PSYC1003 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Marxist Philosophy, 18 Months, Orbital Inclination
Week 8: Developmental Psychology: Piaget
Piaget
Most significant figure in developmental psychology.
First paper aged 10, PhD aged 22.
Influenced by prominent European psychologists such Binet and Freud.
Assumed children were mentally and physically active from birth → their activity
greatly contributed to their development.
Constructivism: children construct knowledge themselves in response to
experience.
Child as scientist: children generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and draw
conclusions from observations.
“Laurent is lying on his back ... He grasps in succession a celluloid swan, a box,
etc., stretches out his arm and lets them fall. He distinctly varies the position of the
fall. When the object falls in a new position (e.g., his pillow), he lets it fall two or
three more times on the same place, as though to study a spatial relation.”
Children Often Learn things by Themselves:
“He was seated on the ground in his garden and he was counting pebbles. Now to count
these pebbles he put them in a row and he counted them one, two, three up to 10. Then
he finished counting them and started to count them in the other direction. He began by
the end and once again he found that he had 10. He found this marvellous...So he put
them in a circle and counted them that way and found 10 again”.
Key Concepts
Children build knowledge structures (schemas) via three important processes.
1. Assimilation: incorporation of incoming information into concepts they already
understand.
2. Accommodation: alteration of a concept in response to new experience.
3. Equilibration: process by which children strike balance between assimilation and
accommodation.
Piaget’s Cognitive Theory
Equilibration: 3 Stages
1. Equilibrium: all knowledge is accommodated in harmony (e.g., seeing a new dog).
2. Disequilibrium: new knowledge does not fit with current system (e.g., seeing a
bear).
3. Equilibrium’: knowledge structures (i.e., schemas) altered to accommodate new
information.
Central Properties
1. Qualitative change: children at different ages think in different ways.
For instance, children initially conceive of morality in terms of consequences
and only later in terms of intent.
Who is naughtier, a boy who accidentally broke a whole jar of cookies, or a
boy who stole one cookie?
2. Broad applicability: style of thinking characteristic of each developmental stage is
relevant to broad range of domains (e.g., reasoning, mathematics, moral
judgment).
3. Brief transitions: before solidly entering a new stage children waiver between
cognitive styles of both stages.
4. Invariant sequence: children pass through the developmental stages in the same
order.
5. Universality: The theory applies to all children everywhere (i.e., does not predict
cross-cultural differences)
Stages of Development
1. Sensorimotor Stage (0 – 2 years).
2. Preoperational Stage (2 – 7 years).
3. Concrete Operational Stage (7 – 12 years).
4. Formal Operational Stage (12 years +).
Sensorimotor Period (0 – 2 years)
Understanding of the world limited to infant’s sensory and perceptual experience.
Roots of adult intelligence are present in infants earliest behaviours (e.g., sucking,
grasping).
Stage 1 (0 - 1 month): Simple reflexes and perceptual abilities the foundation
upon which intelligence is built.
within first few months children modify reflexes (e.g., sucking action)
depending on environment (e.g., object in mouth).
First example of accommodation.
Substage 2 (1 – 4 months): Primary circular reactions → random movements that
lead to unexpected pleasant outcome (e.g., accidentally touch mouth → sucking).
Through repetition baby learns about consequences of action.
Substage 3 (4 – 8 months): Secondary circular reactions → similar to primary
CRs, but actions do not involve direct sensory stimulation (e.g., repetitive dropping
of toys from highchair).
Object Permanence develops.
Substage 4 (8 – 12 months): Infants display first intentional behaviour → respond
to obstacles that might obstruct goals.
A-not-B error.
Substage 5 (12 – 18 months) → Tertiary circular reactions active experimentation
with world (e.g., repetitive but creative dropping of toys).
Substage 6 (18 – 24 months): ability to create mental representations independent
of perceptual and motor experience.
Semiotic (‘symbolic’) function.
Symbolic play, deferred imitation.
Preoperational Period (2 – 7 years)
Mix of striking cognitive acquisitions and fascinating limitations.
Period of rapid symbolic development.
Language development.
Drawing development.
Behaviour marked by egocentrism and centration.
Drawing Development
Scribbling (ages 2-4): fortuitous realism
Preschematic stage (ages 4-7)
Failed realism: elements are unrelated/unconnected
Intellectual realism: Children draw what they “know”
Schematic stage (ages 8-9)
Visual realism: children draw what they “see”
Egocentrism
Egocentrism: the tendency to perceive the world solely from own point of view.
Egocentrism extends to communication.
Children often don’t understand that conversation requires common ground
(i.e., assume knowledge of others).
Extends to reasoning:
Adult: Any brothers or sisters?
3yo: A 2-months old brother.
Adult: How does he behave?
3yo: He cries all night.
Adult: Why is that, do you think?
Document Summary
In uenced by prominent european psychologists such binet and freud. Assumed children were mentally and physically active from birth their activity greatly contributed to their development. Constructivism: children construct knowledge themselves in response to experience. Child as scientist: children generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and draw conclusions from observations. He grasps in succession a celluloid swan, a box, etc. , stretches out his arm and lets them fall. He distinctly varies the position of the fall. When the object falls in a new position (e. g. , his pillow), he lets it fall two or three more times on the same place, as though to study a spatial relation. He was seated on the ground in his garden and he was counting pebbles. Now to count these pebbles he put them in a row and he counted them one, two, three up to 10. Then he nished counting them and started to count them in the other direction.
