PSYC1003 Lecture 7: Development- Lecture 2- Piaget and Vygotsky
Piaget and Vygotsky
Piaget
Assumed children were mentally and physically active from birth their activity
greatly contributed to their development
Constructivism: children construct knowledge about themselves in response to
experience
Child as scientist: children generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and draw
conclusions from observations
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
Equilibration: 3 stages
oEquilibrium: all new knowledge is accommodated in harmony
oDisequilibrium: new knowledge does not fit with current system
oEquilibrium: knowledge structures altered to accommodate new information
Central properties
oQualitative change: children at different ages think in different ways
E.g. children initially conceive of morality in terms of consequences,
and only later in terms of intent
oBroad applicability: style of thinking characteristic of each developmental
stage is relevant to broad range of domains (reasoning, maths, morals)
oBrief transitions: before solidly entering a new stage children waiver
between cognitive styles of both stages
oInvariant sequence: children pass through the developmental stages in the
same order
oUniversality: the theory applies to all children everywhere (no cross-cultural
differences)
Stages of development
oSensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
Understanding of the world is limited to infant’s sensory and
perceptual experience
Roots of adult intelligence are present in infant’s earliest behaviours
(suckling, grasping)
Develops accommodation, consequences of action, object
permanence, intentional behaviour, symbolic play
oPreoperational Stage (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
Document Summary
Assumed children were mentally and physically active from birth their activity greatly contributed to their development. Constructivism: children construct knowledge about themselves in response to experience. Child as scientist: children generate hypotheses, perform experiments, and draw conclusions from observations. Equilibration: 3 stages: equilibrium: all new knowledge is accommodated in harmony, disequilibrium: new knowledge does not fit with current system, equilibrium: knowledge structures altered to accommodate new information. Central properties: qualitative change: children at different ages think in different ways. Stages of development: sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) Understanding of the world is limited to infant"s sensory and perceptual experience. Roots of adult intelligence are present in infant"s earliest behaviours (suckling, grasping) Develops accommodation, consequences of action, object permanence, intentional behaviour, symbolic play: preoperational stage (2-7 years) Mix of striking cognitive acquisitions and fascinating limitations. Egocentrism: the tendency to perceive the world solely from own point of view e. g. 3 mountains task, extends to communication and reasoning.
