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Cognitive And Language Development
Development from one stage to another is a natural process of maturation, according to Piaget. He suggests that development occurs in a certain pattern. He noticed, for example, that very young children had certain skills in regard to objects in their environment. These skills, simplistic sensori - motor skills, directed the way in which the child was able to explore his or her environment. Also, how the child gained more knowledge of the world, and was able to demonstrate more sophisticated exploratory skills.
The Sensori - Motor stage lasts roughly from birth to 2 years of age. This stage makes use of the senses combined with movement, to develop spatial awareness, and assists the child in gathering information about the environment in which they reside. This stage is comprised of 3 main aspects which are as follows:
The Senses, being those of touch, taste, sight, sound/hearing, and smell, and these contribute directly towards the processing of information. Having an ability to simply touch something, provides information about the consistency and/or density of an object
Motor Movement is having the ability to understand the environment around you by movement of Self, and movement or manipulation of objects. An example of this behaviour would be to manipulate a small object, such as a cube, and bring it to the mouth where the senses of taste and smell will be utilised to cause, or bring about an understanding of the object in question.
Object Impermanence occurs when an object is presented, and then removed from sight. The image of the object does not remain within the long - term memory, and because of that, may well be forgotten quickly. Conversely, when an object is consistently presented, and recognised, it becomes clear that object permanence has occurred. This is with the understanding that though the object may not always be visible, it still retains an existence.
The Pre - Operational stage starts from about 2 years of age, and lasts until roughly 7 years of age. This stage makes use of signs, symbols, or objects to represent things. It also enables communication, and the development of language/s, and relating a sound with an object. There are 4 aspects of this stage, which are as follows:
Symbolic thinking, (or magickal thinking) is simply a fancy term for the imagination. Children make use of the ability to allow an object, which is one thing in appearance
Animism is the thinking that inanimate objects also have feelings. According to Wolfgang Wildgen, (Causation, Control and Evolutionary Semiotics) "Piaget shows, animism in children (until 12 years) contains a series of stages, although the development is not always linear, but follows an internal logic or dialectic. In the first stage everything has consciousness, in the second only moving objects have consciousness, in a third self - locomotion is the major criterium of consciousness, and finally, only living beings like humans, animals or plants may have consciousness".
Egocentrism is simply having an ability to see things from your own point of view, as opposed to someone else's. Very young children do not have this ability, as it tends not to surface until roughly 2 years of age. A child covering his or her eyes, for example, and the same child assumes because he or she does not see you, that you can also not see him or her. In this case, the child assumes that everyone else in their world, holds the same opinions/views, and experiences as he or she does. It is a very abstract, one - dimensional means of understanding. The evidence of this was taken and proven by the "3 mountains" experiment.
Conservation refers to the idea that a quantity remains the same, even though its appearance may have been altered. There are several ways of testing this out, which I will detail here:
Liquid ~
Taking information from the milk bottle test, though the child witnessed the milk bottles being filled, and saw how much liquid each contained when poured into a shallow baking dish, the amount of liquid appears to be less, although it is not. Taking the same amount of liquid, and pouring it into two different - shaped glasses, one tall and skinny, the other short and fat, the child will automatically assume the tall skinny glass contains more liquid, by virtue of the height of the liquid, giving a false appearance of containing more.
Mass ~
In this experiment, two identical balls of clay are presented - one of which is rolled into a cylindrical shape, the other, pounded flat. The one which is pounded flat, will seem to have more mass than the cylinder shaped one, by virtue that it seems larger.
Number ~
Continuing with the experiment, if we then present the child with 3 rows of counters or beans, two rows being identical, but the third row being spaced wider apart, the child will say that the longer row has more in it, by virtue of the fact that it seems to contain more, because of length.
The Concrete - Operational stage lasts from roughly the ages of 7 - 11 years of age. The word "operations" refers to a series of logical operations or principles employed when solving problems. In this stage, the child not only uses symbols to represent, but can manipulate those symbols logically. This is employing the ability to understand that things sometimes remain the same, even though their outward appearance may have been altered. This stage is represented in 3 aspects, which are as follows:
De - Centering ~
This is an ability to take into account the intial state of an object, and not be deceived by its appearance, when that appearance becomes altered. A good example of this would be represented by taking a piece of twine, and scrunching it up. It is understood that scrunching it up does not detract from its length - that is still retained, despite the "altered" state of the twine.
Reversibility ~
This is the assumption that if you return something to its original state, the original volume becomes readily more apparent, or recognisable. For example, going back to the two balls of clay experiment, the child understands at this stage, that if you take the flattened ball and break it up into several smaller pieces, the amount won't have changed. The child will be able to see and understand that it still retains the same amount.
Seriation ~
Seriation is simply having the ability to put things into logical order. It takes into account several features of an object at the same time, seeing it in a multi - dimensional aspect, or in terms of greater than/less than. A good example of this is to present several stones of various sizes, and ask that they be put into order, or even classed by color, or type of stone.
The Formal - Operational stage begins roughly from 11 years of age, and progresses throughout adulthood. This is the ability to move forward from manipulation of things/objects, to acquiring the ability to manipulate ideas - to be able to think (and understand) things through without having to see them. Some people refer to this as having good visualisation skills. It is also known as having the capacity of mental imagery and abstract thinking, and the ability to hypothesise, and employ strategic thinking. This is a significant leap forward.
Abstract thinking involves the ability to solve issues/puzzles, while the ability to hypothesise simply means one has the ability to make an educated guess and work out a solution to the problem at hand.
Accomodation and Assimilation ~
We all have "folders" within a certain area of our minds. These folders store information as and when we learn it, to be made use of for other times, or to help us recognise similarities when presented to us. These "folders" are known as "schemata" (which is plural), and individually as schema. Within each schema is a certain type of information, especially about experiences we have had, or how to accomplish certain tasks.
Assimilation is when new information is fitted within an existing schema in order that it can be understood, and learning occurs. For example, one schema might have detailed information about cars, until a blue car is presented to us. Now we must make room for the blue car, which is still, after all, a car, but now there is a difference, because of the color.
Accomodation is when the schema changes to handle the new information - to accommodate itself to the new experience. Following the above - mentioned example, we have now successfully assimilated and accomodated a blue car within the existing schema. Piaget's studies on child intellectual development were fairly far reaching for his time, but it must be said that his ideas are completely in line for intellectual development, since every child develops differently, and not within a linear fashion. Children tend to develop as and when they feel ready to do so, and in spite of constant attention to detail by Piaget, rather like B.F. Skinner, some things only happen within their own time, and by their own readiness. There are plenty of contrary findings to his work, one being abstract thought. According to Piaget, younger children are not capable of abstract thought, but in all truth, children have already acquired abstract thought, just that theirs may not be totally equipped to deal with more "adult - centered" abstract thinking, but this does not mean they cannot grasp it, only that Piaget simply didn't see it occurring. Still, there is no doubt that his contributions within intellectual development.
Copyright ~ Silver Rainbolt 2006 ~ All Rights Reserved
You may not legally copy any part of this document without prior written consent of the author. Doing so, infringes upon copyright, and is punishable under the law.
Copyright 2006 held by Silver Rainbolt/In Medias Res, and Damien Daville/Vampire Church
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