ABSTRACT
People used to think that the main difference between children and adults was that children knew less than adults. However, we now recognise that this is not true; children actually think differently from the way in which adults think. In this chapter we will look at the work of one of the most important developmental psychologists, Piaget, who studied a great many children and developed a theory to describe the way in which children’s thinking changes as they grow older. We will then look at an alternative approach, that of Vygotsky. Finally, we will consider how Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories have been applied to education. What's in this Unit?
The specification lists the following things that you will need to be able to do for the examination:
Describe how cognitive development occurs in invariant and universal stages.
Outline the stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational.
Describe the concept of object permanence
Describe the concept of egocentrism and the process of decentring
Describe the concept of conservation
Explain the criticisms of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Consider Vygotsky’s theory as an alternative theory, with specific reference to the zone of proximal development
Describe Piaget’s (1952) experiment into the conservation of number
Outline the limitations of Piaget’s study
Explain how psychological research relates to educating children
