Jean Piaget

Constructivist Theory

Formalization of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to Jean Piaget, who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners. He suggested that through processes of accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences.

Accomodation

Accommodation is the process of taking new information in one's environment and altering pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information. This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation. Accommodation is imperative because it is how people will continue to interpret new concepts, schemas, frameworks, and more.

Assimilation

Assimilation -> integrating external elements into structures of lives or environments, or those we could have through experience. Assimilation is how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of fitting new information into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Assimilation in which new experiences are reinterpreted to fit into, or assimilate with, old idea. It occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information and refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of it.

the intuitive thought substage

At between about the ages of 4 and 7, children tend to become very curious and ask many questions, beginning the use of primitive reasoning. There is an emergence in the interest of reasoning and wanting to know why things are the way they are. Piaget called it the "intuitive substage" because children realize they have a vast amount of knowledge, but they are unaware of how they acquired it. Centration, conservation, irreversibility, class inclusion, and transitive inference are all characteristics of preoperative thought. The intuitive thought substage is when children tend to propose the questions of "why?" and "how come?" This stage is when children want the knowledge of knowing everything.

Formal operational stage

from age 11-16 and onwards (development of abstract reasoning). Children develop abstract thought and can easily conserve and think logically in their mind. Abstract thought is newly present during this stage of development. Children are now able to think abstractly and utilize metacognition. Along with this, the children in the formal operational stage display more skills oriented towards problem solving, often in multiple steps.

Concrete operational stage

from ages 7-11. Children can now conserve and think logically (they understand reversibility) but are limited to what they can physically manipulate. They are no longer egocentric. During this stage, children become more aware of logic and conservation, topic previously foreign to them. Children also improve drastically with their classification skills

Piaget's 4 Developmental Stages

1. Sensorimotor stage (birth-2 yrs/acquisition of language) 2. Preoperational stage (2-7 yrs) 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11 yrs) 4. Formal operational stage (11-16 and up)

6 Substages of the Sensorimotor Stage

1. Simple reflexes; From birth to one month old. At this time infants use reflexes such as rooting and sucking. 2. First habits and primary circular reactions; From one month to four months old. During this time infants learn to coordinate sensation and two types of schema (habit and circular reactions). A primary circular reaction is when the infant tries to reproduce an event that happened by accident (ex.: sucking thumb). 3. Secondary circular reactions; From four to eight months old. At this time they become aware of things beyond their own body; they are more object-oriented. At this time they might accidentally shake a rattle and continue to do it for sake of satisfaction. 4. Coordination of secondary circular reactions; From eight months to twelve months old. During this stage they can do things intentionally. They can now combine and recombine schemata and try to reach a goal (ex.: use a stick to reach something). They also understand object permanence during this stage. That is, they understand that objects continue to exist even when they can't see them. 5. Tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity; From twelve months old to eighteen months old. During this stage infants explore new possibilities of objects; they try different things to get different results. 6. Internalization of schemata.

Schemata

A Schema is a structured cluster of concepts, it can be used to represent objects, scenarios or sequences of events or relations. The original idea was proposed by philosopher Immanuel Kant as innate structures used to help us perceive the world.

Piaget's Influence

Education: Teaching and Learning: Piaget's works also inspired the transformation of European and American education, including both theory and practice, leading to a more 'child-centered' approach. "Education, for most people, means trying to lead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society ... but for me and no one else, education means making creators... You have to make inventors, innovators—not conformists" Parents: Many parents have been encouraged to provide a rich, supportive environment for their child's natural propensity to grow and learn. Child-centered classrooms and "open education" are direct applications of Piaget's views.

the symbolic function substage

From 2-4 years of age children find themselves using symbols to represent physical models of the world around them. This is demonstrated through a child's drawing of their family in which people are not drawn to scale or accurate physical traits are given. The child knows they are not accurate but it does not seem to be an issue to them. The symbolic function substage is when children are able to understand, represent, remember, and picture objects in their mind without having the object in front of them.

Object permancence

Object permanence is a child's understanding that objects continue to exist even though he or she cannot be seen or heard. Peek-a-boo is a good test for that. By the end of the sensorimotor period, children develop a permanent sense of self and object.

3 types of Schemata according to Piaget

Piaget (1953) described three kinds of intellectual structures: behavioural (or sensorimotor) schemata, symbolic schemata, and operational schemata. 1. Behavioural schemata: organized patterns of behaviour that are used to represent and respond to objects and experiences. 2.Symbolic schemata: internal mental symbols (such as images or verbal codes) that one uses to represent aspects of experience. 3. Operational schemata: internal mental activity that one performs on objects of thought. According to Piaget, children use the process of assimilation and accommodation to create a schema or mental framework for how they perceive and/or interpret what they are experiencing. As a result, the early concepts of young children tend to be more global or general in nature

Developmental Psychology

Piaget is the most influential developmental psychologist to date (Lourenço, O. and Machado, A., 1996), influencing not only the work of Lev Vygotsky and of Lawrence Kohlberg but whole generations of eminent academics.

Significance of Schemata in child development

Schemata are: Critically important building block of conceptual development Constantly in the process of being modified or changed Modified by on-going experiences A generalized idea, usually based on experience or prior knowledge. These schemata are constantly being revised and elaborated upon each time the child encounters new experiences. In doing this children create their own unique understanding of the world, interpret their own experiences and knowledge, and subsequently use this knowledge to solve more complex problems. In a neurological sense, the brain/mind is constantly working to build and rebuild itself as it takes in, adapts/modifies new information, and enhances understanding

Preoperational Stage

Starts when the child begins to learn to speak at age two and lasts up until the age of seven. During the Pre-operational Stage of cognitive development, Piaget noted that children do not yet understand concrete logic and cannot mentally manipulate information. Children's increase in playing and pretending takes place in this stage. However, the child still has trouble seeing things from different points of view. The children's play is mainly categorized by symbolic play and manipulating symbols. Such play is demonstrated by the idea of checkers being snacks, pieces of paper being plates, and a box being a table. Their observations of symbols exemplifies the idea of play with the absence of the actual objects involved. The pre-operational stage is sparse and logically inadequate in regard to mental operations. The child is able to form stable concepts as well as magical beliefs. The child, however, is still not able to perform operations, which are tasks that the child can do mentally, rather than physically. Thinking in this stage is still egocentric, meaning the child has difficulty seeing the viewpoint of others. The Pre-operational Stage is split into two substages: the symbolic function substage, and the intuitive thought substage. The symbolic function substage is when children are able to understand, represent, remember, and picture objects in their mind without having the object in front of them. The intuitive thought substage is when children tend to propose the questions of "why?" and "how come?" This stage is when children want the knowledge of knowing everything.

2 Stages of the Pre-operational Stage

The Pre-operational Stage is split into two substages: 1. the symbolic function substage: The symbolic function substage is when children are able to understand, represent, remember, and picture objects in their mind without having the object in front of them. 2. The intuitive thought substage: is when children tend to propose the questions of "why?" and "how come?" This stage is when children want the knowledge of knowing everything.

Sensorimotor Stage

The children experience the world through movement and their five senses. During the sensorimotor stage children are extremely egocentric, meaning they cannot perceive the world from others' viewpoints. The sensorimotor stage is divided into six substages. The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in cognitive development which "extends from birth to the acquisition of language". In this stage, infants progressively construct knowledge and understanding of the world by coordinating experiences (such as vision and hearing) with physical interactions with objects (such as grasping, sucking, and stepping). Infants gain knowledge of the world from the physical actions they perform within it. They progress from reflexive, instinctual action at birth to the beginning of symbolic thought toward the end of the stage. Children learn that they are separated from the environment. They have aspect of environment, even though they may be outside the reach of a child's senses. In this stage, according to Piaget, the development of object permanence is one of the most important accomplishments.

Assimilation and Accommodation

Through his study of the field of education, Piaget focused on two processes, which he named assimilation and accommodation. Piaget's understanding was that assimilation and accommodation cannot exist without the other.They are two sides of a coin. To assimilate an object into an existing mental schema, one first needs to take into account or accommodate to the particularities of this object to a certain extent. For instance, to recognize (assimilate) an apple as an apple, one must first focus (accommodate) on the contour of this object. To do this, one needs to roughly recognize the size of the object. Development increases the balance, or equilibration, between these two functions. When in balance with each other, assimilation and accommodation generate mental schemas of the operative intelligence. When one function dominates over the other, they generate representations which belong to figurative intelligence. Piaget believed that the human brain has been programmed through evolution to bring equilibrium, which is what he believed ultimately influences structures by the internal and external processes through assimilation and accommodation.

Genetic epistemology

attempts to explain knowledge, and in particular scientific knowledge, on the basis of its history, its sociogenesis, and especially the psychological origins of the notions and operations upon which it is based". Piaget believed he could test epistemological questions by studying the development of thought and action in children. As a result Piaget created a field known as genetic epistemology with its own methods and problems. He defined this field as the study of child development as a means of answering epistemological questions.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development

is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence. Piaget believed that one's childhood plays a vital and active role to the growth of intelligence, and that the child learns through doing and actively exploring. The theory of intellectual development focuses on perception, adaptation and manipulation of the environment around them. It is primarily known as a developmental stage theory, but, in fact, it deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans come gradually to acquire, construct, and use it. To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes resulting from biological maturation and environmental experience. Accordingly, he believed that children construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies between what they already know and what they discover in their environment. Piaget claimed that cognitive development is at the center of the human organism, and language is contingent on knowledge and understanding acquired through cognitive developmen