Objective 31: Describe Piagets theory of intellectual development

Assimilation & Accommodation: two processes of adaption as described by Piaget.

Through assimilation we take in new information or experiences and put them into ideas
that already exist. We usually modify information to fit into our previous beliefs which is
called accommodation. New ideas may be developed during accommodation.
Object concept in the sensorimotor stage: The sensorimotor stage is from birth to the
age of two. Late in this stage, infants exhibit what is called object permanence, which
means that the infant knows an object still exists, even if it is hidden. The infant uses the
ability to form a mental representation.
Symbolic function in the pre-operational stage: The pre-operational stage is from ages
two to seven. Children first exhibit the symbolic function between the ages of two and
four. During this stage, children master the ability to picture, remember, understand and
replicate objects in their minds that are not in front of them. Before this stage, infants
and children could only understand what was in front of them.
Conservation in the concrete operational stage: This stage is from ages seven to
eleven. During this stage, children gain the abilities to do math problems, and
understand conservation. Conservation is understanding that even when things change
in appearance, the quantity stays the same.

Use of hypothetic-deductive method in the formal operational stage: The formal

operational stage is between the ages eleven and fifteen. During the formal operational
stage, when adolescents are faced with a problem, they come up with a general theory
of all possible factors that might help solve the problem. This is called hypotheticdeductive reasoning.
Artifacts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKZ9IPRKkkU
In the video, the baby is in the sensorimotor stage. They are testing object permanence
with the infant. The mother hides a toy under the blanket, and the baby lifts up the
blanket. The baby is exhibiting object permanence because although the toy is hidden
away, the baby still knows it exists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnArvcWaH6I
In this video the woman tests conservation. The child is not in the concrete operational
stage yet, so he does not understand that even when the appearance of an object does
change, the quantity does not. He knows they are the same, until he is questioned after
a change is made.