Cognitive Development
Chapter 7
Novak and Pelaez
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive
Development
Piaget's Worldview
 What Changes? -- Structure
 Types of Schemes
 How do the structures change? -Functions:
 Adaptation
=
Assimilation
Accommodation
 Equilibrium-Disequilibrium

and
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive
Development
Sensorimotor Stage (Birth - 24 months)
 Preoperational Stage (2 - 7 years)

– Preconceptual Period (2 - 4 years)
– Intuitive Period (4 - 7 years)
Concrete Operations Stage (7 - 11
years)
 Formal Operations Stage (12 years and
up)
 Piaget and Function

Behavioral Approaches to
Cognitive Development
Knowledge and Ability
 Natural & Contrived Consequences
 What Reinforces Cognitive Behavior?
 Problem Solving
 Exploratory Behavior
 Creative Behavior

Knowledge
Class of behaviors specified by a
stimulus
Simple discriminative behavior
 conceptual (abstract) behavior
 describing past events
 describing how things work

Ability Do things in a certain order
 Do things with a certain topography

Problem Solving
Operant chain
 Precurrent behavior - makes “correct”
response more likely

Exploratory Behavior
Reinforced by “ecological stimuli”
 Needs environment which affords
exploration
 Automatic (natural) reinforcement

Creative Behavior
Large repertoire of knowledge & ability
 History of reinforcement for “creative”
combinations of behavior

Skill Learning: A Dynamical
Systems Approach to
Cognitive Development
What Develops?--Operant Response
Classes
 How Skills Develop -- Functions
 Transformational Rules

.

Levels of Cognitive Skills
Tiers of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Tier
 Representational Tier
 Abstract Tier

Levels within a Tier
Level A - Single Response Classes
 Level B - Mapping one class onto
another
 Level C - Systems (mappings of
mappings)
 Level D - Systems of Ststems (Shares
with next tier)

Figure 8-1: Fischer’s Levels of Cognitive
Skills

10 Levels
How Do Levels Change
Transformational Processes
Compounding (Chaining)
 Focusing
 Intercoordination
 Differentiation
 Substitution

Skill Theory and Dynamical
Systems
Stimulus Equivalence

Identity (Reflexivity)
[ A =A

Symmetry
[ A=B then B=A

Transitivity
[ A=B and B=C then emerges A=C

The development of response systems
Equivalencing: How?
Basic Process (M. Sidman)
 Learned Skill (S. Hayes)
 Can Equivalencing be taught?

– Charlie Studies (Lipkens, Hayes & Hayes)

Is Equivalencing taught?
– Novak, et al.
Skill Theory
Analysis
and
Behavior
Cognitive skills as operants
 Stimulus Equivalence Classes
 Some
Speculation
on
Stimulus
Equivalence and
Cognitive
Skills
Theory
 Speculation on Skill Transformation
Rules and Behavior Analysis
 Why are equivalence relationships
important to the study of development?
