wl Piaget's Cognitive-Stage Theory and the Neo-Piagetians [At7 months, 28 days} jacqueline tries to grasp a celluloid duck on top of her Guilt. She aliost catches it, shakes herself and the du her. It als very close ta her hand but behind a fold in the sheet. Jcqueline’s ‘96s have followed the movement, she hes even followed it with her a Stretched hand, But as soon as the duck has disappeared — nothing more! It doesnot occur to her to search behind the very easy to do (she twists it mechanically without searching a al) — Puce, 1937/1954, p. 36) is made again. — How? — In the sky. | — Pacer, 1826 (1928, p. 281)‘This chapter can first delve story of a theorist and the graphy comes a general orientat the stages and other developme the me went and address ap- Near the end of the chapter, Piaget's theory is ‘enluated in a contemporary context. The chapter ends with a descrip tion of modifications of his theory late in life an of the work of neo-Piagetans, BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH this biographical sketch comes from Piaget’ ) autobiography. Jean Piaget was born in 1896 in Neuchi Switzerland, Piaget described his father, a historian devoted to me eval literature, as “a man of a painstaking and critical mind, who dis hastily improvised generalizations, and is not afraid of starting a then he finds historic tr to fit respectable traditions red his mother as intelligent, srament that drove him et called a “private world,” a world of serious work. Piaget acknowledges ‘atthe turbulent family situation aroused his interest in psychoana , seashells, ‘One of his early writings was a pamphlet (vritten in because he was not yet allowed to writ served in a park. This achievement hhe had heard of publish or pe the local natural history muse 10—long before erest in the exkibits in hhad not yet finished secondary sc Piaget did not escape the typical social and philosophical erises of ado. cence. Conflicts between his religious and scientific teachings stim him to read hungrily through Bergeon, Kant, Spencen Comte, Durkh . passages such af ‘Now there can be no awareness of these qualities, hence these cs cannot exist, if there are no relationships among them, if they sequently, blended into a total quality which contains them e keeping them distinc,” and “positive theory of quality taking into account only relationships of equilibrium and disequilibrium among our ved that “no one spake of it except fon a variety of philosophical issues. He only for myself, for I could not thik w ‘example, the logi and the relationship between the parts and sontinued his formal studies in the hs doctoral degree with a at the University of Neuchitel in 1918 at age 21. Although he had published 20 papers by28 PIAGET'S COGMITIVE.STAGE THEORY AND THE NFO-PIACE’ this time, he was not eager to devote his life to malacology. After ing psychological laboratories in Zurich and exploring psychoanalyti ify, Piaget spent 2 years at the S posal Alfred Binet’s labora suggested that Piaget standardize Binet’s en. Piaget began the work with litde st was aroused when he began asking ir correct and incorreet answers. He be: ith the thought processes that appeared the incorrect ones. In these “con terviewing techniques he had a ig with mental patients ‘edge, Piaget continued this research for 2 years. Piaget sums up this ex aim of discovering a gical trsnings, inking I was certain that the problem he organism and environment extended also appearing here atthe problem of the rela nking subject and the objecs of his expe- of studying this problem in terms of ance chogenetic development 952,245), The subsequent publication of three articles bated on this research in ea in Geneva, Piaget years studying child psychology (a plan that, happily, went awry). The freedom and research facies of this pos ed Piaget’s pro- ductive tendencies and led tothe publication of ive books: The Language 2] Judgment of the Chi his surprise, the books ‘were read and and even performed some ks in his free time! From 1929 The 1940s and 1950s were marked by research on an amazing range education, the history of topics: various aspects of mental de gic, and his old passion, epister 3c. His titles included professor of sty of Geneva and the Sorbonne, director ofthe Institut des Sciences de Education, and director of the Bureau International de 'Education. In audition, he founded the Centre d'Epistémologie Génétique, a meetin, {round for plosophers and psychologists 6 1969, the American Psychological Association gave Piaget the Dis: ‘inguished Scfeniic Contribution Award “for his revolutionary perspee- tive on the nature of human knowledge and biological Evans, 1973, p. 143). He was the first European to receive this award. ct pursued the riddle of children’s thinking until his death in 1380, at the age of 84. Even in his fin tinued to emerge from behind the ing disarray in his offce. His lowing white hai, pipe, beret, and bicy- cle were a familiar sight in Geneva, We have the following description of Piaget at age 70: “He moves deliberately, but his blue eyes sparkle youth, good humor and zest. Benevolent enough, but enough, to look like Santa Claus, he reminds one tures of Franz Liszt that have come down 208) ‘One cannot help but be struck by Piaget’s amazing productivity. conservative estimate of his writing is over 40 books and more than 100, artes or chapters on child psychology alone. Ac philosophy and education swells these numbers30 PGer's COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETLANS ar, to his helpful colleagues bu also gave us the following interesting limpse into his personality * * racer: Fandimen true [am sociable ds, but T fel GENERAL ORIENTATION TO THE THEORY Hike 3 hort guided tour in an unfamiliar ct, the following attempts to Provide an overview of Piaget's theory before exploring the nools aad We examine stsand gous, described ele, Ieshould be noted that Puget acknowledge nc serch i coworkers Although this caper on Pogeth heey ee work describes was dane in clabraton ths mane of yon Ase Paget ig well ve agreed with Eten fre ad long talon with ow humans comprehend the worl The ener oho Bee cerned with the study of knowledge General Orientation to the Theory 31 phers for centuries: How do we come to know something? Is objective Knowledge, unbiased by the nature of the knower, , mathematics, moral reasoning, and As we sw in our biographical sketch of Piaget, his phler>ph 1s schools of philosophy, biology, his logy. His search finaly stopped at devel- ‘was not even an organized fed of study at 1 classical issues in epis- losophers have considered f thought: time, space, causality, and quantity These categories of thought are obvious to an adult but, in Piaget's way of thinking, may Obvious to children. Piaget wondered how and ‘when children understand that no two objects can occupy the same hoe, that objets exist even when out of sight, and that tro contiguous events can have a causal relationship. It y clildren to understand these concepts as itis for most adults to under stand “black holes” in space or the theory of relativity. Piaget can be called an experimental epistemologist. Unlike epistemologists, who use logical arguments to support their views ‘get rejected the armchalr approach and formulated empirical ses that could be tested. For example, he examined the questior humans acquire concepts of time, space, and causality by tracing the de velopment of these concepts. One of Piaget's main contributions was hs brand of epistemology——a marriage of philosophy and the scientific method, the basic eategor kaows or understands a ball or a ratle by acting on it~ physically or people “construct” knowledge. They have an active ss of knowing and even contribute t0 the form that32. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE.STAGE THEORY AND THE NEQ-PIAGETIANS knowledge takes. Cognitive humans actively select and interpret infor ration in the environment. They do not passively soak up information to build a storehouse of knowledge Children’s knowledge of the world changes as their cognitive system develops. s the knower changes, so does the known. A concrete exam: ples the knowledge of relationships in space. Infants construct a practi cal knowledge of ear and fa, up and down. Older children construct more abstract “cognitive map” ofthe relations among abjects in thule environment, Infants “know” space by crawling in it and reaching for objects, whereas older children know space by manipulating mental symbols in particular ways. Note that in both cases there is a constant interaction between the knower and the external world Implication of Piaget’s theory of knowledge is that knowledge is ‘perhaps the end of the final stage in certain domains. Exp ys filtered through the childs current ways of understand ing A ind is not a camera that takes faithful pictures of reality “However, asthe mind develops, it becomes more in tune with reality. m Biological Approach Beginning with the early boyhood interest in shells and birds, Piage’s thinking was firmly roote: Piaget's distinction is that he saw more in mollusks than did most biologists. In the humble mollusk he saw general principles of how living organisms adapt to the world. Mal- flat lj ences to be entronment te sce) aa their biclogical structure. Piaget felt that these also apply 10 human thought. His mera) definition of igence is that itis adaptation to the environment. Just as human and nonhuman organisms adapt physically to the environment, so does thought adape to the environment at a psychological level. Paget ky- ‘pothesized that the modes of psychological functioning involved in this adaptation are universal that i, used by all humans. Borrowing another concept from biology, Piaget proposed that cog. nitive growth is much like embryological growth: an organized struc tare becomes more and more differentiated over time. In fact, Paget (1970) sometimes referred to cognitive development as “mental em bryology” ‘Adaptation, organization, and structure, as well as such other biclog ical concepts as equilibration, assimilation, and accommodation, aed cussed later in the chapter, when we turn our attention to processes of General Orientation 10 the Theory 33 development. At this point, however, t should be emphasized that these Binlogical concepts serve as analogies for the way Biology didnot lead Piaget to a neuroscience of intellige such other laminaries as anthropolog and linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, Piaget belonged to an approach called rucuraian. Structural look atthe organizational properties of ‘whatever they are studying. Piaget proposed that a srall set of mental operations (mental actions) underlies a wide variety of thinking episodes. Thus, there isan underlying structure to the apparent diversity of the content, Structuralists look at how parte are organized into a ‘whole, and they abstract patterns of change. In particular, they are con- cx wi reanchpe—petween pat andthe whole and beonesn a earlier and a later state. For example, the thinking of younger chil drenand ht folder cilren have snd clement ut bee cements sre combined in diferent ways to form the organized whole of though. According to Piaget the structaralist, the nature of mental structures ange! they develop. An ‘ognitive structures are labeled “schemes? Gometimes tana able and generalizable in an action. The sucking scheme, then, the way children put various objects into their mouths and suck them. As the scheme becomes more differentiated, children classify objects ‘ato “vuckables” and “nonsucksbles,” with various subcategories such as od-tating suckables, and hairy suck- ables (daddy's leg) In contrast, the cognitive structures ofthe older child, from roughly age 7 on, are described in terms of organized abstract mental opera- tions similar to logicomathematical systems. The structurlist frame- ‘work can be seen in the way these schemes and operations organize themselves into an organized ‘whole and can be tent, For example, addition, subtraction, ml . are operations that are coordinated in a concept of number that under- lies (mediates) much mathematical behavior. (We return to the notion ‘of cognitive structures later.) ‘Two points should be emphasized. Fist, children actively construct these structures. Second, Piaget emphasized the feeling of necessity that re |34 FIAGEP's COCNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS accompanies the acquisition of a cognitive structure. For example, be : jail, “Once one knows, one knows forever and Milestones, phases, ond ages render general gauget Leland an den Dole® Perhaps the boldest and most controversial of Piaget's claims is that ve development proceeds through a series of stages. For Piaget, 4 4 period of time in which the child’s thinking and behavior in 2 f situations tend to reflect a particular type of underlying mea: re, Piaget’s emphasis on stages is not Surprising, considering f careful observing and classifying, and stu ident of zoology. The stages can be thought of a¢ sequential els of adapting. Just as various species have different ways of adapting to the environment, so do various cognitive levels provide diflerent ways of adapting to the envi developmental peycholo, 10 characterize Piaget’ particular brand of stage theory. There are five salient characteristics, fe 6 structured wh st sees a stage as an integrated who e schemes or operations of exch stage and consequently provides fundamentally The essence of Piaget's stage approach is that movernent through the For example, there is a qualitative change wher. the cild 2m structures based on actions in infancy te structures based General Orientation tothe Theaty 35 balance, or equilibrium. (More on the equilibration process appears Later in this chapter.) ach sage derives fiom the preious sag, incoportes and trosforas that sage and prepares forthe next age The previous stage paves the way for the new stage. In the process of achieving this new stage, the previous stage is reworked. Thus, once child a achieve a new stage, e. Although previous ain, their position or role in the organization changes. For ex- elementary school children can still roll or hit a ball (asl ac qured during infancy), but they now embed this sill in a number of other skils. Furthermore, 2 more advanced level of thought controls the old skills of rolling and hitting, Rolling and hitting are now com- bined with other actions to win the game. One implication of this car. acteristic is that regression to an earlier stage should be impossible be- cause the previous stage is no longer present. This notion is in contrast to Fread’s theory of stages, in which a person overwhelmed with anxi- etry may regress to an earlier stage. The ages fillow on invariant sequence. The tages must proceed in a portcular order. No stage can be skipped. In other words, since the Ted sage de sce sees rogue Theda a ee tari couence simp by the second claim, that cack sag nde tre rom the preceding sage. Z Sages are universal. Because Piaget was interested in how humans 25 a species adapt psychologically to their environment, he focused on ‘the structures and concepts acquired by humans 1 f ‘course, people with a low IQ may not progress through all the stages or ‘may progress through them more slowly. And people in general vary on how last they proceed through the stages. However, the crucial claim is that the same stages in the same order are found universally in children, ofthe African jungle, the American suburb, or the Swiss mountainside, 5 Each stage includes a coming-into-being god « being. There isan initial period of preparation and a final period of achievement in each stage. Unstable, loosely organized structures mark the inital pe- tad of transition from the previous stage. Change both within a stage and between stages is somewhat gradual. The description of each stage later in this chapter refers to the final, stable, generalized, tightly orge- rived structure of each stage.36 PIAGET'S COCNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO.PIAGETIANS rctured wholes tht emerge fom and ow an invariant and univer segues, le period of tranation wo 2 Bot ane n a previous sta and proceed from an unsabl period milethadology — One message from the Introduction is that the scientist, he tory and the methods for gathering data both facilitate and constrain one an ‘ther. The three develop together in particular direct cher and mollusk collector used his observation and cas tching infants master the objects around them and shen observing toddlers struggle to ex Spontaneous speech. Paget as the Sotbor tal patient soon became known as the man who tions about dreams, the origin of the universe, work with preschool and school children s by refraining from too much sugge lowing hange between Piaget and a S-year-old illustrate Where does the dream come from? dicen, — Does id be i Suen you sleep? — came op ieam When you are in the see it? — No, gorge fl B from but also wher “iption of the Stages 37 Mesias) don't ever dea near you? — Ye thee! (pontin When the dream isin the room, is it and physical concepts or iaget might spread out a row inber had changed , cannot fruitfully be questioned about their ‘doughs. Piaget and his psychologist wile, Valentine, kept a baby diary fobervations oftheir own infants a the infants went abott thelr nor “aget became a participant-observer by invent- ing litle experiments on the spot, such as hiding a toy and observing ‘whether the inf searched for Because these verbal protocols and behavioral obs rations were wough the eyes of Piaget the philosopher and theoretical biolo- their description became more and more abstract, Piaget saw g cal sutures of thought in the varied, concrete behaviors, Thus, his ‘tings often had a high proportion of theoretical interpretation to ac tual observation, One of the challenges to somcone encountering Piaget's theory for tbe fest time is to relate the many elusive, abstract features ofthe the- ‘ryt the abundant specific behaviors found in each stage. Perhaps the test way to grasp the relationship between the abstract and the con- «rete i to swing back and forth between the two. Following this strat- ég, we now swing from the preceding abstract orientation to a descrip- tion of specific stagelike changes and then swing back to abstract feauces found in mechanisms of change. DESCRIPTION OF THE STAGES Jb the Introduction to this book, it was proposed that a developmental ‘bcory should both describe and explain development. The present sec- tion describes the prototypic Piagetian child making her way through the sizes of cognitive development. The subse 4uestions of how and why this particular c To understand each stage, we need to know not only where it came going, Each stage holds both the fruits of the pas and the seeds of the future, Here, then, is an overview of the38. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGEVIANS, stages, followed by a more detailed account age ae approximate because chil which they proceed through the stages. Infants understand the fon that world, They these objects and events. They use these symbols in a9 period (roughly 11 to 15 year are no longer limited to concrete object; “The following desc refaced fo saged of development, cach of the four major sage deg 5 a “period for example, the “sensorimotor perio ends eaages wits eo te four majo period, thy et fgnated as “stages” mSensorimotor Period (Roughly Birth to 2Years). In Piaget's view, a human starts life {craving withthe enronment- These fcc the tendeney of ough be ronment The thang of even an Einstein has these humble beganings Although of the Stages 38 tems. The infant progresses through stx stages in the construction of a sensorimotor thought. a finger in her hand and she grasps ted a numberof tines, they very gradually adjusts them slightly to meet the requirements ent circumstances. For example, the infant's mouth mi ‘ot the nipple from different angles on different occasions tnaddtion, the way the mouth and tongue ft around a hard, plastic vt te dies from the way they ft around a finger 4 expanding numaber and type of objects serve as “grist” for ig tlle, the category of “suckables” grows tangeg from nipples to blankets to bars of the cr. However, ay the ‘are time that infants are generalizing their sucking behav objets, they are also increasing their discrimination between objects Hungry tnfints never confuse @ finger with a nipple, Ina sense, they “recognize” objects. ig do not remain re- suck because ads to further constructing a world of things to and so on. The primitive iflcant, step in this con: Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions (Roughly 1 to 4 Months) # The behaviors in stage 1 can be called schemes only in a very limived ‘ese beeause there is so little modification of the reflex. In sage 2, widespread and rapid development of schemes because primar ‘eaions can now occur, A circular reaction is a behavior that40. PIAGET's COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS rated over and over again and thus becomes circular. By chance, the {aby dcovers an interesting rel from some behavior and then a ‘tempts to recapture this result, As the behavior and its results are su cessflly repeated, it can be sai that a “habit” is formed. These circus reactions are called “primary” because they involve response conse {quences that are centered on or around the infan’s body rather than other objects Piaget observed many cases of primary circular reactions in his om der the following example (the three numbers refer to the cars, months, and days): Laurent evidences a reuar reaction which wil bosome ren gent oc sh ‘becomes marked in the cradle ets tea gasp an ol etd one ‘grr ofan nurs an roping at Sst, then regular Folding and letng go), and mally progresive (Paget One primary cieular reaction th sacking Although thumb sucking has occurred 0 itnow has developed into a systematic, coordinated behavior. efficiently brings the thumb to the mouth and keeps it there. Other ex primary circular reactions include active visual exploration of objects and listening to one's own vocalizations : "The performance of the circular reactions seems to be accompaaed “ngs of pleasure. Piaget describes a baby who “played with is through interest in the sound, but f sure; laughing athis own power Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions (Roughly 4% Bers ane nver content with the sats gio; they contin to pak by seg Deseription of the Stages 41 Sn the movement from primary to secondary cular resaions. Whereas primary circular reactions are centered around the infant's body, sec- dary circular reactions are oriented to the external world, By chance, the want does sormethig tat leads to an interesting eect ine co ronment: he shakes a rattle, which produces «noise; he slaps a ball, hich causes it to roll In the previous stage, the shaking or slapping i. was of interest; now the environmental consequences are. Then the secondary circular reactions generalize, Piaget calls them “procedures for making interesting sights last” IF kicking their logs vig. ero ends toa jigng moble s number of tims, infants ma make this hicking procedure a part of their repertoire. On future occasions when an in jovement occurs, they may make kicking move: to sustain or re-create this movement, Sometimes. thee procedures produce the desired result; sometimes they do not Onone acesion, after watching in fascination, his ther dru ona te ex, Zmonth ol Laren fst stare at then shakes iam, rset elf strikes his covers, and shakes his head in an attempt to capture the box —all to no availl mers One of Piage’s novel observations is the “motor recoguitlon® that emerges during this stage ld, confented by objects or bis sccondary circular reacions, ig the customary movements insead of actualy Everything takes place as though the hid were sat objects or sights and to rake a note of this For example when Page’ infant daughter, Liceane, see a dll aah fr oe vang nthe pa, sh nly pen sesh or shakes er leg ths isa Fedced,effrles version ofthe ois inal behavior, = ofthe ong his repertoire of “things to do to o iemes of looking, grasping, sucking, hearing, set forth continues tzoughout the sensorimotor perlod. In Os ey, the cognitive sructures are becoming increasingly integrated and aguized.42. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO:PIAGETIANS jon of Secondary Schemes (Roughly 8 to 12 nfs can combine thei scheme compler 51 ticular, planning and intention ew bear ence is made up of an instrumental (chem) and a goal behavior (another scheme). Infants know what they ‘want and can put together schemes to achieve that goal. They have di ferentiated between means and end, In contra 9c 3, infants’ ds covery of interesting results was fortuitous; only ofernard did they try to achieve the outcome again, A special feature of the means—end be- havior found in stage 4 is that {¢ is applied to new situations. The ey ate freed from their original contexs eve a variety of goals Various ccasions on which he placed his andi fs matchbox. Whereas in stage 3 Laurent simply appl his familiar grasping scheme toward the matchbex, i stage +he hit his father's hand (mears) and grasped the box (end). Law rent had removed a barrier in order to achieve a goal Tn addition to coordinating schemes to remove barriers, the infat ‘obtain a goal. A modern example vision knob in or ioe in a glass, but fy. When che spoon comes out eas when the spoon comes to make a mistake by taking a spoon frown the be las before offering it to Jacqueline. But she jature experiments in which they. 1 see how this variation affects the ot there is repetition with variation ‘Again Laurent thoughtfully provides us witha nice exam his back but nevertheless resumes his aperiments of the day before. He grasps in secession a Description af the Stages 43 objet habia serves this purpose), but drop ve meray making the gesture of opening his mouth Pages, 1936 (1952, p 2659 Though deliberate vial-and-error exploration, infants extend the smcans-end behavior ofthe previous stage to develop new means. They 10 longer simply coordinate old schemes. In fact, Plaget often charac terzes stage $ a5 “the disor nertation” Examples of new means might include pulling « blanket to chuin an object resting on the blanket or positioning a long, thin ebject insuch away that it can be slipped through the bars ofa crib ground, Up to this time, children have displayed their thinking to the world; now the overt is becoming covert. External physical explo- tion gives way to internal mental exploration, All ofthis is possible because children now can use mental symbols to repreent objects and Let us see how this mental representation leads toa new way of solv- ‘ng problems: forthe first time Lucienne plays with a dell carriage whose bundle comes to the height of her fae. She rolls it over the carpet by Pushing i When she comes against 2 wall, she pulls, walking back ward. ut as this position is not convenient for her, she pauses and without hesitation, goes to the other side to push the carriage again. Ske therefore found the procedure in one atempt, apparenty through slog oer sais but without eainng, appreatiesip, er Eater, Lucienne would have had to solve the problem through trial and. rrr. Now she can solve the problem by “thinking” in symbols44. PIAGET'S CORMITIVESTAGE THEORY AND THE NEO:PLAGETIANS, on of the Stages 45 ‘The emergence of a Overview of the Sensorimotor Period # The sensorimotor period stunning of Piaget's obs ‘as been presented in sorne detail because it provides « concrete illus ‘eaion ofthe following general characteristics of ll four periods ations. Piaget has been playing a game with aso at gt es 4 mont, in wih be ies mn er ah er ee ee Degelieieng ange So Fe ean ane Ee child achieves this knowledge ofaction” es become more ightly organized. ‘The child schemes and applies thera as solutions to new situa- al. the child differentiates ‘means, and applies them to When faced with a problem that past methods do not solve, Luc ge is necesary fora notion of a suible, protic cane inks hugh he probe, ety yea of owen US BE toil Acoming wo fier te occnteelon ee Bering the smear ‘hinking She in. eee the ides of eng ew months of sappears, infants do né the opening ofthe matchbox. cis that an event that as been repre ters dog ee the obj Ths absent even i reproduc i git ob cay rapper think of the object as an extension of their acts on lner, a schemes are coordinated, look for iden objects (stage 4). However, the pice where they searched pre ‘original hiding place. Piag (ror is that she defines an appropriately search fe 7 fer cven if chere are several displacements, but only if they are visible46. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS (tage 5). There is a problem with invisible displacements, as when Pag juts a coin in his hand and moves it under a cushion, then under a coer fet, and then out again, However, in the final stage, Jacqueline continues to search for the coin because she now knows that it has tobe somentre (stage 6) She can represent the object ment seeing, or otherwise acting on, the object. including herself, are things that exis ogy. The concepts of time, sp: object concept because objects exist, move, and spatiotemporal fil. mPxeoperational Period (Roughly 2 to 7Years) ____- Ending the fist period and beginning the next can be likened to clin ing a mountain only to discover that it is merely a foothill to Mt. Eve- est. The achievements of the sensorimotor period, although monsmea- tal, ae also preparation for what is to come, In a sense, children tt re achieved in the realm of actions on te redeveloped, now in the realm of mental representations. They ruct notions about objects, relations, causality, space, and tice in a new medium (mental representation) and a more highly orgnind structure. The sensorimotor actions become representational, in repe ration for the move fom overt physical actions to mental actin which characterizes the frst decade of life. Semiotic Function representations in stage 6 of the sensor to the preoperational period. These ment ‘There are precursors to the true use of signifiers. One preci which was mentioned in the description of stage 6, is imita seth Description ofthe Stages 47 ing aces oftheir orig Bre whee pei aio. Sy retends that‘a cloth f obec. There sn When asked w ty spaghetti youn © spaghetti and feels ii and like spaghest and not hold the common view that al ought she sly to we wor He Imode for expenng thought. Throughont cclonees ane aes For ample, teaching a child te the Taser hee” doesnot teach hm the quant eepeindly ances, Utvigh thinking is not dependent on la, development, Language can direct relaonships inthe environ and impart abstract informati ge, loging can sd i ttcen to now introduce confting po tht is not cay Shared48. Piacer's COONITIvE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS cone of many tools in our cognitive “toolkit” stics of the Period « Although thinking through symbols and signs a wemendow advance over sensorimotor though, ich thinking is Limited in a nurmber of ways. As the term preoperatonal sug- MMS AS By pred aw ye sed Se aa Operations, which characterize the thinking of the next period, calle concrete operations In many ways, this period is atime of preparation f and Piaget himself typically described preoperational chi ‘what they cannot do, rather than what they can do, However, i identified a number of positive acquisitions such asthe structures of iden ties, functions, correspondences, and regula lescrbed later. The : istics of preoperatonal thought are egocentrsm, rigidity of thought, semilogical reasoning, and limited social cognition. the word “egocentrism” does not refer to selfishness or feroganc, and Piaget doesnot use ein a derogatory way. Rate, the term refers to (a) the incomplete diferentiation of the self and the world including other people understand, and interpret the world in term al perspective and infact bas nos reaperational dren do not Uy ftom postion diferent from ter own aces the di ‘nother person. This can be seen in 2 iggles when the draws a good card She doesnot enced fora “poker face” asa card iy tke another person’ h to racet the needs of the els no desize to influence his hearer ing; not unlike a cortain a ee Ps aes his mother that ata birthday party “be to explain to what “he,”“her,” and so his mother cannot understand ‘essential ever Description of the Stages 49 Egocentric speech is rampant in chil ‘who apparently are talking together while actualy be talking together. Ech chilt’s remarke 1s. There isa collective ’s play groups. Children ig in a group may not are unrelated te any- Superman ray,” might be followed bj "Thie sweater makes chi less egocentric than they were in th ‘motor functioning reflects a lack tiation between one's own ations and properties of objects After the preoperational centrism continues to decline, but it never disappears com inadukthood, Recent work on children’s “theory of mind” (see Chapter ts Shay age or 5 children ow more sous anctcr penton’ peryene than Piager thought (fr a review; see Favell & Miller, 1998) They know, fox example, that a child would think that a crayon box holds crayons rater than candles, eventhough they themselves know ieholds candles centration, the tendency to attend t0 oF ink about one salient feature of an object or event and ignore other features. f two identical containers have equal amounts of water and the contents of one container are poured into a taller, ehinner con ‘ane, children center on the heights of the liquids, we ignoring their widths, Consequently, they erroneously conclude that there is now 1 water level is higher. Centr lar in tha they both reflect an inabil f thought. Plaget characterizes preoperational thought as frozen. One example sn and egocen- to deal with sev ity, or lack of Bexibility, of th dency to focus on ther than on the transform: sates. When faced with the task concerning quanti 2 Containers, the child thinks about the “before” and “after” states b ores the process of changing from A to Bas the liquid is poured. til, children focus on eppearance rather than reali . itbends when its plunged into a body of water, this perception is true. Perhaps the clearest example of the rigidity of thought is it lack of rerbility. Preoperational children cannot ment ly reverse a series of50. PiAcer's COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY or eps of resol For eae ty oF asd wos ongial container Pome da isnot yet complete Basse It ‘events, transformat i Tweed yeriod, we bes » ‘Toward the end ove Preopern Ps od, we eet gga then le revere Wen ee ues P= Gchievements of the preo} emt een) = ete eo tl Bien dae I gles a eal 0 ry Se a hel idth to make thei bio ey og ME a : fe notion that an object cat ee cure, or identity. Wi- contrary to jd because a concept can ving, he young peop Pap gti Septet inh Caran ee Fs ee ree provide many ‘examples of egocentri d above. They al demonstrate some lotace several facets of ow di she sua begat — =, Hon ow di begin? — Be bean 9 sur But low? — Becotse dee ° Vat is made of? — Of ire — Begun. — What Description ofthe Stoges $1 begin ~ te maie henson gu bigger Why: vite for, The sun and moon, like action (a god lighting tied to hi ‘oon began because people began to exist) Similarly, a preoperati sy assert that snow is made for children to play in and clouds move because they are pulled when people walk Thoughts are often linked together in a loose way rather than in a logical relationship. For example, one afternoon when Lucienne had no "sp, she reasoned that it could not be afternoon because she had not Jad her nap. Or a child might say that his friend fell de are created by a human. {gethurt. The child reasons from the particular to the pa thoory apes to s0 eal ones We stv ts parallel deficit in role king 224 communication reuting fom egocentrism, confusions Betwees ssura rents and human evens, and novons about the identity fp, ‘ot when physical appearances ae changed In addon, Paget peel aly examined socal thought in hit work on ord udgmcste k pe sucking on a toy and Einstein’ insights ‘nto relativity both reflect cognitive organization. In principle, one could trace a line of development from the former to the later, = MCognitive Adaptation ‘The other basic functional invariant, cognitive adaptation, pertains to interaction between the organisn and the environment. Paget dais ‘bat all organisms have an innate tendency to adapt to the contonment txligent bebaor i bevior ‘that is appropriate to the demands of « exvironment, The following passage by Piaget expresses the cose ledonship between adaption and orpaniaton Organization is inseparable from adaptation: They are two complemen: fay proceses ofa ingle mechanism, the frst being the tara space(64. PIAGET'S COGMITIVE:STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS, Gen. These oro spent of tous Paes og spwuses tetrad iby orpnising oa da jolves two complementary processes: : irda proces offing realty nto one'> aniston. In er with ob: tion. In every cognitive encounter with isa degree of “bending” or distorting of experi- ence a5 peo pt incorporete, understand, or interpret ties perience. In other words, people apply what they know in order to Lnderstand properties of objects and events as well as relationships tween properties and events To quote Anais Nin, “We don’t see things sthyte ese thas Weare? : (ccommodation is the other side of the coin. This term refers to ments in cogaive organization that result from the demands of ral Every object or event has special characteristics that must be taken into ‘ later. In a sense, accommodation occurs because the event arucoes led to interpret a particular object or event Ser ISI aig seorganaton of hgh eds to dlrs fd more sasfatory asimfiation of rienced in qu fe fan's mind stretched to a new idea never g lation are clovely intertwined in every from birth to death. Atempts fo assimilate resliy slight changes inthe cognitive structures as these ements. Assimlation and accommodation are 0 re times defines adaptation as an equilib- jon and accommodation. In a state o "fot a loge ecple td + estuary nt aad in pale ae eto fort boy cn ure. Ae Paget express Rdg ate a bogs doc become » bbag: i be that becomes rabit—ths asimltion” quoted i Benge, 190, Sy The lige oper sont fo 00 by sig ae ae say sorting genes, contecng Mechanisms of Development 6S f the stomach, and so on. Ths, the digest and is changed by an environmental even, the pres the peychological realm, consider an infant wh 8 sheet of newspaper for the this new experience, she runs through her repertire of actions on ob- jects. She applies her curre tual patterns of behavior). She grasps the paper, hit it, sucks it, tums it over, shakes i, puts her iad, and soon, in her attempts to it this new object nto something she already knows, However, a newspaper has certain characterises for «igh to her existing schemes. She is forced to stretch or reorganize (as- commodate) these schemes in small ways. Her ideas about the way things sound when they are shaken must be altered to include the rustle of a nevespaper. Similarly, the light weight and the new fel and sight rake further demands on her comprehension of the world f the characteristis to be ass our example a st related to previous experiences, but some ctaractristies (for example, ripping the paper) may be quite foreign tnd sarilng The varying degrees of docrepancy between, carect schemes ad the experience at hand rage the hove this gradual, continual development, consider what f children of various ages were given a metal magnet for night accommodate to the unfamiliar metalic taste, the peculi magnet being’ dropped. However, they sures as magnetic properties. Three-year of objects, might accommodat cling to the magnet and might entertain explanat ness" and “wanting to stay together” Nine-year-old children might hy- pothesize that only objects with certain characteristics are attracted to the conditions in which magnetism occurs—through glass, water, and certain distances. Only in adoles. cence could children accommodate by formulating an abstract theory of magnetism and simultaneously consider all of the variables involved, such as the size and shape of the magnet and the distance from the66. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAG! object. Thos, accommodation always occurs in small steps and is rela tive to the present cognitive level. Tn summary, the functional fants of assimilation and accommo- stand” the object or evert, tions are made. These push tive level. They are one step closer to reality. Howes understanding makes them aware of other discrepar tion presents new elements and agai enmodation makes new accommodations possible in Piaget’ view, every organism strives t fronment and equilibrium within itself (among lation and accommodation are in Change ier the ge Steinem, which at bec There ent here 2 bao 2 FET mn compensates forthe ches equilibrium, Mechanisms of Development 67 Equilibration, while one of the most important concepts in the the- ory, is probably also the most difficult and evasive, Part ofthe difficulty ray lie in the fact that equilibration can refer to several spans of time, ranging from a fraction of a second to a number of years. In each case, lowed by a state of disequilibrium, leads again to equilibrium. three spans of time in mind when he ap 1. A moment-to-moment equilibration process occurs as assimilation and accommodation operate in ‘most mundane. Temporary dis ‘counter new properties of objects that do not fit into their present cognitive structures. Once the assimilation-accommodation process discrepancies are resolved, equilibrium is again achieved ‘Assimilation and accommodation are brought in ration refers to moving toward the final level of achievement iod or stage. A child enters anew period in a sae of complete and unstable. By new period, the child has achieved equilibrium with respect o the structures ofthe period. For example, atthe end of the sensorimotor period, a child is in equilibrium with the environment rms of operations. Each pe- lod achieves a different kind of equilibrium state, Equilibrium is reachieved in each period ats higher and higher level of abstraction. ‘The entire course of cognitive development can be seen asa process of equilibration as the child proceeds through increasin forms of equilibrium. The most complete equiibrium is achieved when formal operations bring fully reversible and abstract thought The earlier states of equilibrium, because they are incomplete, in cvitably break down at some point. In a sense, each period or stage eventually self-destructs For Piaget, equilibration is the grand process that puts together all of the elements of development. Equllibrasion cavironment, All of these factors cogether prope! the child through the es68. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO- ws Section Overview arias this section on mechanisms of devel Oe cae chapter. Knowledge Pike world develops though a serie of crete states of equilibrium (age eveen erg nh mvt. Thi ihe sent os ete epistemology. Mental structures, in equlibrim, ae seyuted a be ongrom trac with pl nd ros obec ised wa, Here we se Piaget strata. In he ate teen cea pe septa (assimilation and accommode- i the parla tages are an Chlable outcome given the mature of the han orgnsm (te Pye Sructses and cog fncon) and the nate of be endrones POSITION ON DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES c developmental issues on ‘The book’ Inroduction Identified four basi developmental sue which each theorist takes a sand, Using these es, we can view Fe aget’ theory from a new perspective, The ues ao pro for cutting across the diverse theories covered in this volume. Human Nature —_______ ‘ arly fits into the organismic rather than the rere ste ar cman sews, He post a abereny ace erg liypothesize, test, and evaluate; they éo the sensorimotor period) or covertly ss, conerete operations, and formal op- jon is necessary. Children are int No external motivai sary. ris , organized whole as he himdelf and with the envir tendencies toward cognitive imbalance to the extent he is capable. cone feberen activity and selereglation produce an orgaism tht Position on Development. Scheme, or operation is influenced by and derives its meaning from the whole structure. The same behavior (for example, 2 ch Bendulum) obviously hac a dierent mening for a 2-3 Qualitativ itative D Although Paget sees both qualitative and quantiative changes Bhaslaes the qualitative changes in structures from stage to stage. Jost ay the colored plastic fragments rearrange themselves when s laleide scope is turned, s0 does the organization of thought change to form ‘new patterns as the child develops, Quantitative changes occur a8 schemes, operations, or other ogni {ve alls become stronger, more easly acuvated, more efficient, and more consistent, One quantitative development is the increased um= ber of schemes or habits in the chld’s repertoire or the number of “facts” avalable. The child who can name the capitals ofall the states hes more information at hand than the child who ean name only five capi, tals. OF course it should be kept in mind tha this information i always into structures that undergo qualitative changes. ive and quantitative changes build on each other during de- velopment. A qualitative change in etructure makes posible certain quantitative changes. For example, once class inclusion is understood, the child can quickly learn about the clasifcaions and relationships in sary diferent conten areas, such as animals, people, trees, shapes. and colors. Quantitative increases in amount of information, in turn, may ue the way for further qualitative change as new information chal lenges the present structures. For example, tating with pers and aiults rapidly expands children's knowledge and challenges their pres cotunderstanding This new information can stimtlate subsequent qua. itatve change as the system attempts to resolve the contradictions in lildren’s knowledge. Whether we see quantitative or qualitative change in Piaget's theory depends, in pat, on the unit of time we select. If we look at changes and weeks, we are struck by the gradual nature of ve look at changes over months and years, we are seuck by the qualitative changes from stage to stage or period to pe- sid. For example, ftom age-4 20 4, children may become rnore corsa, ‘eatin their grouping of objects according to sbape; this is quantita ‘We change, However, the change from theo to age 7, when they can70 PIAGET'S COGNITIVE.STAGE 7 c, animals, mam- for example, animals, jects into hierarchies of classe sort objects into hierarchi ca ‘nals, brown mammals, and so forth: me : eho knowledge, from vail hough and through. All knowedg, Fa pean coneote sersorimotr bev foe om ge Se etal though aby prodaeof he er fh f innate and experieatal factors. Innate factors aa itu ‘the structure and pc tioning of scalar spe aturation, and the invariant oss ie pcm dei Pacey Crganizalon and adaption). Given these ‘ the nature of the pt ‘world, development inevitably pro stherwise. ee lowing rtrd Saget bas proposed ' fr the physics perience with the phy creates new possi ves certain adjustinents of that ste rmits walking, new vss oit this new sil, they aecommodate 9 Te ologieal research (see Chapter 8) as sr daring development ®t appest Detaled Papua guaivechnge ROHR ea up br volers As fone to state Regarding experience withthe physical e ines logcomathemetia! experince, This jects rather than oF cae can oo friend’s recollection from. chil ‘oruseae, Page fers toa a wand he courted Stiga and earl ent and once a Ss pu them n> Voonee aN ag. He was sexed on deg ioe! The child considered the results of repestedl Cn jing the pebbles and concluded that number is constant despite phystal ree ‘zrangements. He discovered something (aumber) that is not intrinsic objects themselves. He ly noting the color, size, and weight of the pebbles nent, For example, other peo} transmit knovledge, either directly or through books, and s0 on. In this way, a child can benefit from the expe tthers, Diseussion also can spur progres: “Proof is born through di cussion” (Piaget, 1932, p. 404). OF course, a always, the ch cognitively advanced enough to assimil be of value. Social experience can also be foros lead to conformity, as well as rigid and distorted thinking, Also, tot all adule products provide good models to learn from, 28 seen re. that defies class-inelusion logic: “ le un the rasjor ant sequence inal cultures, Even if some or all ofthe sequences identified re would still expect some variation > progress through the cognitive stages. Ths variation can ferences in physical maturation, physical experience, or ce. We would expect some variation within a culture ferences between expert spment of conservation of sub- which clay is the medium). Mexican children aged 6 to 9 grow up in pottery-making fam vers of substance than are Mexican cl cegaged in other activities 136. vas bor iren who grove up in fai Williams, Gordon, & Ramirez, addition, Piaget recalled that his daughter Jacqueline, in the winter, was often bundled up in a carviage, so did not ‘much opportunity as children bora in warmer weather to de ‘hp eye-hand coordination.72. PIAGET'S COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THE HEO-PIACETIANS eraction of the ence with the physical environment, and the cavironment constantly cause momentary diseq sce the cognitive system to change, to adjust. Through re ing equilibrium, the cognitive system reaches a higher level. Thus, itis in the interplay of forces within the equilibration process that expetiental and innate forces together finally have their effect on cognition. Z “The fourth factor, equilibration, tes together and controls the in- ‘obvious that experience does not write upon Piaget tells us that the essence of cognitive developmen change—change in the schemes, regulations, functions, and various logicomathematical structures of the con. periods, Structural change gives meaning to the content of thought, Thus, Piaget emph level, which leads to change at various more molecu n of what develops is tied to Piaget situations in which the experimenter participates. 1 organization ofthe thought processes as intact as poss ‘Sperinenalncrference sr contol would dtr heel’ neal line of reasoning APPLICATIONS, Educators hase apled Pig his noton of reins? — ihe i tures ov accommodate her arucars to Evaluation of thi Theory 73 abstract way. Moreover, the theory suggest th ‘concepts in a particular sequence of developmental steps. n addition, for true understanding, children must learn the concepts underlying matical and scientific knowledge, rather than just memorize Facts Related, Piaget criticized typical educational assessments for focusing "s thought processes for The neo-Piagerian focus on the amount of support that teachers provide fragile new concepts, for example, their encouragement, hints, or col Iaboration. They also would encourage teachers to attend to whether the problems are presented in a way that does not overload the childs cognitive capacity. Finally, they expect differences among children, not iy im how advanced they are in a particular domain, such as 7 Science, but pethaps also in the route they take to acquire a new concept. EVALUATION OF THE THEORY 0 his eighties. I look at some of is ecological validity. Central Rote of Cognition + Coton nov is the sed of develope tit Recognition h a central mental psychologist ‘were somehow plucked out of the 1950s and set down today, he would be bewildered by the talk around him. He would hear peychologsts di cussing children’s “theories,” strategies, cognitive structures, plans, and14. PAGERS COGNITIVE STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO:PIAGETIANS Evaluation of che Theory 75 instead of stimulus generalization, mean length of ut- tage, conditioning, and discrimination learning, To 2 his change. He altered the course ate dificult to understand in any language! Devs Hkind, Hans Furth and ouchin Wohbwil seeee ee ae logical translators of Piaget's work inthe la ference, ment sea Efene Paget is responsible - S that made developmentalists 1960s. tn particular, Flavell’ timely bock, The Devel of psychology by asking new estions in the first place of Jean Pager (1963), made Piaget unders o Eng ‘wonder why they had ever aske: questi 2 siege (1959) made Paget understandable to English ‘Once psychologists looked at development through Plage’ eyes, they never again saw children in quite the same way. a Both the state of aciemic pycholgy andthe history of ever mental psychology inthe Unsted States created a state of readiness for qh esinalation of Paget. Academie psychology had pushed behav ism in general and learning theory in particular to thei. limits found trem wanting, Even when learning theory was modiied by s rotons af verbal mediation, socal reinforcement, modeling, intrinsic reinforcement, and atten ‘satisfy psychol0- sts, There was dssatisict the explanation of language devel aeons terms of imtaon, practi, and reinforcement. At the sme {ne alternative cogeitive approaches were emerging, such a8 Now Chomsky’s transformational grammar and computer scientist wfrmaten rE Within chil logy, unt od rae le wane pediatrics, public b Jopmental psychologists were and mental retardation, leara- es, and emotional disturbances. Because of this physical and tion from psychology departments, many develo st id not become immersed in the beavirst-<. perimental face oychoogy ofthe tes and Fer nth laboratory wn one fot in al He elopmental psychologists at that time were pri: lectng sna itive data—-descriptions of the behaviors that could be yall these reasons, there was room for Piaget yrroach. The feld of developmental psychol: ‘The rest, as they say, is history. Psychology wimessed both a fur Page repletion sides and n aitempt to ft Paget ins the oxy felt of developmental psychology. For example, Berlyne (1968) at tempted to integrate learning theory an ° cfforts to train children to acquire varo conservation, At the same time, etian concepts, especially 3 thre emerged Amerian ac abe ‘ry sues of vars nich she muse oad ee tons, the scoring criteria, and the level = » and the socioeconomic level of the children, Fagetan influenced research peaked inthe late 1970s through the early wee prentncy eesypeearo eee) Rental journals cited Paget (lavino & Hogan, 1994). Pa spread into areas such a8 social development, clinical psych tenon This was the “Piagetian stage” of developmental psychi ey. of Lis Purpose ofthis historical side trip has been to chow the impact 2 theory that recognized the central role of cognition in develop. Gat Piaget searched for the modes of thinking underlying the overt. or studied by behaviorist and by child psychologists constructing norms of development, This focus on cognition provided a new per ‘pecive and inspiration for a generation of developmental psycholo. its. As Lourenco and Machado observe, “Paraphrasing Einstein on Eu. cha, Piaget filed to Kindle your youthful enthusiasm not born to be a developmental psychologist”(1996, p. 157) | cui ery. Nestcue | | sesearchers could be found thousands of studies inspired by information. Regardless of the fi see act ages which ach Puget revealed new developmental phenomena, many of wi strike people as surprising, or counter to common sense Epecnlly so tbl re the following: Young ifs often act as though ey dene objects are permanent. Preschoolers belive that rearranging ogy was ready fr Ps Ee declopmentalpychology might wonder why Paget had gualuced almost a lifeene of work before American academics be rad proce hin, Cereal the sate of academic pyeolog = {che anger A vt ron Ue nit sovork had not be barrier Urel the 1960s, much of Piaget's Tees Pighah An aainal language problem i that Pag76 Pincers COGNITIVE-STAGE THEORY AND THENEO-PIAGETIANS, objects can change their number and assert that the wrongness of an act depends on how much damage resulted. More generally, most concepts Sct only take longer to develop than we might think but also go ay. A further surprise ‘things. Children’s wing the DNA, Piaget's surprises about co and his observations remarkable, especially considering that fom seemingly mundane, everyday behavior. Wide Scope « Piaget's theory is ambitious, drawing its net over behas~ Tor ranging from plying with pebbles to causal reasoning, from the sucking rellex yperational structures. The theory attempts to describe and explain both cognitive states and ransitions between those states, Paget not only tackled cognitive development but als followed Xp on its implications for other areas of development, such as social and cmmotional development and learning. In addition, he addressed other disciplines, such a epistemology, philosophy of science, and education. In Piaget we catch a glimpse of how a complete theory of development Took, ‘The theory's wide scope obviously increases its attractiveness. At the ome time, it increases its vulnera 0 do too ological ality Every paychologist hasan intl lis ood feory shold do. Many its would include the reqireme he Teal word of children. although eve the search in abratores hs some relevance for dy-to-dy fon same approsches have a closer relationship than ters (0 Pre 's theory seems to rate well in is apution to the world they «> cater every ay eda ty to grip ate jst out of reach, replat Spulice an Fyure out whores bal has role, Preschoolers de ‘eh ends, oy to express thr des to others, and hs the those who break the rules of ges. School eilrensrugle with TEith prot, ery to make sense of socal rules, and fi hee ghborhood or cy The ecological validity for the later stages of de n ith questions or mth Beginning, The reson is tht infin! IRAE & expreted in he vet actin, wheres oer cen’ Weaknesses Although Paget’ theory broke much new ground tas been hewly xiticiedin recent years. The theory provides an ess target becase o€ its methodology wide scope, and y > and tiesto biology and philosophy amine the followin; rm Ropar | BN ig Wealmesses: inadequate support for the st Son, hnadequate account of mechanisms of evelopment, nest for a theory of performance, slighting of socal and emotional aspects of de- velopment, underestimation of abilities, and methodological and stlis- te barriers. We review some of the recent research, particularly in North America, stimulated by the recognition of these weaknesses Lourenco and Machado (1996) can be consulted for defense on bebalf of Pig opin some he ion swell onl eis Selltowas weld isms Inadequate Support forthe Stage Notion «The strongest stacks on Faget’ theory concern his notion of stage, the hess of the theory hon Seren, bread etches daring Seclepmen acta en tat ply tol he pycholoied esos ergy ae = gs spy cone and mead fy onpargligng oe velopment and claiming more eberence among concepts then tees se al) WPA a ie hrs ow aes ae rete to te cl aca ielecual incioning Devlopmensina luge ss to aeden Pa thought thatthe loge structure ofeach sage ould led ihught ove nety of conn ara (Cpe Michal, 1996) The socont mele ‘The evidence certainly does not support a strong structural version of ages, inthe sense of concurrent changes across al Content areas. In Paget himself acknowledged that a78 PiAGET's COGNITIVE.STAGE THEORY AND THE NEO-PIAGETIANS particular content area and may have to be construc Eomains during a stage. He referred to horizon vwben a general concept emerges earlier on some tasks in the ease of conservation, the conservati develops a year oF two before conservation of would probably not have been bothered tive achievements in one particular are . f thinking Thus, a weaker struc fF stages may be still viable; some unevenness across do would even be expected. Howes h of substance typ- 1s had generated a correct answe least one pretest problem. Thus, va isfactory explanation on ‘mainly dur. concept Is Given this inconsis herent cognitive system than a “collection of different and unrelated ‘mindlets” Flavell, 1992) devoted to diferent content?) Even if one accepts a weaker stage notion, the problem remain tat Piaget didnot provide satisfactory account of what determines whether a structure will be applied to a particular conten ma, and when should we not? Piaget dif are caused by differences incomplete. Are the logico: dream, of, as described at present, are they sim distant from behavior? Looft and Svoboda voice: Evaluation of the Theoty 79 tomas, reatng themselves of difntatem wd theory has evolved over higher levels of abs tang somehow dropped out an hve been replaced i stage notion by 198 complete nh poeta fe etn ee ee ggests several modfeatons of Piaget's conception of stages, Stage! 7 4s dala cage pen be cal attentional capacity or an incr al capacity easing stability and generality 2 ‘he devlopoeot of a cognve sil is an extended proces. In netional maturity” of a stage until after that stage has offically ended acterize a stage are often onl lopment. For example, two con items of a particular stage may ene ed an ated into a true stage, throughout the stage. sees spontaneous, everyday thinking than in test ‘adore in some cognitive domains than in others, than Paget would ie a large number of reference foraccounting for the orderliness of thought. As Flavell and Wol clude, “To paraphrase Voltaire’s dictum concerning the deity were no such structures in the mind of the child, we should have to in vent them, to account for the degree of itive development agelike changes limited to a may develop somewhat indepen kd have domain-specific knowledge. as explored by the neo-Piagetians and by information- processing sdge-based approaches (see Chapter 4). Inthe latter view, a child shifts from novice to expert status after experience in a particular do- main such as chess, soccer, oF dinosaurs, Domain-specific knowledge also is posited by modular , ution Inadequate Account of Mechanisms of Development # We need clarification not only ofthe criteria for stages but also of the transitional mechanisms both within a stage and from stage to stage, Although Pi aget considered explanations of change quite important, he more suc sfally described than explained the course of development. The functional invariants such as assimilation and accommodation, provide at best a general framework with which to examine cognitive change. There are no specific, precise statements as to how sensorimotor thought becomes preoperational thought or how preoperatioral thought becomes operational thought. Furthermore, although (Bryan Simply knowing ily the cause of the problem. More 10 be very good at detecting logical five conflict. Not until age 6 do Sr that man is both tll and very man, 1999) dy mechanisms of change Is to supply certain expert ences and see whether they cause cognicive change. Piaget was dubious bout the value of trying to intensively teach concepts to children and ‘cautioned that “each time one prematurely teaches a child something he could have discovered for himself, that child is kept from inventing i sd comequety vest om understaniny However even Fagetan, especie spp fo he mes 983, p. 113), have attempted to pro ss of change by studying how ier, Sad, & Boe, 1974 i raining studies have been conducted by Amer ican and British psychologists, though they have tended to try to dis. prove Piaget by showing that a concept can be acquired earlier sg believed, Many of these studies have succatilly tougnt ney concept by srestingengitive confit, tectng und such as reversibility or compensa & potdng 8m trates the proaches have focused on removing barriers to by redirecting atention to the rele ensuring memory of relevant information, Unfortunately, traning studies have o anisms of development. ne of Piage’s mechanisms of develop fle) causes the child to acquire the conee slildren progress by this mechanism in real life. Spontaneous, natural development may proceed in other ways. Second, when a training sedy does succeed, that success may be based on mechanisms other thas those ‘he investigators thought they were providing. Gelman Procedure was intended to redirect the sw concept. Other ap- the child’: performance ature, such as number, or by Points out, this proce- : 2 tive conflict created when srover didnot consistent lid to enforcement a specific acount of why a particular training experi. ace stimulates cr era he change in some children but not others, In general, the ss crenata eget Eee ‘alt of traning, presumably because they are closer to acquiring the ce matuall Hower, move reine redson oe sata bene tt not dew how oases degre ef exes a col waning tn dens not geen ade) procedures, o related tasks, the mechanisms permit. tga new concept to generalize remain a mystery. ‘ lem of cognitive structures that represent children’s knowledge about Se wold He slo proned a ick deci of bene eehowever, a missing link: a detailed account of exact ed int specie problem lng re ticular context. Such a theory of performance wo Chile's Knowledge is expressed in her behavior ‘that influence these processes might ice of exch attribute (¢hape, color) in the ‘member, and the compl soe Male factors. These ten development cee Erg form of concept an be oe torr recnoryaenonal capa and verbs aby oN een arc taal can supply us with a concrete & ee ery of peice woul ale the way le 7 ures. A test of conservation of number re ‘hula proceed as the stirmuli Sd proced through numberof sep se Mesractes ake contact with the metal operant te coneration Apart : ce a ae a encers the number of the objects rather & Sothern) ase eo ee ibe (clon, length, and oe igooring irrelevant a vee aia er include (3) counting the objec, (1 ending anton about ue mabe of obec, the experiments mae he ebjens and (6) Femembering Bf nidison or sibtacton during the © jects, sees) ue te appropriate oper the wansformation, Fal tps i ane ce rather than in sequence pcp nero to cops, re ge cllngues gan fo give more ae cater Jer i sei “procedord koowledge? mh # Berens uberngtlevan information or proesing if & Piaget, 1980; Piaget, 1981 (1987). gem cognive sacra few In conre ere eis roaches discusted I Perceptual learning, an ation process ture of performance. Such theories id learning theory, focus on the na- may ly provide the missing link between structures and behavior in Piaget's the: Slighting of Social and Emotional Aspects of Devel ‘get though tht socal and emotional infucnceson cogntoe deel Ment were very important. For example, in $99, “Human knowledge is essentially ‘ates an essential fact in the creation 5, p. 30]. Recall that socal his developmental equation, des people provides te expressed earlier and growth of knowledge” experience was one of the variables in scribed carlie Regarding affect, Piaget igence: “Feelings ex £0 actions of which intelligence previles 5 (951, 205-20 nse, emotions p behind cognition. For example, feelings influence the to which structures ae applied. A culd with pasion foe ain tw learn a great del about them, the social realm was re gener as well as mportance that Piaget assigned ‘taal realms, he paid relatively litle attention t teresearch activities, Moreover, hi fave iled in the gaps or corrected social cogacon. Kohlberg (1969) adopted Pasens ‘moral judgments and expanded and modified themodel considerably. Social cognitive researchers have addressed chil of self, other people, minds, and social inte 998). Finally, the cultural and person-in cussed later in this volume greatly expand our knowledge RCciocultual influences on cognitive development. One contemporary ‘example is work on peer ‘thought by Piaget to be important for creating cognitive confit that could cause cognitive progress. For interactions between nonconservers and onservers prior 10 proaches sell, 1982) an average of 40 seo conserver saying, “Same size, OK? regiring infants to search swith the concept of object Underestimation of Abilis for a hidden object before bei permanence may have caused und Baillargeon (1987) found that 4 possess the concept of obje Screen falling away from them seemé view box they had seen there earlier, Other studies find ties in areas such as understanding physical concept, problem solving, number, and categorization (eee Halth & Benson, 1998, and Spelke & Newport, 1998, for revie in infant research today concerns how early infants acquire represents: tion (Mandler, 1998). ‘children older than infancy, the verbal nature of much of raises the possibility of underestimating children's know! wlegstand the language used during testing, forex imber” and “amount.” Or children may eas abot quantity, the origin of ‘of dreams, and so forth. Moreover, children we concept of conservation but not be able to give an ade for thei aget’s criteria for conserve ‘standard Piagetian procedures ay actually be tapping into fanding of conversation. An adult asking children (before and after the transformation) may cast wuld change their answer (Siegal, 1991) ‘children may think that when an authority figure asks + time, this usually means thatthe first answer was not edge may be underestimated. swer—one of Spe question a second iisfatory. In short, children’s 0 ofthe Theory 85 forthe prenes ravens a What weal and eas" emerge cake than Pager hese ee Processig demands are aldresoaf © infact und = . Some paychologit see derestmate children oh hulled ur tte hea 8 wey Cops jo of cern nowt ge ot eget ms for cap et Invesco itn pon ee Ege, rental states, and ob- teers bey ct a com, (6-8, Meltzoff & Moore,successful performance on modifications of concrete operational asks may actually ‘only preoperational concepts, such as functions, qather than concrete operational concepts (Chapman, 1988; Lourenco ‘& Machado, 1996). That Is, the simplified task provides so muc! ceptual support that the conditions theoretically necessary for opera: tional reasoning are not presen “The differences in the methodology of Genevan Piagetans, on the one hand, and North American and British psychologist, on the other, et especially wanted to avoid t children have the con- “alse positive errors,” namely, cept when in fact they do not. Thus, he s als, a me ‘cerned about “false negative errors,” concluding that children do not have the concept when in fact they do. In any case, research on ea children. For example, it turns out about number. Gelman and Gall principles of counting, such asthe principle that be used in the same order. That is, children who ‘this counting principle correctl this order for counting. These early principles supy ‘blown concept of number acquired several years ‘Techniques that simplify the Piagetian tests are more sensitive to ear forms of concepts than are Piaget’s procedures. interesting, however, tht in addition to finding Piagetian under estimations, researchers also have found overestinations. One example {s formal operations. As discussed cari hese concepts rather infrequently. In fact, Paget age 20 oF later appear to us Inter concluded that the stage continued Methodogical and Stylistic Barriers Piaget’s critics attack bis methodology not only with respect to issues of underestimation end terestimation but also because much of it does not meet the jons of developmental science. With respect to his infancy researc, P ager observed his own three children, Unfortunately, he did not have #0 we S0 children of his own to give us a more respectable sample size! The fom of the Theory 87 ssoall numberof subjects, the poss torof one nee wh cts, the possible biases in interpreting the behav: studies, with more subjects and fe oe . In his work with older childr large children method has certain advantages, such a Resi tthe partulr a : svers ges by cach cl, alo har « uber o docie Too man nag ee ger at anes Gierent crea often are sled sigh) ifeem eeensoe, Union, instructions, , materials, and measures of response are the backbone of logy. We are asked to make the leap of accurate observer. Piaget testing in experimental fith that Piaget was in fact a sensitive and himself seemed aware of these problems: for a pedagogue! itis so hard to in the middle eo cored Has wd eae pout Sac i em ee te Wo tall wheter Paget cori con or cdr hes wealy teal fee ah ape and statistical analysis, In hiswhich he interpreted at great Length: The reader has no idea whether ie Solar representa of al clden teste. F those characteristics of Paget's methodol- 9963) concluded that Plaget was primarily in ogy and writing? Fla gy and writing? the requirements of the sc- terested in satisfying his own curiosity, not ere Geumnity, Consequently, be played by bis own rules. whet Going research and wrote almost as though he were talking hiesel wrEycogh Plaget’s methodology and reporting are annoying ro 277 Although Page und and crluate hs theory, they may be sme; sucoest, His qualitative methods capeured ihich sometimes is lost when quan- hhad used standardized procedures eve missed some fascinating facets of and Opper suggest, “If P= very point with the maximem of cr cre Pol anced beyond the uy ol tion (one of his fist research topic) (1979, pp. 395) PIAGET'S OWN MODIFICATIONS OF HilS THEORY saget considered himelf one of the primary revisionists of “PES BeSS> As is acer works are translated Piaget” is being seeded (ove. Bellin, 1992; Beilin & Fireman, 2000; Loureso® & Tahuto, 1996, Montangero & Maurice-Naville, 1997). Although apes eect ork was presented througbout tis chapter Of ti eT anges thou be highlighted, particule regarding dev fpimental change, equllbracon, andthe logicomath! er jars, Paget (1975 (1985)] put lest ve concluded that Piaget “nove considers d anid though one may call a stage ‘2 detour of tat pris of equim re ela wl et eae cro teew development as less stepike, with longer wins, Piaget began to We cages He increased hs atenton to mectaiens SXGally the equlibration proces. He fers m subprocesses of assimilation, aco ond reflective abstraction. [2 2). Floget’s Own Modifications of His Theory 89 level. Ps Taget gave the example that a young child can know how fom he 9 choo ina praca yang cao ge Kn poiet wo anther. tn reflective absrseon, ds Inowedge is pro- Ieee onto a representational level—an overall cognitive map of te spival relations between heme and school (Montagero & Maurice: ‘ville, 1997, p. 58), “ Piaget also worked out a new way of describin Shang ith thn» sage ad over ae ger een mera tone changes, Knowledge abou properties of objects Gina) leas to igo about relations between object properties of actions (i and then toa sructure tat organizes these relations (wars). For sro, fyiette Teaco be iden in’ and thus go together, to “Cas andbuses and other veh are modes of transportation within a hierarchical logical system.” way things mi ty and ocelr rng) te pe of dovtopmet ca ‘th his earlier emphasis on logieal necessity. A new cogaitive sure gente new pou, hich ete cd yon Procedures on objects. Through accommodation to these nev ex fences, he cd can eablsh eur again. nts proces lity and necessity are intertwined beeause new possiblides may ‘hich in turn may lead to new possibilities, an ‘As an example of the increasing awareness of pk ‘lopment, Piaget (1981) showed children a box wit red children a box with o fe under a cloth. At age 5 or 6, children would accept only a single lor fh dds se of te boxe sine aor 1, a Sense of nece young children chil Bi p48). race lacs is exentaly this development csing dh the concep of ulmted pws cnc inthe environment, must be conseced internally. portal apect fein conven, Ar example of ’s later [1974 (1980)] research in this ares even copy larger thn the one Beaune the lst and gst de no unstack cold be and compared with each of the six disks atachel to the