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Piagets stage theory of cognitive development The sensorimotor stage Object permanence

Distinguish between gradualist and stage theories Describe and criticise ways of investigating infant cognition Invent mnemonics to help you remember facts in exams

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Piagets stage theory

Piaget said that childrens cognitive development unfolds in stages.
Where have we encountered stage theories before? What does a stage theory imply about development?

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Gradualist vs. Stage theories

Psychological attribute
Gradual change over time

Abrupt change Relative stability

How might the line representing a stage theory be different?

Time

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Stage Theories
Development is discontinuous Each stage is qualitatively distinct The sequence is universal and invariant These statements are true of all stage theories of development. What might they mean as applied to cognitive development?

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Piagets stage theory

Childrens ability to understand, think about and solve problems in the world develops in a stop-start manner. At each stage of development, the childs thinking is qualitatively different from the other stages. All children go through the same stages in the same order (but not all at the same rate)

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Piagets Stage Theory of Cognitive Development

Stage Characteristics

Typical Age

Sensorimotor stage

Substages 1-3

Ability to deal with situations is 0-8 months limited to: i) Having sensations and producing actions; ii) The here and now
Intentional actions emerge; trial and error behaviour; object concept object permanence develops; simple pretend play; language acquisition Symbolic thought develops; egocentrism; animism; centration 8-24 months

Substages 4-6

Preoperational stage

Preconceptual period Intuitive period

2-4 years

Judgements based on appearance 4-7 years not logical thought; less egocentric; unable to conserve

Concrete operational stage

Conservation; seriation; transitivity; class inclusion

Abstract concepts; hypothetical thinking; flexibility in thinking

7-11 years

Formal operational stage

12+ years

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Homework pt. 1
Invent a mnemonic to help you remember the names and order of Piagets stages.

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Sensorimotor stage
In the first stage, the child thinks by sensing (sensori-) and by performing actions on (motor) the world around it. It does not think by manipulating mental representations, like an adult does.

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General Symbolic Function

During the sensorimotor stage a range of cognitive abilities develop. These include:
Object permanence Self-recognition Deferred imitation Representational play

They relate to the emergence of the general symbolic function, which is the capacity to represent the world mentally

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Object permanence
Infants do not realise that objects exist independently of them Out of sight, out of mind Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist when the child cannot see them

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 How could we investigate whether a child has object permanence?

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Piaget (1963) search tasks

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Object permanence

Typical age

Search behaviour

Before 8m 8-12m

Does not search for hidden object at all. Searches for hidden object in initial hiding place even if the object is moved to a second hiding place while the child watches (the A not B error)

12-18m

Searches in most recent hiding place.

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Homework pt. 2
Is Piagets search task a valid test of whether a child has developed object permanence?
Does a childs failure to search mean that it has no idea that the object still exists? Might this task be measuring something else instead?

Two students will be presenting their views to the class at the start of next lesson, so be prepared.

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Review
Pair up. Decide who will be infant and who will be investigator.
Investigator must test infants object permanence using the two hiding place method. Infant must decide which stage of development she is at and respond accordingly. Investigator must identify childs likely age and explain why.

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