Piaget said that children develop schemata to help them understand the world. Schemata are concepts (mental models) that are used to help us categorize and interpret information.Cognitive principles of learning by the time children have reached adulthood, they have created schemata for almost everything. When children learn new information, they adjust their schemata through two processes: assimilation and accommodation.Cognitive principles of learning first, they assimilate new information or experiences in terms of their current schemata: assimilation is when they take in information that is comparable to what they already know.Cognitive principles of learning accommodation describes when they change their schemata based on new information. This process continues as children interact with their environment.Cognitive principles of learning

For example, 2-year-old blake learned the schema for dogs because his family has a labrador retriever. When blake sees other dogs in his picture books, he says, “look mommy, dog!” thus, he has assimilated them into his schema for dogs.Cognitive principles of learning one day, blake sees a sheep for the first time and says, “look mommy, dog!” having a basic schema that a dog is an animal with four legs and fur, blake thinks all furry, four-legged creatures are dogs.Cognitive principles of learning when blake’s mom tells him that the animal he sees is a sheep, not a dog, blake must accommodate his schema for dogs to include more information based on his new experiences.Cognitive principles of learning blake’s schema for dog was too broad, since not all furry, four-legged creatures are dogs. He now modifies his schema for dogs and forms a new one for sheep.Cognitive principles of learning

In piaget’s view, around the same time children develop object permanence, they also begin to exhibit stranger anxiety, which is a fear of unfamiliar people.Cognitive principles of learning babies may demonstrate this by crying and turning away from a stranger, by clinging to a caregiver, or by attempting to reach their arms toward familiar faces such as parents.Cognitive principles of learning stranger anxiety results when a child is unable to assimilate the stranger into an existing schema; therefore, she can’t predict what her experience with that stranger will be like, which results in a fear response.Cognitive principles of learning

Piaget’s second stage is the preoperational stage, which is from approximately 2 to 7 years old. In this stage, children can use symbols to represent words, images, and ideas, which is why children in this stage engage in pretend play.Cognitive principles of learning A child’s arms might become airplane wings as he zooms around the room, or a child with a stick might become a brave knight with a sword. Children also begin to use language in the preoperational stage, but they cannot understand adult logic or mentally manipulate information (the term operational refers to logical manipulation of information, so children at this stage are considered to be pre-operational).Cognitive principles of learning children’s logic is based on their own personal knowledge of the world so far, rather than on conventional knowledge. For example, dad gave a slice of pizza to 10-year-old keiko and another slice to her 3-year-old brother, kenny.Cognitive principles of learning kenny’s pizza slice was cut into five pieces, so kenny told his sister that he got more pizza than she did. Children in this stage cannot perform mental operations because they have not developed an understanding of conservation, which is the idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size as long as nothing has been removed or added.Cognitive principles of learning

Piaget developed the three-mountain task to determine the level of egocentrism displayed by children. Children view a 3-dimensional mountain scene from one viewpoint, and are asked what another person at a different viewpoint would see in the same scene.Cognitive principles of learning watch the three-mountain task in action in this short video from the university of minnesota and the science museum of minnesota.

Piaget’s third stage is the concrete operational stage, which occurs from about 7 to 11 years old.Cognitive principles of learning in this stage, children can think logically about real (concrete) events; they have a firm grasp on the use of numbers and start to employ memory strategies.Cognitive principles of learning they can perform mathematical operations and understand transformations, such as addition is the opposite of subtraction, and multiplication is the opposite of division.Cognitive principles of learning in this stage, children also master the concept of conservation: even if something changes shape, its mass, volume, and number stay the same.Cognitive principles of learning for example, if you pour water from a tall, thin glass to a short, fat glass, you still have the same amount of water. Remember keiko and kenny and the pizza?Cognitive principles of learning how did keiko know that kenny was wrong when he said that he had more pizza?

Children in the concrete operational stage also understand the principle of reversibility, which means that objects can be changed and then returned back to their original form or condition.Cognitive principles of learning take, for example, water that you poured into the short, fat glass: you can pour water from the fat glass back to the thin glass and still have the same amount (minus a couple of drops).Cognitive principles of learning

The fourth, and last, stage in piaget’s theory is the formal operational stage, which is from about age 11 to adulthood. Whereas children in the concrete operational stage are able to think logically only about concrete events, children in the formal operational stage can also deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations.Cognitive principles of learning children in this stage can use abstract thinking to problem solve, look at alternative solutions, and test these solutions. In adolescence, a renewed egocentrism occurs.Cognitive principles of learning for example, a 15-year-old with a very small pimple on her face might think it is huge and incredibly visible, under the mistaken impression that others must share her perceptions.Cognitive principles of learning beyond formal operational thought

As with other major contributors of theories of development, several of piaget’s ideas have come under criticism based on the results of further research.Cognitive principles of learning for example, several contemporary studies support a model of development that is more continuous than piaget’s discrete stages (courage & howe, 2002; siegler, 2005, 2006).Cognitive principles of learning many others suggest that children reach cognitive milestones earlier than piaget describes (baillargeon, 2004; de hevia & spelke, 2010).Cognitive principles of learning

According to piaget, the highest level of cognitive development is formal operational thought, which develops between 11 and 20 years old. However, many developmental psychologists disagree with piaget, suggesting a fifth stage of cognitive development, known as the postformal stage (basseches, 1984; commons & bresette, 2006; sinnott, 1998).Cognitive principles of learning in postformal thinking, decisions are made based on situations and circumstances, and logic is integrated with emotion as adults develop principles that depend on contexts.Cognitive principles of learning one way that we can see the difference between an adult in postformal thought and an adolescent in formal operations is in terms of how they handle emotionally charged issues.Cognitive principles of learning

It seems that once we reach adulthood our problem solving abilities change: as we attempt to solve problems, we tend to think more deeply about many areas of our lives, such as relationships, work, and politics (labouvie-vief & diehl, 1999).Cognitive principles of learning because of this, postformal thinkers are able to draw on past experiences to help them solve new problems. Problem-solving strategies using postformal thought vary, depending on the situation.Cognitive principles of learning what does this mean? Adults can recognize, for example, that what seems to be an ideal solution to a problem at work involving a disagreement with a colleague may not be the best solution to a disagreement with a significant other.Cognitive principles of learning