COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
JEAN PIAGET
A Swiss psychologist who became
internationally known for his
pioneering studies of the mental
development of children. Piaget
defined four discrete stages of
development through which a child
passes.
COGNITIVE STAGES OF
DEVELOPMENT
• Jean Piaget believed that children
actively construct knowledge as
they manipulate and explore their
world, and their cognitive
development takes place is stage.
• Central to his theory is the
biological concept called
adaptation.
• Assimilation – part of adaptation
in which the external world is
interpreted in terms of current
schemes.
• Accommodation – part of
adaptation in which new schemes
are created and old ones adjusted
to produce a better fit with the
environment.
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
(0-2 YEARS)
• Infants use sensory and motor
capabilities to explore and gain a
basic understanding of the
environment.
• Schemes are specific structures
or organized way of making sense
of experiences that change with
age.
• Circular reaction building
schemes in which infants try to
repeat a chance event caused by
their own motor activity.
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
(SUBSTAGES)
• Reflexive schemes - newborn
reflexes (birth to 1 month)
• Primary circular reaction - Infants
start to gain voluntary control over
their actions by repeating chance
behaviors that lead to satisfying
results(1 to 4 months)
• Secondary circular reactions -
actions aimed at repeating
interesting effects in the
surrounding world; imitation of
familiar behaviors (4 to 8 months)
• Coordination of secondary circular
reactions - intentional or goal-
directed behavior; imitation of
behaviors slightly different from
those the infant usually performs;
ability to find a hidden object in the
first location in which it is hidden
(object permanence) (8-12 months)
 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• Tertiary circular reactions -
reactions become experimental
and creative. Toddlers repeat
behaviors with variations provoking
new effects. (12-18 months)
• Mental representations
(combinations) - internal
representations of objects and
events as indicated by sudden
solutions to sensory motor
problems, ability to find an object
that has been moved while out of
sight, deferred imitation and make
believe play.
PREOPERATIONAL
STAGE (2-7 YEARS)
• Schemes now represent objects
beyond a child’s immediate view,
but the child does not yet reason in
logical, adult-like ways.
• Thought is egocentric.
• Thought is centralized.
• Children engage in collective
monologues, fantasizing , and
animism.
• Children have difficulty with
conservation tasks.
CONCRETE OPERATIONS
STAGE (7-12 YEARS)
• Adult like logic appears but is
limited to reasoning about
concrete reality.
• Older children are better at
distinguishing fantasy from reality
and reasons correctly about
many
changes in objects and events in
the everyday world.
• Children are no longer fooled by
appearances.
• Able to solve concrete problems
in
everyday world.
LEV VGOTSKY’S
SOCIOCULTURAL
THEORY
• Many cognitive processes and
skills are socially transferred from
more knowledgeable members of
society to children.
• Looks at the important
contributions that society makes to
individual development.
• This theory stresses the
interaction between developing
people and the culture in which
they live.
 COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
• This theory suggests that human
learning is largely a social process.
ZONE OF PROXIMAL
DEVELOPMENT
• A range of tasks that the child
cannot yet alone but can do with
the help of more skilled partners.
the assistance provided to fit the
child’s current level of performance.
• As competence increases, the
adult permits the child to take over
his/her guiding role and apply it to
his/ her own activity.

• An important concept that relates

to the difference between what a
child can achieve independently
and what a child can achieve with
guidance and encouragement from
a skilled partner.

MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE
OTHERS (MKO)

• It refers to someone who has a

better understanding or a higher
ability level than the learner, with
respect to a particular task,
process, or concept.

• Although the implication is that

the MKO is a teacher or an older
adult, this is not necessarily the
case. Many times, a child's peers
or an adult's children may be the
individuals with more knowledge or
experience.

SCAFFOLDING

• A changing quality of support

over the course of a teaching
session in which the adult adjusts