EDS220| EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY |

Assist Prof. Dr. Elif

COGNITIVE Öztürk
DEVELOPMENT Educational Sciences, Curriculum
and Instruction, METU
PIAGET’S THEORY OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT

Piaget identified four factors that interact to influence changes in thinking:

- Biological maturation
- Activity
- Social experiences
- Equilibration
INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT

MATURATION

Biological changes genetically programmed

in each human being

Parents and teachers have little impact on

this aspect of cognitive development
INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT

ACTIVITY

With the physical maturation, the ability to act on

the environment and learn from it increases.

As we act on the environment –as we explore, test,

observe, and eventually orginize information- we
are likely to alter our thinking processes at the
same time.
INFLUENCES ON DEVELOPMENT

SOCIAL EXPERIENCES
As we develop, we are also interacting with the people
around us.

According to Piaget, our cognitive development is

influenced by social transmission, or learning from
others.
PIAGET’S THEORY OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
BASIC TENDENCIES IN THINKING

According to Piaget, all species inherit two basic tendencies, two major principles
guide intellectual growth and biological development:
-Organisation
-Adaptation
 e m a
i al Sch Schema Forming Dog:
Ini t Ears
Four legs
Tail

EQUILIBRIUM
Disequlibrium ! This is a
Accommodation cat see it
has long Ears
whiskers Four legs
This is Assimilation Tail
a cat
This is a
Dog !
 e m a
i al Sch Schema Forming Dog:
Ini t Ears
Four legs
Tail

SAT I ON
NI
EQUILIBRIUM ORGA

Disequlibrium ! This is a
Accommodation cat see it
has long Ears
whiskers Four legs
This is Assimilation Tail
a cat
This is a
Dog !

TAT ION
ADAP
BASIC TENDENCIES IN THINKING

ORGANISATION
Combining, arranging, recombining, and rearranging of behaviours and thoughts
into psychological structures.

Piaget calls these structures as Schema

 basic building blocks of thinking
BASIC TENDENCIES IN THINKING

ADAPTATION
Tendency to adapt to the environment

Two main adaptation processes:

- Assimilation
- Accommodation
ADAPTATION
ASSIMILATION
How humans perceive and adapt to new information.
It is the process of fitting new information into pre-existing cognitive schemas

 For example when children see a cat for the first time , they call it a dog.
 They try to match the new experience with an existing scheme for identfying animals

It occurs when humans are faced with new or unfamiliar information

and refer to previously learned information in order to make sense of
it
ADAPTATION
ACCOMMODATION
Occurs when a person must change existing schemas to respond to a new situation.
The process of taking new information in one's environment and altering pre-
existing schemas in order to fit in the new information.

This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and
needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation
ADAPTATION
ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION

Assimilation and accommodation cannot exist without the other.

People adapt to their increasingly complex environments by using existing schemas
whenever these schemas work (assimilation)
and by modifying and adding to their schemas when something new is needed
(accommodation).
EQUILIBRATION
Organizing, assimilating and accommodating can be seen as a kind of
complex balancing act.

In Piaget’s theory, the actual changes in thinking take place

through the process of equilibration.

The act of searching for a balance!

WHAT IF THIS CHILD
SEES A LION !!!
WHAT WE ASSIMILATE IN OUR
DAILY LIFE !!!!
EQUILIBRATION
The process of equilibration:
If we apply a particular schema to an event

The schema The schema does not produce a satisfying result

works Th
in
ki
ng
ch
The equilibrium exist an Disequilibrium exist 
ge
 an
d
m
ov
es Become uncomfortable
ah
ea
d

Motivates us to keep searching for a

solution through assimilation and
accommodation
PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Proposed that children’s thinking progresses through a series of four discrete
stages.

1. Sensorimotor stage
2. The preoperational reasoning stage
3. The concrete operational reasoning stage
4. The formal operational reasoning stage
INFANCY:
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (BIRTH TO 2
YEARS)
Infants progressively construct knowledge and
understanding of the world
by coordinating experiences (such as vision and
hearing) with physical interactions with objects (such
as grasping, sucking, and stepping)
INFANCY:
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE (BIRTH TO 2
YEARS)

Infant develops;
•Object permenance
 understanding that objects continue to exist even though he
or she cannot see or hear them
•Goal orientation
• the deliberate planning of steps to meet an objective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRF27F2bn-A
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Starts when the child begins to learn to speak and enlarge
their vocabulary dramatically.

Children do not yet understand concrete logic and cannot

mentally manipulate information

Children's increase in playing

The child still has trouble seeing things from different points
of view !
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Semiotic (Symbolic) Function (2-4 Years):
The children's play is mainly categorized by
symbolic play and manipulating symbols.
pieces of paper being plates, and a box being a
table
children develop imaginary friends or role-play
with friends
Children's play becomes more social and they
assign roles to each other
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Intuitive thought (4-7 years):
Children tend to become very curious and ask
many questions,
Begin to use primitive reasoning
There is an emergence in the interest of
reasoning and wanting to know why things
are the way they are
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Children are not able to operate logically
until 7 due to several problematic
characteristics:

Conservation:
Children aren’t capable of conservation
during this stage.
the ability to recognize that measurable
physical features of objects, such as length,
area, and volume, can be the same even when
objects appear different.
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Children are not capable of conservation because of three weaknesses in the way
they think:

Perceptional Centration
Irreversibility
Egocentrisim
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Perceptional centration
is the tendency to focus on one aspect of a problem and ignore other key aspects
(Example: same amount of water in different glasses)

Focusing on only one dimension

Lack understanding different aspects of a problem

EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
Irreversibility
Not able to thinking backwards.
the inability to mentally reverse an operation.
in the example, the three-year-old can’t imagine pouring the juice from the tumbler
back into the bottle.
If she poured the juice back, she’d understand that the tumbler holds the same
amount of liquid as the bottle.
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)

Egocentrisim
seeing everything form one’s own perspective.
Can not understand every people has a way of own thinking.
 Collective monolog (example: shaking hands in telephone)
EARLY CHILDHOOD:
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE (2 TO 6 OR 7
YEARS)
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Verbal instruction and warning are not very useful
 Not able to make sense of them

Demonstrating and having the child physically participate in the activity is more
effective

 Make Instuctions relatively short, using actions as well as words

 Dont expect them to be consistent
 Provide a wide range of experiences in order to build a foundation of concept
learning and language
LATER ELEMENTARY TO THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL YEARS:
CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE (6 OR 7
TO 11 OR 12 YEARS)
•Is characterized by the appropriate use of logic
•A child's thought processes become more mature and ‘adult-
like’
•Start solving problems in a more logical fashion
LATER ELEMENTARY TO THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL YEARS:
CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE (6 OR 7
TO 11 OR 12 YEARS)
Children are capable of: conservation

•Identity
•Compensation
•Reversibility
•Classification
•Seriation
LATER ELEMENTARY TO THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL YEARS:
CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE (6 OR 7
TO 11 OR 12 YEARS)
Identity
 If nothing is added or taken away, the material remains the same.

Compensation
 An apperent change in one direction can be compensated for by a change in
another direction
 (if the liquid rises higher, the glass is narrower)
LATER ELEMENTARY TO THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL YEARS:
CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE (6 OR 7
TO 11 OR 12 YEARS)
Reversibility
 Able to thinking backwards

Classification
(cities vs countries / fruits vs vegetables / mammals vs non-mammals)

Seriation
 Being able to make orderly arrengement

! Some people remain at concete operational stage throughout their life

LATER ELEMENTARY TO THE MIDDLE
SCHOOL YEARS:
CONCRETE OPERATIONS STAGE (6 OR 7
TO 11 OR 12 YEARS)
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Requires the use of concrete examples, objects, pictures, and hands-on practices.
Give students a chance to manipulate and test objects
Give well orginized and brief presentations
Use familiar examples to explain more complex ideas
Give opportunities for classification and grouping
Present problems that require analytical thinking
THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL REASONING
STAGE
(11 OR 12 YEARS AND THROUGHOUT THE REST OF
LIFE).

The person is capable of hypothetical and deductive

reasoning
People develop the ability to think about abstract concepts
THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL REASONING
STAGE
(11 OR 12 YEARS AND THROUGHOUT THE REST OF
LIFE)
Abstract thought
begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions
Metacognition
the capacity for "thinking about thinking" that allows adolescents and adults to reason
about their thought processes and monitor them.
Problem-solving
The ability to systematically solve a problem in a logical and methodical way emerges.
Hypothetical Thinking
involves hypothetical "what-if" situations that are not always rooted in reality
THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL REASONING
STAGE
(11 OR 12 YEARS AND THROUGHOUT THE REST OF
LIFE)
EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONs
Continue to use concrete operational teaching strategies
Give students opportunity to explore many hypothetical questions
Give students opportunity to solve problems and reason scientifically
Teach broad concepts, not just facts, using materials and ideas relevent to studetns’
life
LIMITATIONS
Although Piaget’s theory has been very influential, it has not gone unchallenged.
The Trouble with stages:
cognitive development is considerably more continuous than Piaget claimed.
Underestimating Childrens Abilities:
children may be able to learn concepts and capability of complex reasoning that supposedly
represented in more advanced stages with relative ease
Cognitive development and infornation processing:
Piaget did not take into account variability in a child's performance notably how a child can differ in
sophistication across several domains.
Cognitive development and culture:
Piaget’s theory overlooks the important effects of child’s cultural and social group
ACTI
VITY
 e r va t i on
Cons Obje
ct
1. Sensorimotor stage perm
a nenc
e
Classification Identity
Reve
rs ibility
2. The preoperational reasoning stage
Egoce c t i on
ntrisim i ot i c f u n
Sem
I rr e v
e rs i b i ng Metacognition
ili ty
s ol v Hypothetical Thinking
m -
ble 3. The concrete operational reasoning stage
o
Pr
Intuitiv n
e thoug
ht Perce t a t io
ptiona or i en
l Centr a l
i on at Go
Seriation 4. The formal operational reasoning stage
t
Abstract though
Compensation
1. Sensorimotor stage

2. The preoperational reasoning stage

3. The concrete operational reasoning stage

4. The formal operational reasoning stage

1. Sensorimotor stage
Goal orientation
Object permanence
2. The preoperational reasoning stage
Semiotic function Perceptional Centration
Intuitive thought Irreversibility
Egocentrisim
Conservation
3. The concrete operational reasoning stage
Identity
Compensation
Reversibility
Classification
Seriation
4. The formal operational reasoning stage
Abstract thought Metacognition Problem-solving
Hypothetical Thinking
 Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years) preoperational stage (2 to 6 or 7 years)
• The children's play is mainly categorized by symbolic play

1 •Object permenance
understanding that objects
• Children tend to become very curious and ask many
questions,

2
continue to exist even though he or • Begin to use primitive reasoning
she cannot see or hear them • Three Weaknessess:
•Goal orientation Perceptional Centration
• the deliberate planning of steps to Irreversibility
Egocentrisim
meet an objective
• Have the child physically participate in the activity
Concrete operatIons (6/7 to 11/12 years) • Make Instuctions relatively short,

3
• Provide a wide range of experiences in order to build a
appropriate use of logic
Children are capable of: foundation of concept learning and language
•Identity, Compensation, Reversibility, Classification, Formal operational reasoning stage (11/12 years
Seriation to rest).
Abstract thought
Use of concrete examples, objects, pictures, and hands-on
practices.
Well orginized and brief presentations
Use familiar examples to explain more complex ideas
Metacognition the capacity for "thinking about thinking"
Problem-solving
Hypothetical Thinking "what-if" situations
Give students opportunity to explore many hypothetical
4
Give opportunities for classification and grouping questions, to solve problems and reason scientifically
Present problems that require analytical thinking
 Duyusal Motor Dönemi (0-2 yaş) İşlem Öncesi Dönem (2 – 6/7 yaş)
• Çocuk oyunları temel olarak semboliktir

1 nesne kalıcılığı:
nesneleri göremese veya duyamasa bile
var olmaya devam ettiğini anlamak
• Çocuklar çok meraklı olma ve birçok soru sorma
eğilimindedir.

hedef oryantasyonu:
bir hedefe ulaşmak için adımların kasıtlı
Zayıflık:
1. Nesnenin korunumu
2. Algısal Merkezleme
3. Tersine Düşünebilme
2
olarak planlanması
4. Benmerkezcilik

Somut İşlemler Dönemi (6/7 - 11/12 yaş)

3
Çocuğun aktiviteye fiziksel olarak aktivitelere katılması
sağlanmalıdır. Talimatları nispeten kısa yapın, Kavram öğrenimi
Uygun mantık kullanımı bu aşamada başlar. ve dilin temelini oluşturmak için çok çeşitli deneyimler sağlayın.
Çocuklar şunları yapabilir: Nesnenin korunumunu anlar, Soyut İşlem Dönemi (11/12 yaş -…..).
Sınıflandırır, Serileştirir, Somut örnekler, nesneler,
resimler ve uygulamalı uygulamaların kullanımı. Soyut düşünce başlar.

4
Üstbiliş "düşünme hakkında düşünme" kapasitesi arter.
İyi düzenlenmiş ve kısa sunumlar yapın, daha karmaşık Problem çözme becerileri artar.
fikirleri açıklamak için tanıdık örnekler kullanın. Varsayımsal Düşünme "eğer" durumları değerlendirebilir.

Sınıflandırma ve gruplama için fırsatlar verin Analitik Öğrencilere birçok varsayımsal soruyu keşfetme, sorunları
düşünmeyi gerektiren mevcut problemler sunun. çözme ve bilimsel olarak akıl yürütme fırsatı verin.
EXIT TICKET
1. What do you learn best
2. What you do not understand?
3. three key words you keep in your mind