SEMINAR ON PIAGET COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY

1. Seminar on:
Piaget Cognitive Theory of
Development
Prepared by
Reejan Paudel
Pratima Parajuli
Subina Sharma

2. General objectives
•At the end of the session, participants will be
able to explain about Piaget cognitive theory of
development

3. Specific objectives
•Introduce Piaget cognitive theory of development
•Describe principles of cognitive development
•Discuss Piaget stage of cognitive development
•Illustrate the Piaget’s learning theory implication in
education
•Discuss about utilization of Piaget theory in the
classroom

5. With Kids

6. Introduction
•Jean Piaget was born in August 9, 1896, Neuchatel,
Switzerland—died September 16, 1980, Geneva.
•Being interested in zoology as a youth, he
published an article on his observations of an
Albino sparrow, at the age of 11.

7. Introduction cont’d…
•By the age 15 his several publications on
mollusks had gained him a reputation among
European zoologists.
•Studied zoology and philosophy, at the
University of Neuchatel and received his
doctorate in Zoology, at the age of 22. But later
he became interested in psychology.

8. •Piaget was the first psychologist to make a
systematic study of cognitive development and
has major implication for interventions with
children, both educational and clinical
•His theory of cognitive development explains
how a child think and acquire knowledge

9. Introduction Cont’d…
•He believed that children and youth gradually
become able to think logically and scientifically
•Hence, cognitive development occur as a process
which occurs due to biological maturation and
interaction with the environment
•He disagreed with the idea that intelligence was a
fixed trait.

10. Introduction cont’d…
•Piaget saw the child as: constantly creating and re-
creating his own model of reality, achieving mental
growth by integrating simpler concepts into
higher-level concepts at each stage.
•He described about three basic components,
known as cognitive processes through which
knowledge is acquired.

11. Introduction cont’d…
•Piaget believe that human also adopt to their
physical and social environment in which they
live, the process of adaptation begins since birth
•According to Piaget adaptation occurs in two
basic process
•Assimilation
•Accommodation

12. Four basic element in the
development
 Maturation
 Experience
 Social transmission
 Equilibrium

13. Piaget’s Principles of
Cognitive Development
Development Occurs at different rates, is relatively
orderly, happens gradually.
1. Organization
Schemes / schema
2. Adaptation
Assimilation
Accommodation
3. Equilibrium/Disequilibrium

14. Organization
Schemes/schema
•Also known as building block of knowledge. It is
the first step of knowledge.
•These are the basic building block of intelligent
behavior-a way of internal representation of
words.
•For example, if a child experiences a “dog” he/she
will make a mental image of it, which is used to
identify the dog in later occasions.

15. Adaptation
•Adaptation process that enables transition from
one stage to another
•Stages of adaptation process are:
i. Assimilation
ii. Accommodation.

16. Assimilation
•It is a process of incorporating new ideas into an
existing cognitive schema but without changing
the old schema.
•Taking new information into the mind or cognitive
structure.
•For example, if only the sucking ,looking, reaching
and grasping schemata are available to a child,
everything she or he experiences will be
assimilated into those schemata

17. Accommodation
•It happens when the existing schema (knowledge)
does not work, and needs to be changed to deal
with a new object or situation.
•It is the process of preparing new schema based
on old schema.
•For example when a child see “cat” which is nearer
to his old schema “dog” but cannot be defined by
his old schema, then he will prepare two new
schemas of “cat” and “dog” based on their
similarity and differences.

19. Equilibration
•It is the process of finding a balance when a new
schema doesn’t fit their old schema.
•People make meaning of new knowledge and
prepare another new schema, to end the situation
of disequilibrium.

20. Piaget Stages of Cognitive
Development.
1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2)
2. Pre-operational stage (from age 2 to age 7)
3. Concrete operational stage (from age 7 to 11)
4. Formal operational stage (age 11+
adolescence and adulthood).

21. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

22. 1. Sensorimotor stage (birth to age
2)
•Infant begin to learn through sensory observations
and gain control of their motor functions through
activity, exploration and manipulation of the
environment
•As the children perceive world through their
senses and display motor reactions to these
sensations only
• For Eg. a child is born with suckling reflex, but a
type of learning occurs when infants discover the
location of nipple and alter the shape of their
mouth.

23. 1. Sensorimotor stage cont’d…
• As child become more mobile, one schema is build over another, and
new and more complex schema are developed.
• Infant uses inborn abilities like looking, hearing, smelling, taste and
touch and combined with physical capabilities grasping, touching that
continue to develop.
• This allow infants to build awareness of themselves and their
surroundings

24. The cognitive development in this stage is further divided into 6 stages:
• Simple reflexes (0 – 1 month)
• Primary circular reaction (1 – 4 month)
• Secondary circular reaction (4 – 8 month)
• Co-ordination of secondary circular reaction (8 – 12 month)
• Tertiary circular reactions (12 to 18 months)
• Internalization of schemas (18-24 months)

25. 1. Sensorimotor stage cont’d...
a) Simple reflexes: In the beginning the cognitive
development of the child is limited to reflex
actions only. i.e. from birth to 1 months, reflexes
are sucking, closing eyes in bright light.

26. 1. Sensorimotor stage cont’d…
b. Primary circular reactions (1-4 months):
• Circular reactions is tendency to repeat some actions.
• For e.g. a child may suck his/her thumb accidently and later
intentionally repeated the action.
• These actions are repeated because infant finds them pleasurable.

27. 1. Sensorimotor stage cont’d…
c) Secondary circular reactions (4-8 months):
the child become more focused on the world and
intentionally repeat the action in order to trigger a
response in the environment.
E.g., if a child throws the ball, he/she tends to
throw it repeatedly, whenever it is given to him/her.
Child purposefully pick up a toy in order to put it in
his or her mouth.

28. Stages of cognitive development cont’d…
d) Coordination of secondary circular reactions
(8-12months):
The children can understand that certain objects
have specific qualities and intentionally perform an
actions. Such as using stick to reach something or
walk to reach up to an object. This is the time child
learn about object permanence.

29. Sensorimotor stage cont’d...
e) Tertiary circular reactions (12 to 18 months):
In this sub-stage the infant carries out mini
experiments to learn about the environment.
•They become fascinated with the properties of an
object and experiment with new behaviour.
Through these experiments, schemas are altered
and adapted.

30. •Children begin to solve problems using the trial-
and-error method
•For example, an infant may experiment by
dropping his/her toy or food onto the floor from
a high chair to see the effect that it had

31. Sensorimotor stage cont’d…
f. Internalization of schemas (18-24 months): This
sub-stage is characterized by the beginning of
insight and creativity.
• Although their vocabulary is limited they use
gestures as a complementary to their language.
• The major achievement of this stage is the
capacity for mental representations.

32. • Major characteristics observed during this
period are make-believe activity, complex
schematic understanding, acceptance of others
but with focus on self and internalization of
images or past events.
• For example, the child’s play begins to involve
imaginary creatures

33. 2. Pre-operational stage (2-7years)
•The child’s use of symbolic thinking grows and
begins to form mental representations of events
and ideas.
•They are also able to communicate using words,
language, gestures and symbols drawings in a
more extensive way
•For example: The child may see his/her mother
holding a pair of shoes which may prompt the
question, “We go out?’

34. Pre-operational stage cont’d…
Key aspects of this stage include
•Conservation
•Centration
•Egocentrism

35. Conservation
•The child’s understanding that a certain quantity
will remain the same despite change in
arrangement or physical appearance.
•For example: A child is shown two glasses of water,
one short and the other tall. The short, broad glass
is filled with water. The same amount of water is
then transferred from the short glass to the tall,
thin glass.
•The child is asked whether there is more water in
the second glass. If the child has mastered the
concept of conversation s/he will answer saying,
‘No’.

38. Centration
• The tendency to focus on one aspect of a stimulus. Children make
judgments based on the most outstanding feature or aspect in their
perceptual array of sight.
• For example: A child is shown two arrangements of circles. One is
clustered together in a symmetrical arrangement while the other is
slightly spaced out. The child is then asked to point to the row that
contains more circles.
• S/he will end up focusing on the superficial aspect of arrangement i.e.
appearance rather than the quantity and point to the spaced-out
arrangement.

39. Egocentrism
The child’s inability to see the world from another’s
perspective. Egocentric thought refers to thinking
that does not take into account the views of others.
One way to understand this concept is Piaget’s’
three-mountains task. A child was presented with a
three dimensional model containing three
mountains.
They looked at the model from one perspective (e.g.
Location A) while a doll was placed in another
location (e.g. Location B). Most children stated that
the doll’s view was the same as what they could see.

41. •It should be noted that this process is not the
same as selfishness, it is a part of the natural
course of development and is not a lasting
pattern of behaviour

42. Stages of Pre-operational stage
I. The symbolic functions stage: This stage occurs
between the age of 2 to 4yrs. The child is able to
formulate designs of objects that are not
present. For e.g. A child can imagine a stick as a
horse and can enjoy riding on it
II. The intuitive thought sub-stage: This stage
occurs between the age of 4-7yrs. Children are
very curious and ask many questions and begin
the use of primitive reasoning. The child can
only concentrate on one characteristic of the
object at a time

44. 3) Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
•This stage is characterized by logical operations
• The main change during this stage is that the
child’s thinking becomes less dependent on
perception and more focused on logic
• Children are better able to understand
conservation tasks in this period

45. 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
cont’d…
•They are able to focus on multiple aspects of a
stimulus, an ability known as ‘decentring’. Once
concrete operations begin taking hold, children
grasp the concept of ‘reversibility’
•Reversibility is the notion that transformations
of a stimulus can be reversed. For example, the
children learn that a ball of clay that is turned
into a long, thin rope can return to the shape of
a ball again.

47. 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
cont’d…
I. Seriation: It is the
ability to sort objects
in the definite logical
order according to
shape, size or any
other characteristics.
For e.g The child can
arrange different
shaded objects
according to their
color or shapes.

48. 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
cont’d…
II. Transitivity: It is an ability to recognize logical
relationship among elements into a serial order
and perform “transitive inferences”. For e.g. If A
is taller than B, and B is taller than C, then they
can conclude that A is taller than C.

49. 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
cont’d…

50. 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
cont’d…
•Classification: It is the ability to name and identify
sets of objects according to appearance, size or
other characteristics, including the idea that one
set of objects that can include another is known as
classification. For.eg., The children of this age can
classify living and non-living things based on their
general characteristics

51. 3. Concrete operational stage (7-11yrs)
cont’d…
IV. Reversibility: The child of this stage become
able to understand that numbers or objects can
be changed, and then return to their original
state. For e.g. The child become able to
determine if 4+4=8, then 8-4=4, the original
quantity. They can be able to perform
operations in both directions.

52. IV. Conservation : refers to the child’s understanding that the properties
of objects, quantity, volume or mass remain the same even when
their appearance changes.
• For example, people who have mastered the skill of conservation will
recognize that pouring a liter of water from a thin glass to a wide glass
does not change the amount of water we have.
• Children who haven’t mastered conservation may feel like there is now
less water in the wide glass because the water doesn’t go as high up the
glass

53. 4. Formal operational stage
(11years and above):
•During this stage the young adolescent learns how
to think abstractly and have a reasoning capacity
•Adolescents learn the concepts of deductive and
inductive reasoning and apply their knowledge by
solving problems and conducting experiments

55. Educational implication of Piaget’s
theory
•He had presented a complete picture of cognitive
development of a child in relation to their age of
maturity. So, the curriculum can be developed
accordingly as well as parents can adopt the
suitable child rearing practice according to the
maturity level of the students.

56. Educational implication of Piaget’s
theory cont’d…
•Children can be encouraged to experiment the
various hypotheses and ideas that they form in
order to come up with their own conclusions and
opinions
• Constructivism

57. Educational implication of Piaget’s theory
cont’d…
•It has indicated the role of teacher as facilitator
and guide in teaching learning process and also
provide an environment that creates curiosity
•This theory has clearly differentiated the
difference between the learning process of child
and an adult and has given clear direction for the
way of dealing with a child

58. Cont’d…
• It has significant influence on education – and it continues to shape
how children are taught in classrooms today which include following
principles
A. Discovery learning
 focuses on the idea that children should be given the freedom and
space to explore and discover new things on their own interest and
the learning environment for non-academic subjects like music,
dance and art.

59. B) Problem solving
Problem-solving is encouraged in classrooms in a
range of different ways, including:
 Creative play: Play that includes imagination and
creating or building something can develop
problem-solving abilities in younger children
 Giving children choices: Making decisions can
encourage problem-solving skills, for example
letting children choose what color (s) they want to
use

60.  Reading problem-solving stories: Exposing
children to stories where the protagonists use
problem-solving skills can inspire children and give
them a model to work from
 Asking questions: Identifying problems and asking
questions can help children learn how to break a
problem down into manageable chunks to help
them come up with solutions

61. c. Stage-based teaching
It is built on the belief that individual children
learn at their own pace and that children shouldn’t
be restricted to a confined grade or lesson
structure
Aimed at teaching to children’s needs rather than
their age or class

62. Utilization of Piaget theory in the
classroom
•Guiding students
respecting their opinions and ideas let the
children learn by formulating their own
suggestions and theories – rather than dictating
what they should think or do.

63. •Encourage social learning
As Social learning is a key part of Piaget’s
learning theory encourage student healthy
development by finding group activities to
encourage more cooperation.

64. •Allow for mistakes
Trial and error is an important part of cognitive
development in children so it can sometimes be
frustrating and requires high levels of patience
Teachers can choose activities that actively
encourage the mistake like playing with building
blocks to try and build the tallest tower. This will
include a lot of falling bricks but it also helps
learners to understand a range of different
concepts like balance, space, and stability, as well
as self-esteem, self-reliance, and cooperation with
others.

65. •Focus on the process
To achieve the same result educators can
appreciate and support children’s different
learning journeys to support healthy cognitive
development.
Teachers can guide students but encourage
them to come up with their own ideas and take
inspiration from different sources, paying
attention to the process and the journey each
child takes to create their imaginary creatures.

66. • Respect individuality
While appreciating Piaget’s learning theory, it’s
important to remember that children reach
different development stages at different times.
We can expect learners achieving objectives at
their own pace – and educators need to respect
the range of individual learning styles and
abilities in their classes

67. Criticism of Piaget’s Theory
•Culture/society influence
•Effect of training
•Trouble with stages
•Underestimated child’s abilities
•Overestimated adult abilities

68. •The small sample size
Piaget developed his learning theory by observing
small numbers of children – including his own
children and the children of his colleagues in
Geneva, Switzerland. This small sample size means
there is more likelihood of bias, especially as all the
children were from the same socio-economic
background, and so the theories don’t necessarily
apply to all children

69. •The European context
The research was also carried out in Western
Europe and then expanded to apply to all
children all over the world. Piaget’s theories
didn’t take into account potential social and
cultural practices from different geographical
contexts that could have an impact on children’s
cognitive development and how they see the
world at different stages of their life.

70. Related Article
•Badakar et al., (2017) Conducted a comparative
study on “Evaluation of the Relevance of Piaget's
Cognitive Principles among Parented and
Orphan Children” in , Karnataka, India shows
that there is a significantly better cognitive
development among parented children as
compared with orphan children.

71. •Bhadauria et al., (2020) conducted a quantitative
research on the topic “Impact of counseling and
reinforcement by school teachers on behavior
change among 200 children: A one-year follow-up
study” shows that the assessment of the three
characteristics revealed a prevalence of ego
centralism, centration, and lack of conservation
and reversibility in 84.4%, 89.6%, and 89.6%
children, respectively. A significant difference in
behavior change was seen in children who
received behavior counseling and reinforcement.

72. •An assessment of the prevalence of the three
characteristics in children revealed a decrease in
the prevalence of the three characteristics after
behavior counseling and reinforcement post 1
month; however, a follow-up analysis after 1
year revealed an increase in the prevalence

73. •A comparative evaluation of the oral health
behavior in reinforced and non-reinforced group
revealed a significant change in the reinforced
group for all the time intervals .

74. Research
•Asokan et al., (2014) conducted a cross sectional
study on “Relevance of Piaget's cognitive
principles among 4-7 years old children” the
prevalence of egocentrism based on the three
mountain experiment was 65% and the personal
interview showed a prevalence of 58%. Centration
was appreciated in 83% of the children. The
beaker experiment and the interview question
revealed a lack of conservation in 89% of the
children

75. Conclusion
Development occurs at different rates, is relatively orderly, happens
gradually
Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive
Theory
1. Organization
• Schemes / schema
2. Adaptation
• Assimilation
• Accommodation
3. Equilibration/ Disequilibrium
Stages of Development:
• Sensori-motor,
• preoperational,
• concrete operational,
• formal operational

76. Floor Discussion

77. References
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pediatric nursing. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.
2. Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
3. Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget's_theory_of_cognitive_d
evelopment on 20th July 2012.
4. Sensorimotor Stage. Retrieved from
http://www.columbuscityschools.org/lee/pioneer/stage1.htm
on 20th July 2012
5. Singh, I. (2006). Essential of education. Kathmandu: J.B.
Singh.
6. Wong, D.L. & Hockenberry, M.J. (2006). Wong’s nursing
care of infants and children (7th Edition). New Delhi:
Elsevier.
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