Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development.docx

MODULE- 2
THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Amritpal Kaur 9/23/23

Cognitive Development Theory – Jean Piaget Page 1 of 16
Module
Theory of Cognitive Development – Jean Piaget
Dear students, today we will be going to discuss the topic Cognitive Development Theory-
Jean Piaget based on the above-mentioned objectives.
For that I’m sharing with you the information on how the theory developed:
Learning Objectives
This module will enable learner to:
 Define cognitive development theory.
 Name four stages of development theory by Piaget.
 Define schema.
 Enlist various concepts involved in the theory.
 Explain theory proposed by Piaget.
 Explain various stages in the theory.
 Explain various features of the theories.
 Distinguish between various stages of theory.
 Illustrate how schemas are changed.
Piaget was the first psychologist to conduct a systematic study of cognitive
development, and his major contributions include a theory of cognitive child
development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of
tests to reveal different cognitive abilities. Prior to Piaget's work, the common
assumption in psychology was that children are less competent thinkers than adults.
According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure that serves
as the foundation for all subsequent learning and knowledge.
Piaget became interested in how children think while working at Binet's IQ test lab in
Paris.
He noticed that young children's answers were qualitatively different from older childr
en's, implying that the younger ones were not dumber (a quantitative position, becau
se as they grew older and gained more experiences, they would become smarter), b
ut rather answered the questions differently than their older peers because they thou
ght differently.

Introduction
Jean Piaget gave this theory of cognitive development and
adopted a constructive approach to develop, his theory
because he believed that the child is the creator of
knowledge. He used clinical methods and studied his
children. His theory is also referred to as Genetic
Epistemology because he tries to trace the development of
the knowing process in relation to biological growth. This
theory concentrates on how the way of thinking may
change over an individual’s lifetime.
Now, I am going to share with you the basic assumptions
behind this theory.
1. Children are active and motivated learners.
2. Children construct knowledge through experiences.
3. Interaction with the physical environment is
essential for cognitive development.
4. Children learn through the process of assimilation
and accommodation.
5. Equilibrium promotes progress and enhancement in
complex thoughts.
6. Cognitive development occurs in stages and along
with biological development.
The main goal of the theory is to explain:
1. Mechanism
2. Process
by which an infant or child develops, who can reason and
think by making hypotheses.
Assumptions
• Child an active learner.
• Knowledge construction through experience.
• Role of assimilation and accomodation in learning.
• Interaction with environment is essential.
• Equillibrium promotes complex thoughts
• Cognitive development occurs in stages.
Let us know about Jean Piaget
A Swiss biologist (1896-1980)
 Born on 9 Aug., 1896 in
Neuchatel, Switzerland
and Died on 16
September, 1980, in
Geneva.
 He was the first to make a
systematic study of the
acquisition of
understanding in children.
 Piaget’s early interests
were in zoology.
 At the University of
Neuchâtel, he studied
zoology and philosophy.
 Received his doctorate in
the former in 1918.
 Piaget’s early work, The
Child’s Conception of the
World (1929).
 In 1955 he established
the International Centre of
Genetic Epistemology at
Geneva and became its
director.
 Piaget was the recipient of
an array of honorary
degrees and accolades,
including the prestigious
Erasmus (1972) and
Balzan (1979) prizes.

To sum up, we can say that Piaget’s cognitive development theory was a result of the
reorganization and the development of mental processes as a result of biological
maturation.
Activity No. 1 (Check your progress)
Components/ Major Concepts involved in the theory: The following are the basic
components or concepts involved in the theory:
Figure 1: Components
Schemas Adaptation Equilliberation Organisation
Operations
Task 1: Find major writings of the Piaget.
Answers to Activity No. 1
Answer 1: This theory is referred to as Genetic Epistemology because Piaget traces
development of knowing process in relation with the biological growth.
Answer 2: While working in Binet’s IQ test lab in Paris.
Answer 3: Equilibrium.
Answer 4: Because interaction will enhance the process of knowing and new thing and
situation will trigger schemas thus formulation of new concepts will take place.
Question 1. Why this theory given by Piaget referred to as Genetic Epistemology?
Answer:
Question 2. When Piaget become interested in knowing how children thinks?
Answer:
Question 3. promotes growth in enhancement in complex mental activities.
Question 4. Why according to Piaget interaction with physical environment is necessary?
Answer:

1. Schema (Schemata/Schemas/building blocks of knowledge/cognitive
structure): Schema is previous (a) knowledge or (b) behaviour that are already
present or patterned in mind of the learner.
Each schema is unique and depends on an individual’s experiences and cognitive
processes. American psychologist David Ausubel introduced his
“meaningful learning theory” in Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View (1968).
He argued that there is a hierarchical organization of knowledge and that new
information can be incorporated into the already existing hierarchy. In contrast,
Jean Piaget argued that there is more than one body of knowledge available to
learners. Piaget claimed that there exists a network of context-specific bodies of
knowledge and that humans apply those bodies of knowledge according to specific
situations.
According to Piaget, a newborn baby possesses reflexes as schemas.
2. Adaptation: it is the process of developing schemas by interacting with the outer
environment.
It involves dual mechanism i.e., Assimilation and Accomodation.
a. Assimilation: means fitting/motion of new events or ideas or information in
schemas i.e., how new information is perceived and adapted.
b. Accommodation: means modification/change in existing phenomena i.e.,
taking the new information and altering it.
3. Equilibration: It is the tendency to seek a balance between schemas and
environment. If disequilibrium occurs, a child will try to change existing
knowledge/schema to modify or to adopt new knowledge.
4. Organisation: It means an arrangement of schemas that are interlinked.
5. Operations: It means mental transformations.
1. Match the following
Sr. No. Components Sr. No. Meaning
1. Operations a. Dual mechanism
2. Schema b. Unique building blocks
3. Adaptation c. Mental transformation
2. Which among the following means “Perceiving of new information and
adapting”.
a. Accomodation;
b. Assimilation

Now, we will try to understand about the major aspects of the theory
Major aspects of the theory
There are two major aspects of the theory i.e., the process of cognitive development/the
process of coming to know and the stages we move through as we gradually acquire this
ability.
Figure 2: Major Aspects
In the process, we will discuss in detail how Schema play a role in building new concept
or idea, and in the stages, we will discuss how cognitive development takes place in
relation to biological growth according to Piaget.
1. Process of Cognitive Development: As a biologist, Piaget was interested in how
an organism adapts to its environment (definition of intelligence according to
Piaget). Behaviour (adaptation to the environment) is controlled through mental
organizations called schemes that the individual uses to represent the world and
perform an action. Adaptation is driven by a biological drive to obtain a balance
between schemes and the environment (equilibration).
Piaget reflects that infants are born with schemes operating at birth that he called
"reflexes." In other animals, these reflexes control behaviour throughout life.
However, in human beings, as the infant uses these reflexes to adapt to the
environment, these reflexes are quickly replaced with constructed schemes.
Assimilation is the process of using or transforming the environment so that it can
be placed in pre-existing cognitive structures.
Accomodation is the process of changing cognitive structures in order to accept
something from the environment. The processes are used simultaneously and
alternately throughout life.
Aspects
Process of
Cognitive
Development
Stages
Answer to Activity No. 2
1. Match the following:
Answer: 1-c; 2-b; 3-a
2. Answer: option-b

Figure 3: Process of Cognitive Development
New situation:
it activates
schemas
Disequillibrium
New situation
is partially
assimilated, it
brings
challenge
Accomodation
to bring
equilibrium
Equillibrium
New
information or
situation is
assimilated
Let us understand with the help with example how reflex actions or birth schemas
leads to more structured and complex schemas.
Example of assimilation: when an infant uses a sucking schema that was developed
by sucking on a small bottle when attempting to suck on a larger bottle or uses holding
schema of a small toy to holding jug of water.
Example of accomodation: would be when the child needs to modify a sucking Schema
developed by sucking on a pacifier to one that would be successful for sucking on a
bottle or holding of a jug successfully by modifying a technique to hold heavy thing. As
Schemes become increasingly more complex i.e., responsible for more complex
behaviors they are termed as structures. As one's structures become more complex,
they are organized in a hierarchical manner (i.e., from general to specific).
Task 2
Explain with example how reflex actions or birth schemas leads to more structured and
complex schemas.

In order to understand stages of development, have an in-depth look into the image
Source: http://www.avant-gardemusicstudio.com/ages-stages-musical-development/
shown. Now the question arises what correlation can you make between this image and
the stages of cognitive development, which we are going to discuss? The answer is this
image shows the physical growth of a human being in a similar manner Piaget has given
four stages of cognitive development which runs parallel to human growth.
Let’s discuss about stages of development as proposed by Piaget:
2. Stages of development: According to Piaget Cognitive Development occurs in
Four stages i.e., Sensory-Motor Stage, Pre-Operational Stage, Concrete-
Operational Stage, and Formal-Operational Stage.
Each stage is defined by measurable improvements in cognitive ability. The reason
for the varying ages is that children mature at slightly different rates. This
influences the speed of their cognitive development.
Characteristics of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
a. General theory: all aspects of knowing occurs in integrated manner and
similar changes are seen.
b. Stages are invariant: i.e., stages are fixed and All people pass through each
stage before starting the next one; no one skips any stage.
c. Stages are universal: applies to every child in the world.
d. Individual differences: i.e., their development levels may differ significantly
(Weinert & Helmke, 1998), as well as the rate at which individual children
pass through each stage. This difference may depend on maturity,
experience, culture, and the ability of the child (Papila & Olds, 1996). A
genetic and environment factors influence the speed and change in
development.
e. It is continuous: i.e., development of a child occurs through a continuous
transformation of thought processes.

Figure 4: Stages of Cognitive Development
Now, let’s have an in-depth look at each of the stages.
A. Stage-1 [Sensory-Motor Stage (0-2 years)]
In the sensorimotor stage, an infant’s mental and cognitive attributes develop from
birth until the appearance of language. In this stage, knowledge is acquired or
constructed through motor activities. Responses are done through motor
movements or with the help of the senses. Piaget called infants little Scientists.
Infants understand the relationship between cause and effect through sensory
movement. Appearance of curiosity to know more. Appearance of imitation. Object
permanence is not developed in the early stage but starts emerging in the later
stage (object permanence means the child becomes able to find objects after they
have been displaced, even if the objects have been taken out of his field of vision.
For example, Piaget’s experiments at this stage include hiding an object under a
pillow to see if the baby finds the object). Moreover, an additional characteristic of
children at this stage is their ability to link numbers to objects (Piaget, 1977) (e.g.,
one dog, two cats, three pigs, four hippos).
Six Sub-Substages: following are the six substages of the sensory-motor stage.
Figure 5: Sub-Stages of Sensory Motor Stage
Sensory-Motor Stage Pre-Operational Stage
Concrete-Operational Stage Formal-Operational Stage
Stages
Reflex Schemas-
unconcious response to
stimuli.
Primary circular Reaction-
repeated voluntary
actions
Secondary circular
Reaction- repetition of
acts that are interesting
Coordination of
secondary circular
Reaction- solving simple
problems
Tertiary circular Reaction-
better problem solvers to
find objects
Mental/Symbolic
Representation- abstract
depiction of information

B. Stage- 2 [Pre- Operational Stage (2-7 years)]
The characteristics of this stage include an increase in language ability (with over-
generalizations), symbolic thought, egocentric perspective, and limited logic. In
this second stage, children should engage with problem-solving tasks that
incorporate available materials such as blocks, sand, and water.
This stage has two phases i.e., Conceptual Phase (2-4 years) and Intuitive Phase
(4-7 years).
Figure 6: Phases of Pre-Operational Stage
a. Pre-Conceptual Phase
 Identification i.e., ranking, combining, separating thing in the physical world.
 Concept formation: development of advanced mental representation, Make-
believe play, Drawing, Delight at story time, and Language development.
According to Piaget Language does not play role in role in cognitive development
but, Vygotsky considered language as a major tool of cognitive development.
 Illogical Thinking Reasoning: No use of inductive /deductive methods, e.g., feeding
dolls, car toy for car.
b. Intuitive Phase: In this phase child is
 Ego-centric in nature: difficult to differentiate between self and other; inability to
see a situation from other’s perspective and their reasoning regarding people,
animals, food, and toys is never wrong.
 3 forms of ego: Animism (things are alive e.g., the sun moves), Artificialism (natural
phenomena created by man e.g., the sun created by man with match), Realism
(what they perceive is real).
 Lack of Hierarchical classification i.e., the child does not have the ability to
organize objects into classes and sub-classes based on similarities and
dissimilarities.
Let’s assume, there are 4 blue and 8 yellow flowers, and based on this if we ask a
child a question i.e., Are there more flowers or yellow flowers? Their answer would
be yellow flowers.
 Absence of two main cognitive characters i.e., Reversibility and Conservation.
Pre-Conceptual Phase (2-4) Intutive Phase (4-7)

 Transductive Reasoning: it means no proper logic and not being able to
understand the cause-and-effect relationship.
For, I had a ball that was round, so now, all round things are balls.
C. Stage- 3 [Concrete Operational Stage (7-12 years)]
This stage shows a turning point in cognitive development. This is the stage that
shows qualitative change in thinking. A child in this stage is able to develop a set
of rules. During this stage child is in his/her middle childhood. In this stage
children’s development of language and acquisition of basic skills enhances
dramatically.
 Additionally, seriation and classification are the two logical operations that develop
during this stage (Piaget, 1977) and both are essential for understanding number
concepts. Seriation is the ability to order objects according to increasing or
decreasing length, weight, or volume. On the other hand, classification involves
grouping objects on the basis of a common characteristic
 Spatial Reasoning develops in this stage i.e., knowledge about distance, direction,
and map is more after & years.
But still lacks in the concept of open space and closed space.
For example, Figures A and B show two circles at the same distance say 100m
but Figure B has an additional figure rectangle in between the circles, on asking a
question about which figure distance is closer, they will respond that in Figure B,
distance is between circular figure is closer than figure A.
Figure A. Figure B.
 Concept of direction started developing: Before age 7 it is difficult to answer which
is right/left direction of another person in comparison to his/her own.
 Ability to conserve both quantity and number of objects. Children at this stage
utilize their senses in order to know; they can now consider two or three
dimensions simultaneously instead of successively. For example, in the liquids
experiment, if the child notices the lowered level of the liquid, he also notices the
dish is wider, seeing both dimensions at the same time.
 No more ego-centric in nature.
Reversibility
i.e., they are not able to
understand that 5+2=7 and
7-2=5
Conservation i.e., not able
to differentiate e.g., if
container A and B has
same liquid but different in
shape, they will say that
larger container has more
liquid .

 Logic/Reasoning develops: they are able to do inductive reasoning i.e., find
specific examples from the external world then find similarity and dissimilarity but
difficult to do deductive reasoning.
 Poor abstract mental operations i.e., they are able to identify taller objects in
concrete form but if we say, A is taller than B and B is taller than C, they will not
be able to find a relation between A and B.
D. Stage-4 [Formal Operational Stage (11-12 years onward)]
This is the highest stage of cognitive development, mainly adolescents and
teenagers come under this stage. The child at this stage is capable of forming
hypotheses and deducing possible consequences, allowing the child to construct
his own mathematics. Furthermore, the child typically begins to develop abstract
thought patterns where reasoning is executed using pure symbols without the
necessity of perceptive data.
 Concept of abstraction and scientific thinking develops.
 Able to do Hypothetic-Deductive reasoning i.e., from General to Specific.
Let’s take an example of a Pendulum task, if we want to know the movement of
the Pendulum, we have to gather all the facts related: the size of the string, weight,
and length.
 Logical Reasoning i.e., able to understand abstract concepts.
 Development of abstract thoughts and ideas i.e., truth, justice, fairness, morals,
etc.
 Reflective thinking emerges i.e., the ability to think before and after tasks which
ultimately helps in better planning.
 Creative aspects are more visible, and imagination and interests started
developing.
General Theory
Gather all possible factors
Predict hypothesis
Test Hypothesis Scientifically
Conclusion

 Adolescent Egocentrism develops i.e., in this stage child believes that other people
have pre-occupied behavior, appearance, and thoughts.
This egocentrism gave a two-dimensional result: an imaginary audience and a
personal fable.
Criticism of the theory
Piaget has been questioned and challenged on the following grounds:
1. Recent research shows that Piaget’s key concept like object permanence may
begin to appear in earlier ages i.e., infants and young children may be more
cognitively competent than Piaget Theorized.
2. The research's on formal operational stage makes it clear that:
Question 1: Write in correct order the stages of cognitive development.
Answer:
Question 2: following are the feature that belong to the specific stage, observe carefully
and name the stage.
 Transductive reasoning
 Knowledge through senses
 Development of conservation and reversibility
 Inductive thinking
 Creativity
 Hypothetic deductive reasoning
Answers to Activity No. 3
Answer 1: Sensory motor stage, pre-operational stage, Concrete operational stage,
Formal operational stage.
Answer 2:
 Pre-operational stage;
 Sensory motor stage
 Concrete operational stage
 Concrete operational stage
 Formal operational stage
 Formal operational stage

 not all people reach this stage of thinking because such thinking is not
emphasized in some cultures.
 Those that do reach may not always use such thinking- Dasen (1994), and
Renner & McKinnon (1971).
 Even Piaget (1972) realized there were limitations to achieving formal
operation.
3. Piaget did not consider the impact of culture and social environment on cognitive
development.
4. His theory of development ends with adolescence and does not mention
development after that.
5. Piaget’s view on a pattern of intellectual development is not as uniform and
universal as claimed and his theory is based on observation of European children
as they grew up in the 1920s, 1930, and 1940’s.
6. Piagetian view that thinking proceeds in distinct stages has also been challenged
i.e., inconsistent level of cognitive performance is seen.
7. Studies show that children can both think logically and show sensitivity and
concern for the feelings and viewpoints of others at an early stage i.e., the concrete
operational stage.
8. A number of studies show that it is possible to train children in tasks like
conservation below the age of formal operation as specified by Piaget.
9. According to Piaget Language does not play a role in cognitive development but
Vygotsky considered language as a major tool of cognitive development.
As we have discussed the whole theory in detail, give an answer to the following question:
Nice attempt, few of the answers were really good!
Educational Implications
To sum up following are a few activities that a teacher can conduct or apply during
classroom interaction based on the stages of cognitive development as proposed by
Piaget:
1. Stage-1 Sensory Motor Stage
Task 3
Write few activities which a teacher can conduct in the class based on stages
of Piaget’s cognitive development theory?
Answer:

Evidence suggests that children at the sensorimotor stage have some
understanding of the concepts of numbers and counting (Fuson, 1988). Educators
in this stage of development should lay a solid mathematical foundation by
providing activities that incorporate counting and thus enhance children’s
conceptual development of numbers. For example, teachers and parents can help
children count their fingers, toys, and candies. Questions such as “Who has
more?” or “Are there enough?” could be a part of the daily lives of children as
young as two or three years of age.
Another activity that could enhance the mathematical development of children at
this stage connects mathematics and literature for those books should include
pictorial illustrations. Because children at this stage can link numbers to objects,
learners can benefit from seeing pictures of objects and their respective numbers
simultaneously. Along with the mathematical benefits, children’s books can
contribute to the development of their reading skills and comprehension.
2. Stage-2 Pre-Operational Stage
According to Thompson in 1990 while teaching students in this stage one should
focus on asking questions related to characterizing different objects. For example,
when students investigate geometric shapes, a teacher could ask students to
group the shapes according to similar characteristics. Questions following the
investigation could include, how did you decide where each object belonged? Are
there other ways to group these together? Moreover, engaging in discussion or
interactions may help children discover the variety of ways to group the objects,
which will help children to about the quantities in novel ways.
3. Stage-3 Concrete-Operational Stage
According to Burns & Silbey (2000), “hands-on experiences and multiple ways of
representing a mathematical solution can be ways of fostering the development of
this cognitive stage”.
These activities provide students an opportunity to make abstract ideas concrete,
allowing them to get their hands on mathematical ideas and concepts as useful
tools for solving problems. Because concrete experiences are needed, teachers
might use manipulatives with their students to explore concepts such as place
value and arithmetical operations.
Existing manipulative materials include pattern blocks, Cuisenaire rods, algebra
tiles, algebra cubes, geoboards, tangrams, counters, dice, and spinners.
However, teachers are not limited to commercial materials, they can also use
convenient materials in activities such as paper folding and cutting. As students
use the materials, they acquire experiences that help lay the foundation for more
advanced mathematical thinking. Furthermore, students’ use of materials helps to
build their mathematical confidence by giving them a way to test and confirm their
reasoning.
4. Stage-4 Formal-Operational Stage
During this stage, a child is full of creativity and is able to perform abstract mental
operations. So, the function of the teacher in this stage is to provide with a
problematic situation so that students can clarify, draw out inferences, evaluate,
apply, and ultimately reach a conclusion. Along with this teacher must provide full
freedom to express as students in this stage are full of energy and creativity.

To sum up,
we can say that as children develop, they progress through stages characterized by
unique ways of understanding the world. During the sensorimotor stage, young children
develop eye-hand coordination schemes and object permanence. The preoperational
stage includes the growth of symbolic thought, as evidenced by the increased use of
language. During the concrete operational stage, children can perform basic operations
such as classification and serial ordering of concrete objects. In the final stage, formal
operations, students develop the ability to think abstractly and metacognitively, as well as
reason hypothetically. In general, the knowledge of Piaget’s stages helps the teacher
understand the cognitive development of the child as the teacher plans stage-appropriate
activities to keep students active.
References
1. Babakr, Zana H., Mohamedamin, Pakstan, and Kakamad, Karwan. (2019),
Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory: Critical Review. In: Education Quarterly
Reviews, Vol.2, No.3, 517-524. ISSN 2621-5799 DOI:
10.31014/aior.1993.02.03.84
Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1274368.pdf on 06-06-2021
2. Biography.com Editors. (2020). Jean Piaget Biography. A&E Television Networks.
Retrieved from: https://www.biography.com/scientist/jean-piaget on 10-10-2021
3. Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2021, September 12). Jean Piaget.
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Retrieved from: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Piaget on 17-07-2021
4. Devi., Laxmi. (1998). Child Development an Introduction (1st Edition). Anmol
Publications Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. Retrieved from:
https://niepid.nic.in/CHILD%20DEVELOPMENT%20AN%20INTRODUCTION.pdf
on 06-06-2021
5. Huitt, W., Hummel, J. (2003). Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.
Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University.
Retrieved from:
https://intranet.newriver.edu/images/stories/library/stennett_psychology_articles/
Piagets%20Theory%20of%20Cognitive%20Development.pdf on 06-06-2021
6. Lefa, Baken. (2014). THE PIAGET THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
:AN EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS. Educational Psychology. 1. 9.
Retrieved from:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265916960_THE_PIAGET_THEORY_
OF_COGNITIVE_DEVELOPMENT_AN_EDUCATIONAL_IMPLICATIONS on 06-
06-2021
7. Ojose, B. (2008). Applying Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to
Mathematics Instruction. The Mathematics Educator 2008. 18(1). 26–30.
Retrieved from: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ841568.pdf on 06-06-2021

Further reading sources:
1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265916960_THE_PIAGET_THEORY_
OF_COGNITIVE_DEVELOPMENT_AN_EDUCATIONAL_IMPLICATIONS
2. https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one-dot-com/one-dot-com/us/en/higher-
ed/en/products-services/course-products/woolfolk-13e-info/pdf/0134013522.pdf
You Tube: Video Links
1. https://youtu.be/DlGSKkLPV3E
2. https://youtu.be/gnArvcWaH6I
3. https://youtu.be/gnArvcWaH6I
Assessment (Quiz): Link
1. https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/615a983c412c18001dc5de59

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