Module IV: Jean Piaget’s Theory on Cognitive Development

INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

In this Module, you will be able to:

1. Describe Piaget’s stages in your own words.

2. Conduct a simple Piagetian Task interview with children.
3. Match learning activities to the learner’s cognitive stage.

Reference :

Borabo, Heidi Grace L., Corpuz, Brenda B., Lucas, Ma. Rita D., and Lucido, Paz I.(2010). Child and
Adolescent Development Looking at Learners at Different Stages. Lorimar Publishing, Inc., Quezon City

Jean Piaget

 A child psychologist

 Described the mechanism by which the mind processes new information.

 Proposed that a person understands whatever information fits into his

established view of the world.

 When information does not fit, the person must reexamine and adjust his
thinking to accommodate the new information.

Four Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor Stage: (birth to about age 2)

 During this stage, the child learns about himself and his environment
through motor and reflex actions.
 Thought derives from sensation and movement.
 The child learns that he is separate from his environment and that aspects
of his environment -- his parents or favorite toy -- continue to exist even
though they may be outside the reach of his senses.
 Teaching for a child in this stage should be geared to the sensorimotor system.
o Object Permanence: the ability of the child to know that an object
still exists even when out of sight. This ability is attained in the
sensory motor stage.

2. Preoperational Stage: (begins about the time the child starts to talk to about age
7)
  Applying his new knowledge of language, the child begins to use
symbols to represent objects.
 Early in this stage he also personifies objects.
 Oriented to the present, the child has difficulty conceptualizing time. His
thinking is influenced by fantasy – the way he'd like things to be – and
he assumes that others see situations from his viewpoint.
 He takes in information and then changes it in his mind to fit his ideas.
 Teaching must take into account the child's vivid fantasies and undeveloped
sense of time.
o Symbolic Function: the ability to represent objects and events
o Egocentrism: the tendency of the child to only see his point of
view and to assume that everyone also has his same point of
view.
o Centration: the tendency of the child to only focus on one aspect
of a thing or event and exclude other aspects.
o Irreversibility: Pre-operational children still have the inability
to reverse their thinking. They can understand that 2 + 3 is 5, but
cannot understand that 5 – 3 is 2.
o Animism: the tendency of children to attribute human like traits
or characteristics to inanimate objects.
o Transductive reasoning: reasoning appears to be from
particular to particular.

3. Concrete-Operational Stage: (about first grade to early adolescence)

 During this stage, accommodation increases.

 The child develops an ability to think abstractly and to make rational
judgments about concrete or observable phenomena.
 In teaching this child, giving him the opportunity to ask questions and to
explain things back to you allows him to mentally manipulate
information.
o Decentering: the ability of the child to perceive the different
features of objects and situations.
o Reversibility: the idea that actions, thoughts, or things can be
reversed.This refers to the ability of the child to recognize that
numbers or objects can be changed and returned to their original
condition.
o Conservation: the ability to know that certain properties of
 objects like number, mass, volume, or area do not change even if
there is a change in appearance.
o Seriation. This refers to the ability to order or arrange things in
a series based on one dimension such as weight, volume, or size.

4. Formal Operations: (adolescence)

 At his point, the child is capable of hypothetical and deductive

reasoning.
 Teaching for the adolescent may be wide ranging because he'll be able
to consider many possibilities from several perspectives.

Hypothetical Reasoning: the ability to come up with different hypothesis

about a problem and to gather and weigh data in order to make a final decision
or judgment. This can be done in the absence of concrete objects. The
individuals can now deal with “What if” questions.

Analogical 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.

Deductive Reasoning. This is the ability to think logically by applying a

general rule to a particular instance or situation. For example, all countries
near the north pole have cold temperatures. Greenland is near the North pole.
Therefore, Greenland has cold temperature.
 APPLICATION

RESEARCH:

Read a research that is related to Piaget’s theory. Fill out the matrix below.

Research Methodology
Problem

Findings Conclusion

REFLECTION: Summarize your learning from this module and cite instances where
Piaget’s concept on child development applies.

Reference :

Borabo, Heidi Grace L., Corpuz, Brenda B., Lucas, Ma. Rita D., and Lucido, Paz I.(2010). Child and
Adolescent Development Looking at Learners at Different Stages. Lorimar Publishing, Inc., Quezon
City

Feist, Jess and Feist, Gregory. ( 2008 ). Theories of Personality. McGraw Hill Humanities, USA