Cognitive Development
• It was thought that kids were
just stupid versions of adults.
• Then came along Jean Piaget
• Kids learn differently than
adults
Jean Piaget’s Theory of
Cognitive Development
Piaget did not conduct formal experiments, but
rather loosely structured interviews in which he
posed problems for children to solve, observed
their actions carefully, and questioned them
about their solutions
– Was particularly interested in children’s error,
which would provide insights into children’s
thought processes
– Assumed that a child is an active
seeker of knowledge and gains an
understanding of the world by
operating on it
Piaget’s important concepts
• Children are active thinkers, always trying to make sense of
the world.
• To make sense of the world, they develop schemas.
• Schema- a concept or framework that organizes and
interprets information.
Schemas
• Children view the
world through
schemas (as do adults
for the most part).
• Schemas are ways we
interpret the world
around us.
• It is basically what you
picture in your head
when you think of
anything.
Right now in your head,
picture a model.
These 3
probably fit into
your concept
(schema) of a
model.
Does she fit your schema of a model?
• If no, then you must assimilate
her into your schema of what a
model looks like.
If I teach a 2-year-old
that an animal with 4
legs and a tail is a
dog….
Assimilation
• Incorporating new
experiences into
existing schemas.
What schema would you assimilate this
into?
Or this?
What
would he
call this?
Assimilation in High School
• When you first meet somebody,
you will assimilate them into a
schema that you already have.
If you see two guys dressed like this,
what schema would you assimilate them
into?
•Would you always be right?
Accommodation
• Changing an
existing
schema to
adopt to new
information.
If I tell someone from the mid-west to picture their
schema of the Bronx they may talk about the ghetto areas.
But if I showed them other areas of the Bronx, they would be forced to
accommodate (change) their schema to incorporate their new information.
• Assimilation – making it
fit into a schema
• Accommodation –
changing or creating a
new schema
In Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, which
of the following best exemplifies the concept of
accommodation?
(A) A newborn touched lightly on the right cheek
turns his head to the right.
(B) An infant reaches out toward the moon as if to grasp
it.
(C) An infant stops reaching for a toy as soon
as it is covered by a cloth.
(D) An infant acquires a fear of heights after
learning to crawl.
(E) An infant trying unsuccessfully to suck her fist opens
her mouth wider and is successful.
According to Piaget, accommodation refers to:
A. parental efforts to include new children in
the existing family structure.
B. incorporating new experiences into existing
schemas.
C. developmental changes in a child's behavior
that facilitate social acceptance by family and
peers.
D. adjusting current schemas in order to make
sense of new experiences.
Interpreting new experiences
in terms of existing schemas is
called:
A. learning
B. assimilation.
C .imprinting.
D. accommodation
Sensorimotor Stage 0-2
• Infant learns about the world through their
sensory and motor interactions (including
reflexes)
• Stranger anxiety (8-9 mos) Fear of
strangers displayed by all babies.
• Partly due to lack of object permanence,
the knowledge than an object exists
independent of perceptual contact (out of
sight, out of mind)
•
Symbolic representation of objects and events starts to
develop during the latter part of the sensorimotor stage (e.g.,
use of telegraphic speech)
Pre-operational Stage 2-6 years
• Use words and symbols to describe
something that is not present.
Egocentrism:
 the inability of the preoperational child
to take another’s point of view.
 Driving, tv, grandpa’s xmas gift
 Never fully outgrow (teens, adults)
• No logic
• Pretend play
Animism
• Giving animal qualities to inanimate objects
Toddler Property Laws
1. If I like it, it’s MINE.
2. If it’s in my hand, it’s MINE.
3. If I can take it away from you, it’s
MINE.
4. If I had it a while ago, it’s MINE.
5. If it’s MINE, it must never appear to
be yours in any way.
6. If I’m doing or building something, all
the pieces are MINE.
7. If it looks like MINE, it is MINE.
Theory of Mind
Preschoolers, although
still egocentric,
develop the ability to
understand other’s
mental states when
they begin forming a
theory of mind.
Ideas about your own
and other’s mental
states
Concrete Operational
• 7-11 Years old
• Know conservation (next slides)
• Can think logically about concrete events
• Mathematical reasoning
Conservation
• Number
Conservation
• Length
Conservation
• Substance
When ten-month-old Frances throws her
toy out of sight, she looks to see where
it falls. Developmental psychologists
would say that Frances’ behavior
indicates that she has developed
(A) centration
(B) conservation
(C) egocentrism
(D) object permanence
(E) accommodation
Understanding that things
continue to exist even when they
are not within view is called
(A) mental representation
(B) deep structure
(C) a schema
(D) object permanence
(E) assimilation
Object permanence is
a. The belief that all objects have life just
like humans do
b. The understanding that a tall beaker
and a short beaker can hold the same
amount of water
c. A belief that all objects in the world,
including mountains and streams, are man
made
d. The understanding that things continue
to exist even when they are out of sight
Cindy understands her world
primarily by grasping and
sucking easily available
objects. Cindy is clearly in
Piaget's ________ stage.
A. preoperational
B. concrete operational
C. sensorimotor
D. formal operational
Four-year-old Jennifer mistakenly
believes that her mother would like to
receive a toy doll as a Christmas
present. This best illustrates Piaget's
concept of:
A. accommodation.
B. attachment.
C. object permanence.
D. egocentrism.
Hypothetical and deductive thinking are
characteristic of which of Jean Piaget’s
stages of cognitive development?
(A) Preoperational
(B) Operational
(C) Conservation
(D) Concrete operations
(E) Formal operations
A young child shown a nine-inch round bowl
and a six-inch round bowl containing equal
amounts of popcorn says he is certain the
smaller bowl has more popcorn than the
larger bowl. This child has yet to acquire what
Jean Piaget called
(A) object permanence
(B) equilibrium
(C) functional fixedness
(D) conservation
(E) circular reactions
Egocentrism, animism, and artificialism
are characteristic of which of Jean
Piaget’s stages of cognitive
development?
(A) Sensorimotor
(B) Preoperational
(C) Postformal
(D) Concrete operations
(E) Formal operations
Concrete Operational Stage
• Can demonstrate
concept of conservation.
• Learn to think logically
Click the penguin to see kids try to grasp concrete logic.
Formal Operational Stage 12ish+
• What would the world look like
with no light?
• Picture god
• What way do you best learn?
• Abstract reasoning
• Potential for Moral Reasoning
• Manipulate objects in our minds
without seeing them
• Hypothesis testing
• Trial and Error
• Metacognition
• Not every adult gets to this stage
Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
1. Not all people reach formal
operational thought
2. The theory may be biased in favor of
Western culture
3. There is no real theory of what occurs
after the onset of adolescence
4. Despite refinements, recent research
has indeed shown that cognitive
development seems to proceed in the
general sequence of stages that
Piaget proposed
Conservation of matter is mastered in which of the
following Piagetian stages?
• A. sensorimotor
• B. preoperational
• C. concrete operational
• D. postoperational
• E. formal operational
A baby looks under the sofa for a ball that has just
rolled underneath it. According to Jean Piaget, the
baby’s action shows development of
• A. conservation of mass
• B. reversibility
• C. logical thinking
• D. object permanence
According to Piaget, accommodation refers
to:
A. parental efforts to include new children in the
existing family structure.
B. incorporating new experiences into existing
schemas.
C. developmental changes in a child's behavior
that facilitate social acceptance by family and
peers.
D. adjusting current schemas in order to make
sense of new experiences.
Which of the following is the correct term
for a mental rule Piaget said we use to
interpret our environment?
a) schema
b) assimilation
c) accomodation
d) hypothesis
According to Piaget, children
come to understand that the
volume of a substance remains
constant despite changes in its
shape during the ________ stage.
A. sensorimotor
B. preoperational
C. concrete operational
D. formal operational
Playing the Piaget Way

Once completed turn into basket
Social Development


Attachme nt (Mary Ainsworth)

an emotional tie with another person

shown in young children by their seeking
closeness to the caregiver and displaying
distress on separation
Separation Anxiety

Emotional distress seen in many infants
when separated from people with
whom they have formed attachments.
Child Attachment
Styles
based on Ainsworth’s (1971) “The Strange
Situation” studies
Ainsworth attachment styles?
Secure (best and most common) – child cries when mom
leaves – stops when she returns
Avoidant – child is cool no matter what
Resistant – cries all the time

Mary Ainsworth studied children's’ attachment styles. She
would place a mother and young child in a room. The
independent variable was a “strange situation” like a stranger
or have the mother leave the room. The dependent variable
was how the child would react.
Ainsworth’s attachment styles

Mary Ainsworth would have a stranger enter the room.
Children with a secure attachment would go to the mother for
comfort when a stranger entered the room. The child would
cry when the mother left but was happy when the mother
returned.

Most common (66%)
Ainsworth’s attachment styles

Insecure-avoidant (20%) – not distressed at mother
leaving or stranger arriving;
cool response
when mother returns

Probably caused by distant mothers
Ainsworth’s attachment styles

insecure- resistant (anxious-ambivalant) (12%) –
clingy to mother; traumatized by every stage of the
experiment; distrustful of their mothers

Caused by over-bearing, controlling mothers
What is the response pattern of
securely attached children in the
Strange Situation when their
mothers return?
a.
They tend to ignore their mothers because they are secure
about her care.
b.
Sometimes they run over to their mothers and sometimes they
do not; there’s no consistent pattern in their responses.
c.
They tend to run over to their mothers and beg them not to
leave again.
d.
They tend to go to their mothers for comfort
Mary Ainsworth’s research indicates that a toddler with a secure
attachment style is most likely to do which of the following when
left with a caregiver, such as a babysitter, for the first time?
(A) Show distress when left, calm down and play, and run to the mother
when she returns
(B) Cry when left and continue to cry until the mother returns
(C) Not notice when the mother leaves and not seek attention from the
mother when she returns
(D) Play happily when the mother leaves but exhibit anger and rejection
toward the mother when she returns
(E) Show distress when the mother leaves and not seek attention when
the mother returns
Developmental research on the formation of
attachment indicates that a child’s secure
attachment to its mother during infancy is
predictive of which of the following during
its toddler years?
(A) Social rejection
(B) Impulsive behavior
(C) Social competence
(D) Divergent thinking
(E) Shyness
Carol resents the burdens and constraints of caring for her
infant daughter and frequently ignores her cries for attention.
As a consequence, her daughter is most likely to display
signs of:
A.
egocentrism.
B.
insecure attachment
C.
Habituation
D.
gender-typing.
Social Development

Harlow’s Surrogate
Mother Experiments

Monkeys preferred contact
with the comfortable cloth
mother, even while feeding
from the nourishing wire
mother
Social Development

Monkeys raised by
artificial mothers
were terrorstricken when
placed in strange
situations without
their surrogate
mothers.