sensorimotor: Birth - 2 years

Preoperational: 2 - 7 years

Concrete operational: 7 - 11 years

Formal operations: 11 - 18 years

Sensorimotor: Birth - 2 years

Object permanence:

understanding that objects still exist even if they are hidden. 

E.g. a young child has learned object permanence when they lose a toy and look for it (even though they can’t see it). 

This is why very young infants (under 5 months) get very distressed when they can no longer see an object, as they think it no longer exists. #

To determine if object permanence was present, Piaget would hide…