By admin 15 June 2022 , , , , ,

Learning Piaget’s Cognitive Development from Top CTET Classes

CTET occupies the pride of place among all the Teacher Eligibility Tests conducted in the country. Being an area common to all these tests, Child Development is the centerpiece of an aspirant’s preparation strategy.

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What is Cognitive Development?
The words ‘Intellectual Development’ and ‘Cognitive Development’ are often used synonymously. Cognitive Development is seen as the journey of becoming intellectually more capable. However, to have a finer understanding of Cognitive Development, one must learn about Cognition first. Cognition can be understood as an individual’s learning ability. It comprises intellectual capabilities such as:
• Memory
• Attention
• Problem Solving
• Planning
• Judgment (Decision Making) etc.

Thus, Cognitive Development refers to the acquisition and strengthening of the above mental faculties.

Piaget’s Theory
Jean Piaget, one of the most influential thinkers on Child Psychology, studied the Cognitive Development of Human Beings in great depth. He viewed children as little scientists who actively create their understanding of the world by exploring the environment. Based on his research, he came up with a theory in which Cognitive Development has been divided into 4 progressive stages.
Stages of Cognitive Development
• Sensorimotor (0-2 Years)
• Pre-Operational (2-7 Years)
• Concrete Operational (7-11 Years)
• Formal Operational (11-15 Years)

I. Sensorimotor Stage

• It is the stage of Infancy.
• Vocalization begins with the infant’s babbling, sometime between 3 and 6 months of age.
• The infant’s understanding of the world is limited to its sensory perception due to the lack of Object Permanence. Object Permanence means an understanding that an object continues to exist even when it can’t be perceived. The famous ‘Hidden Toy Experiment’ was conducted to assess Object Permanence in children.
• Gradually, around the 8th month, infants start pursuing the object partially covered in their presence.
• Intelligence develops through interplay between sensory stimuli and motor activities.
• The newborn lives in the present and what is out of sight is out of mind.
• This stage is associated with Imitation, Memory and Mental Representation.

II. Pre-Operational Stage

• Object Permanence is fully developed. The child acquires the awareness that an object still exists, even if it is hidden.
• Symbolic Thinking develops around 4 years. The child can think in terms of signs and symbols. He/she develops the ability to use mental symbols in order to represent objects.
• Egocentrism or Self Focus is seen in these children. They see the world only in terms of their own selves and aren’t able to appreciate others’ point of view.

• Due to their Egocentrism, these children display Animism, the thinking that all things are living, like oneself. Thus, they attribute characteristics of living beings to non-living things.

• Another feature of thought associated with this stage is Centration. It means focusing on a single characteristic or aspect for understanding an object/event. Eg: The child may insist on a “big glass” of juice, preferring a tall narrow glass to a short broad one.

• Irreversibility is a salient feature of Preoperational thought. The child is unable to perform reversible mental operations i.e. the child is not able to do mentally what was done physically before.
• Around 4 Years of age, Children become very curious. They want answers to many ‘Why’& ‘How’ questions. This stage of heightened curiosity is known as the Intuitive Thought Sub-stage (4 to 7 Years).
• These children also engage in a great deal of Pretend/Symbolic play. (Eg: Pretending that a cardboard box is a racecar; Having tea parties with soft toys or imaginary friends).

III. Concrete Operational Stage
• Here, the Child becomes capable of performing reversible / concrete operations (mental actions that allow him/her to do mentally what was done physically before). Concrete operations facilitate children to focus on diverse features and not on a single characteristic of the object (Decentration).

• Thought process becomes more flexible. So, the children can think of alternative solutions when solving problems and can even retrace their steps mentally, if required.
• The Child now understands the Principle of Conservation. It is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes (Mass, Volume, Length, Number etc.)

• Children acquire the ability of Inductive Reasoning during this stage. They understand Inductive Logic which involves drawing conclusions on the basis of observations so as to arrive at generalization. (Specific Examples to General Principle). Eg: Cats give birth to kittens. Dogs give birth to puppies. Mammals give birth to young ones.
• Logical Thinking develops which enables the child to think logically regarding objects & events.

• The Childs acquires the ability to put together objects based on a variety of characteristics (Eg: color, number, mass, shape), which is termed as Classification. It involves the ability to group objects based on some dimension they share.
• Children become capable of Seriation (Logical Order): The Child can put things in order based on Quantity or Magnitude. Eg. Height or Weight.

IV. Formal Operational Stage
• Hypothetical or Imaginative Thinking develops during adolescence. Adolescents can imagine a concept in their minds and explain it logically.

• The individual acquires the ability of Abstract Thinking. Adolescents can think logically about abstract propositions.
• Ideological Thinking develops. Adolescents can logically explain and critically analyze their ideology / point of view.
• Adolescents start thinking about the ideal characteristics for not only others but also themselves. They compare themselves and others with these ideal standards. It is known as Idealistic Thinking.
• Adolescents become capable of thinking and planning for the future.
• Hypothetical Deductive Reasoning emerges during this stage. Adolescent thinking is more systematic in solving problems. They think of possible courses of action, why & how something is happening and systematically seek solutions.

• Adolescents also develop a Special kind of Egocentrism. As per David Elkind, there are two components of adolescents’ egocentrism:
(I) Imaginary Audience – Imaginary Audience is the adolescent’s belief that others are as preoccupied with them as they are about themselves.

(II) Personal Fable – It is part of the adolescents’ egocentrism involving their sense of uniqueness. It makes them think that no one understands them or their feelings.

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Summary
This blog update covers the crux of Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory. Any CTET exam aspirant is going to be greatly benefitted by grasping the contents provided here. If you have any queries that you would like us to answer, feel free to write to us at vidyagurudelhi@gmail.com.