Introduction
INTODUCTION
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence, Santrock (2008). It focuses on mental activities in which a person engage in perception, categorization, understanding, inference drawing, logical reasoning, problem solving, imagination, memory, decision making and intuition, Wittrock&Lumsdaine (1977).
This theory was pioneered by Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget 1896–1980. Piaget observed and a described child at different ages, His theory is very broad, from birth through adolescence, and includes concepts of language, scientific reasoning, moral development, and memory. To test Intelligence Binet (1904) and later Binet and Simon (1908), devised a scale that consisted of thirty tasks of increasing complexity.
When Piaget worked for Binet, “he was fascinated by the mistakes children made on the scale. Piaget found that children of the same age-group made the same kind of mistakes” McShane (1991). These mistakes were qualitatively different for one age-group of children than for another. Since these mistakes were qualitative in nature, Piaget employed open-ended form of questioning (clinical method) with children study them (Ibid). It is through the analysis of these mistakes that Piaget realized that intelligence cannot be measured by conventional intelligence tests. The individual and the environment are changing constantly, so intelligence works as a mode (trait) to optimize individual’s response in its survival (Ibid). Intelligent act leads the individual to deal effectively with his environment that is to make him adapt his environment.
Like Binet, Piaget concluded that intelligence was not inherited, it was a dynamic trait changing all the time due to biological maturation and the individual’s experience, Sameroff et al (1991). These conclusions were based on his previous involvement with the study of epistemology inculcated in him by his godfather, Swiss scholar Samuel Cornut. This understanding finally culminated in what Piaget called genetic epistemology (1950), example study of development of knowledge
Piaget’s Assumptions about Children construct their own knowledge in response to their experiences, Children learn many things on their own without the intervention of older children or adults, Children are intrinsically motivated to learn and do not need rewards from adults to motivate learning Nature verses Nurture (Ibid). Nature and nurture interact to produce cognitive development.
People who were involved in this paradigm are psychologist like Jean Peaget, Lev Vygotsty,Jerome Brunner, David Ausubel, Robert Gagne, Benjamin Broom, Koffka, Kohler, Lewin and Albert Bandula.
Task
THE FOLLOWING ARE KEY TERMS OF COGNITIVE THEORY:-
Schemas –
A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.
In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas. For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters a very large dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include these new observations.
The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experiences and information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is an example of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.
Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process.
Equilibration.
Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next.
However Piaget believed that cognitive development occurs through a sequence of successive qualitative changes in cognitive structures. Thus he proposed that cognitive development proceeds through four amely sensorimotor, pre-operation, concrete and formal stage.
STAGES
Sensor motor stage (birth to 24 months)
Knowledge is gained primarily through sensory impressions and motor activity. Through these two modes of learning, experienced both separately and in combination, infants gradually learn to control their own bodies and objects in the external world. The ultimate task at this stage is to achieve a sense of object constancy, or permanence—the sense that objects go on existing even when we cannot see them. This developing concept can be seen in the child's keen enjoyment of games in which objects are repeatedly made to disappear and reappear.
The Preoperational Stage (Ages 2 to 6 Years)
Involves the manipulation of images and symbols. One object can represent another, as when a broom is turned into a "horsey" that can be ridden around the room, and a child's play expands to include "pretend" games. Language acquisition is yet another way of manipulating symbols. Key concepts involved in the logical organization of thoughts such as causality, time, and perspective are still absent, as is an awareness that substances retain the same volume even when shifted into containers of different sizes and shapes. The child's focus remains egocentric throughout both the preoperational and sensorimotor stages.
Concrete Operational Stage (6 or 7 to 11 years of age)
Children can perform logical operations, but only in relation to concrete external objects rather than ideas. They can add, subtract, count, and measure and they learn about the conservation of length, mass, area, weight, time, and volume. At this stage, children can sort items into categories, reverse the direction of their thinking, and think about two concepts, such as length and width, simultaneously. They also begin to lose their egocentric focus, becoming able to understand a situation from the viewpoint of another person.
Formal operations, begins early adolescence (age 11 or 12)
With the development of the ability to think logically about abstractions, including speculations about what might happen in the future. Adolescents are capable of formulating and testing hypotheses, understanding causality, and dealing with abstract concepts like probability, ratio, proportion, and analogies. They become able to reason scientifically and speculate about philosophical issues. Abstract concepts and moral values become as important as concrete objects.
According to Berk (2001), the main teaching implications drawn from Piaget cognitive development as follows:
Conclusion
SUMMARIZES
- A focus on the process of children’s thinking, not just its products. In addition to checking the correctness of children’s answers, teachers must understand the processes children use to get to the answer. Appropriate learning experiences build on children’s current level of cognitive functioning, and only when teachers appreciate children’s methods of arriving at particular conclusions are they in a position to provide such experiences.
- Recognition of the crucial role of children’s self-initiated, active involvement in learning activities. The presentation of ready-made knowledge is deemphasized, and children are encouraged to discover for themselves through spontaneous interaction with the environment. Therefore, instead of teaching didactically, teachers provide a rich variety of activities that permit children to act directly on the physical world.
- A de-emphasis on practices aimed at making children adult like in their thinking. Piagetian-based educational programs accept his firm belief that premature teaching could be worse than no teaching at all, because it leads to superficial acceptance of adult formulas rather than true cognitive understanding (May & Kundert, 1997).
- Acceptance of individual differences in developmental progress. Piaget’s theory assumes that all children go through the same developmental sequence but that they do so at different rates. Therefore, teachers must make a special effort to arrange classroom activities for individuals and small groups of children rather than for the total class group. In addition, because individual differences are expected, assessment of children’s educational progress should be made in terms of each child’s own previous course of development, not in terms of normative standards provided by the performances of same-age peers.
Thus according to Scheffler,F.,&Logan,J.(1999) cognitive theory can be effected in the classroom by integrating it with ICT in the following ways:-
Provide organized instructions through concept maps of other graphic representation (multimedia or text description). With ICT, a teacher can provide multimedia content that helps students with different learning styles retain information and stimulate thought for the higher levels in Bloom's Taxonomy.
Teachers can demonstrate videos, present visual and audio content in PowerPoint presentations, create tutorials through video, blogs, and provide students with technological outlets for their own original ideas, discussions, and debates.
Students can use technology in the Synthesis and Evaluation stages by creating projects based on the concepts they learned. They could use podcasts, PowerPoint presentations, and Microsoft Moviemaker to present their ideas in a multimedia setting to other students. They can even participate in open discussions and debates with students from other school or all over the world through Skype.
Engage student in schema theory while teaching. This theory suggested that our prior knowledge can facilitate or enhance transfer of learning Example: In teaching account, teacher may use prior knowledge or formula they have learned earlier in mathematics.
Teachers need to promote more effective learning, the teacher need to link new information to familiar information, Sianjina,R.R (2000). For instance, If a teacher want to teach about cotton plantation, it is advisable for him to organize trip to area(s) where cotton are planted or show them video showing cotton plantation in respective areas.
Hence Cognitive theory facilitates students’ development in their thinking skills. It engages them in a process of investigating an issue and finding its solution. For example designing different programs for preparing and marking soft copy examination.
Credits
REFERENCES
Cognitive Development - Piaget's stages of cognitive development, Modern views - Information Processing Theory, Adolescence, Children, and Child - JRank Articles http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/123/Cognitive-Development.html#ixzz3IeSQXAR1
McShane, J (1991). Cognitive Development: An Information Processing Approach. Oxford, Eng.: B. Blackwell.
Piaget, Jean, and Barbel Inhelder. The Growth of Logical Thinking from Childhood to Adolescence. New York: Basic Books, 1958.
Sameroff, Arnold J., and Marshall M. Haith, eds. The Five to Seven Year Shift: The Age of Reason and Responsibility. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Santrock, J. W. (2008). Educational Psychology (3rd ed.). New York City: McGraw-Hill.
Scheffler, F., & Logan, J. (1999). Computer technology in schools: What teachers should know and be able to do. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 31, 305-325.
Sianjina, R. R. (2000). Educational technology and the diverse classroom. Phi Delta Kappan, 37, 26-28.
Wittrock,M.C., & Lumsdaine, A.A (1977). Instructional Psychology. Annual Review of Psychology, 28, 417-459
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