MODULE 6: PIAGETS STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Basic Cognitive Concepts:

Schema refers to the cognitive structures by which individuals intellectually adapt to and
organize their environment. It is an individuals way to understand or create
meaning about a thing or eperience. It is li!e the mind has a "ling cabinet and
each drawer has folders that contain "les of things he has had an eperience
with.
#ssimilation $his is the process of "tting a new eperience into an eisting or previously
created cognitive structure or schema.
#ccommodation $his is the process of creating a new schema.
%&uilibration is achieving proper balance between assimilation and accommodation.
'hen our eperiences do not match our schemata or cognitive structures( we
eperience cognitive dise&uilibrium. $his means there is a discrepancy
between what is perceived and what is understood. 'e then eert e)ort
through assimilation and accommodation to establish e&uilibrium once more.
*iagets Stages of Cognitive +evelopment
S$#,% -
.Birth to
Infancy/
S%0S12I341$12 S$#,%
3 $his is a stage when a child who is initially re5eive in grasping(
suc!ing and reaching becomes more organized in his movement
and activity.
3 $he term 6sensori3motor7 focuses on the prominence of the senses
and muscle movement through which the infant comes to learn
about himself and the world.
1b8ect permanence $his is the ability of the child to !now that an ob8ect
still eists even when out of sight.
S$#,% 9
.93: years old/
*2%31*%2#$I10#; S$#,%
3 Corresponds to the preschool years
3 Intelligence at this stage is intuitive in nature.
3 $he child can now ma!e mental representations is able to pretend(
the child is now ever closer to the use of symbols.
Symbolic <unction $his is the ability to represent ob8ects and events. #
symbol is a thing that represents something else. #
drawing( a written word( or a spo!en word comes to be
understood as representing a real ob8ect.
%gocentrism $his is the tendency of the child to only see his point of
view and to assume that everyone also has his same point
of view. $he child cannot ta!e the perspective of others.
Centration $his refers to the tendency of the child to only focus on one
aspect of a thing or event and eclude other aspects.
Irreversibility *re3operational children still have the inability to reverse
their thin!ing. $hey can understand that 9 = > is ?( but cannot
understand that ? > is 9.
#nimism this is the tendency of children to attribute human li!e traits or
characteristics to inanimate ob8ects.
$ransductive reasoning $his refers to the pre3operational childs type of
reasoning that is neither inductive nor deductive.
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.between @ --
years/
C10C2%$%31*%2#$I10#; S$#,%
3 $his stage is characterized by the ability of the child to thin!
logically but only in terms of concrete ob8ects.
+ecentering $his refers to the ability of the child to perceive the
di)erent features of the ob8ects and situations. 0o longer is
the child focused or limited to one aspect or dimension. $his
allows the child to be more logical when dealing with
concrete ob8ects and situations.
2eversibility +uring the stage of concrete operations( the child can now
follow that certain operations can be done in reverse.
Conservation $his is the ability to !now that certain properties of
ob8ects li!e number( mass( volume( or area do not change
even if there is a change in appearance.
Seriation $his refers to the ability to order or arrange things in a series
based on one dimension such as weight( volume or size.
S$#,% A
.between -9
-?/
<124#; 1*%2#$I10#; S$#,%
3 In the "nal stage of formal operations( thin!ing becomes more
logical. $hey can now solve abstract problems and can
hypothesize. $his stage is characterized by the following:
Bypothetical 2easoning $his is the ability to come up with di)erent
hypothesis about a problem and to gather and
weigh data in order to ma!e a "nal decision or
8udgment. $his can be done in the absence of
concrete ob8ects. $he individuals can now deal with
6'hat if7 &uestions.
#nalogical reasoning this is the ability to perceive the relationship in
one instance and then use that relationship to narrow
down possible answers in another similar situation or
problem. $he individual in this stage can ma!e an
analogy.
+eductive reasoning $his is the ability to thin! logically by applying a
general rule to a particular instance or situation.
#s reported by:
SIM A. BELSONDRA
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