PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Following is a list of characteristics of children’s thinking during various stages. Identify the stage by placing the correct letter in the blanks.

a. sensorimotor c. concrete operations

b. preoperational d. formal operations

_____ The child first understands conservation.

_____ At the end of this stage the child is beginning to think symbolically (e.g., in terms of mental images.

_____ The child shows the shortcomings of centration, irreversibility, egocentrism, and animism.

_____ At the beginning of this stage the child’s behavior is dominated by reflexes and the ability to coordinate sensory input and movement.

_____ When water is poured from a wide beaker into a taller beaker, children may say there is now more water in the taller beaker.

_____ The child’s thought processes are abstract and systematic.

_____ Object permanence occurs during this stage.

_____ For the first time the child in this stage is mentally able to undo an action and also is able to focus on more than one feature of a problem at the same time.

_____ During the first part of this stage, “out of sight, out of mind” might describe the child’s reaction to hidden objects.

Consider the situations described below and answer the associated questions.

a. A four-year-old insists small people must live in the TV because they are right there behind the glass. Identify the stage and the phenomenon being displayed by this child.

b. A child adept at roller skating goes ice skating for the first time. She keeps trying to stand and move just as on roller skates but fails again and again. According to Piaget, what is necessary for mastery of this new skill?

c. An eight-year-old boy threatened to tell his parents when given only one of the three candy bars he and his ten-year-old brother were told to share. The older child then broke his brother's bar in half and gave him two pieces. This satisfied both children because they each had two pieces. Identify the cognitive stages of these children and the disadvantage that allows the younger child to be cheated.

d. Previously, whenever Johnny banged with a spoon, his mother would put it in a drawer and Johnny would quickly move on to something else. Now that he's eight months old, this isn't working. The child continues to demand the spoon even though he can't see it. Identify the cognitive stage of this child and the change that has taken place.