Piagets

Cognitive
Development
by: Faith Je Molvizar
 Concrete
Operational
 Concrete Operational
from ages about 7-12
Children can perform basic
mental operations concerning
problems that involve tangible
(i.e., concrete) objects and
situations.
 Concrete Operational
They now grasp the
concept of reversibility,
display less centration, and
easily solve conservation
problems that baffled them
as preschoolers.
 Concrete Operational
When they confront
problems that are
hypothetical or require
abstract reasoning, however,
they often have difficulty or
show rigid types of thinking.
 Concrete Operational
To demonstrate this, ask a few 9-
year-olds, If you could have a
third eye, where on your body
would you put it? Draw a
picture.
Then ask them to explain their
reasons.
 Concrete Operational
David Shaffer (1989)
reports that 9-year-olds
typically draw a face
with a row of three eyes
across it.
 Concrete Operational
Their thinking is concrete,
bound by the reality that
eyes appear on the face,
and their justifications often
are unsophisticated (e.g.,
so I could see you
better).
 Concrete Operational
Many find the task silly
because Nobody has
three eyes (Shaffer,
1989)
 Formal
Operational
 Formal Operational
Piagets model ends with this
stage, in which individuals are
able to think logically and
systematically about both
concrete and abstract problems,
form hypotheses, and test them in
a thoughtful way.
 Formal Operational
Formal thinking begins
around ages 11 to 12
and increases through
adolescence (Ward &
Overton, 1990).
 Formal Operational
Children entering this
stage begin to think more
flexibly when tackling
hypothetical problems,
such as brainteasers, and
typically enjoy the
challenge.
 Formal Operational
Shaffer (1989) reports that
11 to 12-year-olds
provide more creative
answers and justifications to
the third-eye problem than
do 9-year-old concrete
thinkers.
 Formal Operational
One child placed the
eye on the palm of his
hands so that he could
use it to see around
corners.
 Formal Operational
Another placed it on
top of his head, so that
he could revolve the
eye to look in all
directions.
 Formal Operational
Formal operational
enjoy these
hypothetical tasks and
often beg for more.
 Assessing Piagets
Theory: Stages, Ages,
and Culture
Tests of Piagets
theory conducted
around the world yield
several general
findings.
First, it appears that the
general cognitive
abilities associated with
Piagets four stages
occur in the same order
across cultures. (Berry et
al., 1992)
For example, children
understand object
permanence before
symbolic thinking blooms,
and concrete reasoning
emerges before abstract
reasoning.
Second, children
acquire many cognitive
skills and concepts at an
earlier age than Piaget
believed. (Wang et al.,
2005)
Even 3 to 4 1/2 month-
olds display a basic grasp
of object permanence
when they are tested on
special tasks that require
them only to look at events
rather than physically
search for a hidden object.
Third, cognitive
development within
each stage seems to
proceed inconsistently.
A child may perform
at the preoperational
level on most tasks yet
solve some tasks at a
concrete operational
level (Siegler, 1986)
This challenges the idea
that development
proceeds in distinct stages:
A child at a given stage
should not show large
inconsistencies in solving
conceptually similar tasks.
Fourth, culture
influences cognitive
development.
Piagets Western perspective
equated cognitive development
with scientific-logical thinking, but
Many cultures consider
cognitive development to be
more relational, involving the
thinking skills and processes to
engage in successful
interpersonal contexts
(Matsumoto & Hull, 1994)
In Africas Ivory Coast, the
Baoul people most strongly
value a type of social
intelligence that reflects the
skills to get along with others
and to be respectful, helpful,
and responsible (Dasen et al.,
1985)
Fifth, and most
broadly, cognitive
development is more
complex and variable
than Piaget proposed.
(Larive et al., 2000)
Although all children
progress from simpler to
more sophisticated
thinking, they dont
necessarily follow the
same developmental
path.
In sum, newer research
challenges many of Piagets
ideas. Nevertheless, he
revolutionized thinking about
childrens cognitive development,
and his work still guides many
researchers, called neo-
Piagetians, who have modified his
theory to account for the issues
discussed above (Becker, 2004)