Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development Explained!

Summary

This video discusses Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which outlines how children progress through four stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Key concepts such as schemas, assimilation, and accommodation are explained, along with examples like object permanence and egocentric thinking. The video also covers tasks used to assess children's cognitive abilities at different stages, such as the three-mountain problem and conservation tasks. The stages highlight how children's thinking evolves from reflexive actions to abstract reasoning. The video is sponsored by Learn My Test, a platform to create custom practice tests.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Piaget's cognitive development theory is centered around how children interact with their environment to learn and develop.
• 🚗 A schema is a mental concept or framework that helps organize and interpret information, such as how we think about a car.
• 🔄 Assimilation is the process of incorporating new experiences into an existing schema, while accommodation refers to changing a schema based on new information.
• 🔢 Piaget's theory consists of four stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
• 👶 The sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years) involves learning through reflexes, circular reactions, and developing object permanence.
• 🏰 In the pre-operational stage (ages 2-7), children exhibit egocentric thinking, animism, artificialism, and struggle with logical reasoning and conservation tasks.
• 🔄 The concrete operational stage (ages 7-11) includes skills like seriation, reversibility, and an understanding of transitivity, but children still struggle with abstract and deductive reasoning.
• 🤔 The formal operational stage (ages 11+) is marked by the ability to think abstractly, use deductive reasoning, and engage in metacognition.
• 📚 Piaget’s theory is a discontinuous stage theory, meaning that children progress through these stages in a set order without regressing.
• 🌐 Object permanence is a key concept for children transitioning from the sensorimotor to the pre-operational stage, indicating that they understand objects exist even when not visible.

Q & A

What is a schema according to Piaget's theory?

A schema is a concept or idea of how the world works. It helps organize and interpret information. For example, a schema for a car might include a steering wheel, speedometer, and car seat.

What is assimilation in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

Assimilation is the process of incorporating new experiences into existing schemas. For example, a child may initially call a van or a truck a 'car' because they share common features like four wheels.

What is accommodation in Piaget's theory?

Accommodation is the process of altering existing schemas to fit new information. For instance, when a child learns to differentiate between a car, truck, and van, their schema for vehicles is adjusted.

What are the four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development theory?

The four stages are: 1) Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), 2) Pre-operational stage (2 to 7 years), 3) Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years), and 4) Formal operational stage (11 years and up).

What is object permanence, and why is it important?

Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen. It is crucial for the transition from the sensorimotor stage to the pre-operational stage in a child's development.

What is egocentric thinking in the pre-operational stage?

Egocentric thinking is the inability to see the perspective of others. A child may believe that others share the same viewpoint, such as assuming their parent enjoys tea parties because they themselves do.

How do children in the concrete operational stage understand reversibility?

Children in the concrete operational stage understand that objects can return to their original state after being altered. For example, they recognize that a broken toy can be repaired.

What is abstract thinking in the formal operational stage?

Abstract thinking is the ability to think about hypothetical situations and possible outcomes. Children in the formal operational stage can consider multiple scenarios and consequences when making decisions.

What is transductive reasoning in the pre-operational stage?

Transductive reasoning occurs when a child believes that two unrelated events are connected. For example, a child might think a teapot started steaming because a doll fell off a chair earlier.

What is metacognition, and how does it relate to Piaget’s stages?

Metacognition is the ability to think about one's own thinking. In the formal operational stage, children can reflect on their thoughts and change their thinking patterns based on new insights.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Introduction to Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

This paragraph introduces Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, focusing on the concept of schemas—frameworks that help individuals understand the world. It explains assimilation, where new experiences fit into existing schemas, and accommodation, which involves modifying schemas when encountering new experiences. The paragraph also briefly mentions Piaget's belief that children learn by interacting with their environment and introduces the four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

05:01

🚼 Sensorimotor Stage and Early Development

This section dives into Piaget's first stage, the sensorimotor stage, which occurs from birth to two years. It explains how newborns rely on reflexes, such as the rooting reflex, for survival. Concepts like primary and secondary circular reactions are introduced, where infants repeat actions either with their body or objects, without an intended goal. As babies grow, they begin goal-directed actions. The idea of object permanence—the understanding that objects continue to exist even when not seen—is highlighted as crucial for transitioning into the pre-operational stage.

10:03

🎭 Pre-operational Stage and Egocentrism

This paragraph covers the pre-operational stage (ages 2 to 7 years), where children engage in imaginative play and display egocentric thinking—the belief that others share their perspective. Concepts such as animism (attributing human emotions to objects) and artificialism (believing objects have intentions) are introduced. Children in this stage struggle with logical reasoning and understanding the relationship between quantity and appearance, which is tested through tasks like conservation tasks. The paragraph also touches on transductive reasoning, where children mistakenly relate unrelated events.

🧩 Concrete Operational Stage: Logic and Organization

The concrete operational stage, occurring between 7 and 11 years, is marked by the development of logical thinking. Children can classify objects by characteristics like size or shape (seriation) and understand reversibility, where objects can return to their original state after being altered. They can consider multiple aspects of a problem and use transitivity, the ability to deduce relationships between items based on given information. However, children in this stage still struggle with deductive reasoning, a skill that develops in the next stage.

🔍 Formal Operational Stage: Deductive Reasoning and Abstract Thinking

The formal operational stage, starting at age 11, introduces advanced cognitive abilities such as deductive reasoning, where children can draw conclusions from multiple facts. They also develop abstract thinking, allowing them to consider hypothetical situations and outcomes. This stage includes metacognition, where individuals can reflect on their own thinking processes and make adjustments. Children in this stage can apply past experiences to make predictions about the future, marking a significant leap in cognitive development.

📚 Conclusion and Call to Action

The final paragraph wraps up the video by encouraging viewers to use 'Learn My Test,' an alternative to Quizlet, for creating custom practice tests. The platform is promoted as a useful tool for college-level exam preparation, emphasizing its user-friendly nature and free account creation. This section serves as both a conclusion and a promotional segment for the website.

Keywords

💡Schema

A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps individuals organize and interpret information. In the video, a schema is described as an understanding or idea of how things work, such as a child’s schema for a car, which might include components like a steering wheel or a speedometer. Schemas evolve as new information is added or modified.

💡Assimilation

Assimilation is the process of incorporating new experiences into existing schemas. In the video, an example is given of a child calling a truck or van a 'car' because the child assimilates the new information (a different type of vehicle) into their pre-existing schema for 'car'.

💡Accommodation

Accommodation is the process of adjusting existing schemas to incorporate new, different information. The video explains how a child may initially think a truck is a car, but eventually changes their schema to understand that a truck is a separate vehicle with unique characteristics, such as a truck bed.

💡Sensorimotor Stage

The sensorimotor stage is the first stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, occurring from birth to about 2 years of age. During this stage, infants learn through their senses and actions. The video mentions object permanence and circular reactions as key developments in this stage.

💡Object Permanence

Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen. The video uses the example of a child learning that a toy hidden under a blanket still exists, marking a transition from the sensorimotor to the pre-operational stage.

💡Egocentric Thinking

Egocentric thinking is the inability to understand perspectives other than one's own. This concept is explained in the context of the pre-operational stage (ages 2-7), where children assume that others share their viewpoint, as shown in the three-mountain task described in the video.

💡Pre-operational Stage

The pre-operational stage, from ages 2-7, is characterized by symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and a lack of logical reasoning. Children in this stage engage in pretend play and have difficulty understanding the perspectives of others, as mentioned in the video with examples like tea parties with stuffed animals.

💡Concrete Operational Stage

The concrete operational stage occurs between ages 7-11, where children begin to develop logical reasoning, though they still struggle with abstract thinking. The video highlights skills such as classification, seriation (ordering items), and understanding reversibility, as children become more adept at solving concrete problems.

💡Conservation Task

The conservation task is a test used to determine whether a child has moved from the pre-operational to the concrete operational stage. It assesses a child's ability to understand that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or arrangement, as shown in the video with the coin example.

💡Formal Operational Stage

The formal operational stage, beginning around age 11 and continuing into adulthood, involves the development of abstract thinking and deductive reasoning. Children in this stage can think hypothetically and understand complex ideas, as described in the video with examples of a child making predictions about the future.

Highlights

Jean Piaget's theory focuses on cognitive development, emphasizing how children learn through interaction with their environment.

Schemas are concepts or ideas about how the world works, such as a child's understanding of what a car is.

Assimilation is the process of incorporating new experiences into existing schemas.

Accommodation occurs when existing schemas are altered to fit new experiences, like differentiating a truck from a car.

Piaget’s theory is a discontinuous stage theory, meaning all children go through the same stages in the same order.

The first stage, sensorimotor, occurs from birth to age two and involves reflexes and early physical interactions with the environment.

Primary circular reactions occur from 1 to 4 months, where infants repeat actions within their own body, not involving objects.

Secondary circular reactions happen between 4 to 8 months, where infants repeat actions with objects without a specific goal.

Object permanence is established when a child understands that objects continue to exist even when out of sight, a key development in the sensorimotor stage.

The pre-operational stage, from ages 2 to 7, includes the development of symbolic thinking, egocentrism, and difficulty with logical reasoning.

Children in the pre-operational stage may engage in animism, attributing human-like emotions to objects.

The concrete operational stage, from ages 7 to 11, involves the development of logical thinking, including classification, reversibility, and seriation.

Concrete operational children can understand conservation tasks, where quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance.

The formal operational stage, starting at age 11, allows for abstract thinking, hypothetical reasoning, and metacognition.

In the formal operational stage, children can use deductive reasoning to draw conclusions from multiple pieces of information.

Transcripts

this video is on jean piaget theory of

cognitive development

I'm Brian Colin are you tired of using

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single question check it out a schema is

any concept or idea of how the world

works so for example your schema for a

car may have a steering wheel which is

what turns the car and a speedometer

which tells you how fast you're going

and maybe a car seat all these things

are incorporated into your schema of a

car simulation is taking a new

experience and incorporating that into

an existing schema so for example if

your child learning what a car is and

you see a truck for a van you might

notice that the car vans and trucks have

four wheels and you may call a van or a

truck a car to

they learn eventually that a van has a

little bit more space than a regular car

and a truck unlike a car has a truck bed

when a child learns to differentiate say

a truck or a van from a car sedan the

process of changing or altering that

schema is known as accomodation yes I

believe that children really learn from

interacting with their environment and

conceptually Piaget believed that real

learning took takes place when new

experiences are being assimilated into

preexisting schemas or when pre-existing

schemas are being accommodated to fit

that new experience

Piaget z' theory is a discontinuous

stage theory which means that all

children go through the same stages in

the same order a child goes through one

stage at a time and a child cannot

regress from one stage into a brief into

a prior stage four stages of psays

cognitive developmental theory our stage

one the sensorimotor stage stage two the

pre-operational stage stage three the

concrete operational stage and stage

four the formal operational stage Stage

one is the sensorimotor stage and occurs

from birth to two sub stage one of the

sensorimotor stage is a child's reflexes

and reflexes are innate reactions that

it sounds born with that help him or her

survive for example the rooting reflex

is how a child knows who suck or make

such emotions on a bottle or his

mother's breast to be able to get food

circular reactions are repeated acts

that are not intended to accomplish a

goal when a child is doing them within

his or her own body not an object is

called the primary circular reaction

which happens from one to four months

secondary circular reaction is when a

child repeats the same action with an

object such as a toy without an intended

goal and secondary circular reactions

generally start when the child is

between four to eight months patient of

secondary circular reactions are when a

baby learns to accomplish a goal for

example Jack pushing an object out of

the way to get to his favorite toy the

sand shovel is an example of the

coordination of secondary circular

reactant carry circular reactions are

when a child can reverse when he

accomplished prior so for example if

Jack digs a hole to make a sandcastle

and then decides that he wants to put

all the sand from his castle back into

the hauling pot it that would be an

example of a tertiary circular reaction

let's just say that Jack's dad puts his

favorite toy car under a blanket well

Jack no to remove the blanket to get his

favorite toy but will he just sit there

confused the jack knows to remove the

blanket to get his toy Jack will have

established what's called object

permanence permanence is an important

part of the child being able to

transition from the sensory motor to the

pre-operational stage object permanence

is really important in a broader sense

because a child realizes that objects

can exist in the environment without

them being able to be seen Stage two is

the pre-operational stage it occurs from

ages 2 to 7 years children in the

pre-operational stage have beliefs

sometimes that objects can have

human-like emotions this is called

animism and children also believe that

objects or things in their surroundings

can have intentions and human-like

actions which is called artificial ISM

transductive reasoning is believing that

two events are related when in reality

they are not all related and children

may do this like for example if the

child believes a teapot started steaming

because earlier or right before it

started steaming a doll fell off a chair

so as you can imagine children in the

pre-operational stage may engage in

imaginary play they may have tea parties

with their stuffed animals and talk to

them and imagine that they're talking

back to them pre-operational children

engage in what's called egocentric

thinking which is the idea that everyone

has the same perspective as them or the

inability to see the perspectives of

others for example a child may think

that her dad likes tea parties because

she likes tea parties the three mountain

problem tests a child's ability to take

perspectives of others the child and the

examiner sit on opposite sides of a

model Mountain the examiner asked the

child to describe her side of the

mountain and then to describe the

examiner side of the mountain if child

describes his or her side of the

mountain when asked to describe the

examiner side of the mountain then the

child likely is still unable to take the

perspectives of others and therefore

still engages an egocentric thing the

pre-operational stage children may also

ask a lot of questions especially why

questions for example this little girl

may ask you know why does why do you

have to put food on the stove every time

we want to eat it during the

pre-operational stage children can't

reason use logic or combine more than

one ideas or aspects of a problem

children in the pre-operational stage

may say the side on the right has more

coins on the side on the left even

though they both have the same number of

coins

children in the pre-operational stage

have trouble distinguishing between

quantity and appearance and this is one

of the biggest factors between pre

operational and concrete operational

this task is one of the variations of

the conservation task which assesses

whether or not a child is in the pre pre

operational or concrete operational

stages stage 3 is the concrete

operational stage and generally occurs

when a child is between 7 and 11 years

of age children in the concrete

operational stage are able to do C

reiation which means they're able to

sort objects or situations according to

any characteristics such as size color

shape or type children in the concrete

operational stage can organize 12 terms

or concepts into groups based on their

hierarchy

children in the concrete operational

stage also know what's called

reversibility meaning that an object

that's maybe broken or heard can

actually be fixed and returned back to

its original state so in this example a

car that gets in a crash can be fixed

and returned back to how it was before

the crash a concrete operational child

can look at multiple aspects of a

problem or decision for example if a

child was choosing between two Teddy's

he could look at the different aspects

of the teddy bear weigh the options and

decide which teddy bear he likes best

and why complete operational children

know transitivity which means that they

are able to put things in order based on

characteristics or criteria for example

this child was able to put fruits in

alphabetical order children in the

concrete operational stage have trouble

doing what's called deductive reasoning

an example of this is if a is greater

than B and B is greater than C then we

can assume that a is greater than C the

children in the concrete operational

stage aren't able to put multiple facts

together to draw conclusion the formal

operational stage is from ages 11 and up

and is the fourth and final stage of

Piaget s theory children in the formal

operational stage however are able to

use deductive reasoning so in this

example the child is able to conclude

that this you know this creature has fur

four legs a tail and it barks it must be

a dog he's able to take all that

information together and draw a

conclusion that is deductive reasoning

Jordan in the formal operational stage

are able to take their past experiences

and make predictions about the future or

test out things in their environment to

help make predictions about the future

the formal operational stage also

includes what's called abstract thinking

which means the child can think about

different outcomes of a particular

situation the consequences of them and

be able to make a decision so to imagine

what would

in multiple scenarios is abstract

thinking formal operational children are

also able to use what's called made a

cognition which means they're able to

actually think about how they are

thinking and actually when they do that

they're able to change their thinking

patterns thank you so much for watching

this video on PJ's theory of cognitive

development it was brought to you in

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