TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE
PROBLEM AND
BACKGROUND
1.1 Introduction……………………………………………….…1
1.2 Problem of the
Study………………………………………...4
1.3 Purpose of the Study ………………………………………..6
1.4 Scope
of the Study…………..…..…………………………..6
1.5 Methodology…………………………………..……………..7
1.6 Division of the Work ………………………………..………7
CHAPTER
TWO
THE PIAGETIAN
IDEOLOGY
2.1 Historical Background on
Piaget……….………….………..8
2.2 Piaget’s Works..……………………………..…...…………13
2.3 General Orientation to Piaget’s
Theory……………15
2..3.1 The
Concept of Genetic Epistemology. ………15
2.3.2 The Biological Approach ………………………..……………16
2,3.3 The Concept of structuralism. ….……………… ……
………16
CHAPTER THREE
PIAGETIAN
THEORIES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT VIS-À-VIS OTHER COGNITIVE THEORIES
3.1 The General Features of Piaget Theories
….…..18
3.1.1 The Sensorimotor Period …………………………………..…18
3.1.1.1
Modification of Reflexes……………………………….…….19
3.1.1.2 Primary Circular Reactions……………………..…………..20
3.1.1.3 Secondary Circular Reactions ………………………………20
3.1.1.4 Coordination of Means-end Relations
………..21
3.1.1.5 Tertiary Circular Reactions ………………………………..21
3.1.1.6 Mental Combinations ……………………………………..22
3.1.2 The Preoperational Period ……………………………………22
3.1.2.1 Egocentrism ……………..………………………………...24
3.1.2.2 Centration …………………………………………….……24
3.1.2.3 Semilogical Reasoning …………………..………………...25
3.1.2.4 Limited Social Cognition ………………………….………26
3.1.3 The Concrete Operational period
………………………….26
3.1.4 The Formal Operational Period
……………..………..29
3.1.5 The Mechanisms of Piaget’s Development
……….30
3.1.5.1 Cognitive Organization ……….……………………...……31
3.1.5.2 Cognitive Adaptation ……………………..………………32
3.1.4.1.1
Assimilation …………………………..………….……….33
3.1.4.1.2 Accommodation ………………………………….………34
3.1.4.2 Cognitive Equilibration …………………………………..35
3.2 Other Cognitive Theories vis-à-vis Piaget
Theories ……36
3.2.1 Jerome Bruner’s Theory of Cognitive
Development.36
3.2.1.1 Enactive Mode …..…………………………………….36
3.2.1.2. Iconic Mode ………………………………………..…….37
3.2.1.3 Symbolic Mode ………..…………………………………37
3.2.2 Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development
……..38
3.2.3 Albert Bandura’a Social Cognitive Theory
………..……41
CHAPTER FOUR
EVALUATION AND CONCLUSION
4.1 A
Critique of Piagetian Cognitive Theories ………...45
4.1.1 The
Underestimation of Children’s Capabilities ….….46
4.1.2The
Inadequate Account of Mechanisms ….…………47
4.1.3The
Inadequate Notion of Stage …………………………48
4.1.4 The Inadequate Account of Training Children for High
Reasoning….50
4.1.5 The
Underestimation of Cultural Role in Development... 50
4.1.6 The
Inadequate Method of Clinical Research …………51
4.2
Conclusion …………………………………………….……….53
CHAPTER ONE
PROBLEM AND BACKGROUND
1.1
INTRODUCTION
Generally
speaking, one of the earliest observations we make in life is that the desire
to explore the unknown to further our knowledge and understanding is a
fundamental characteristic of being human.
Thus, to boldly go into the unknown is also what each of us does in the
course of our development.
Psychological studies have found out that
human development is both the most fascinating and most complex science we
have. No wonder then, Piaget pointed out that “… life is a continuous creation
of increasingly complex forms with the environment” This
complex forms provided a ground for the contemporary research on human
development to consistently emphasize the multidisciplinary approach needed to
describe and explain how people change (and how they remain the same)
over time.
More still, Kail asserts that another way to approach development is to focus
on thought processes and the construction of knowledge, which
shows that interest in cognitive development, is a relatively recent
phenomenon. Hence, developmentalists,
who have been operating mainly within the framework of either psychoanalytic or
learning theories now, discover a new aspect of development to explore – a new
framework for their thinking.
According to Hilgard (1964), “Probably, the best way
to view cognitive psychology is to look at it as trend of humanism and
behaviorism, with an emphasis on thought processes, reasoning and problem
solving.” By this, we mean the process of becoming
aware, or coming to know a perceptual image.
In Piaget’s own view, cognitive development centers on the movement of a
child through succeeding stages of cognitive organization, whereby this
progress is accomplished by means of assimilation and accommodation. As the child encounters new experiences
he/she both reacts to them in terms of what the child already knows
(assimilation) and revises his/her worldview as a result of the new information
(accommodation). Thus, Cognition is in a process of constant change and
reorganization. Piaget believes that “at certain points in development, these
reorganizations are so momentous and fundamental that they represent a whole
new way of understanding the world”.
When such a transformation happens, for him, (Piaget),
a new stage of cognitive development is reached. The major stages he proposed are the
sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational
periods. I have set out to counteract in line with the contemporary
researchers, some of the underestimated views of cognitive development of infants
and young children and then give it a positive position as will be seen in the
chapters that follow.
1.2 PROBLEM OF THE STUDY
The fact of a child’s stages of growth constitutes the
current understanding of cognitive development, which is based upon conclusions
drawn by scientists who formulate questions and device methodologies by which
their questions can be answered. For instance, it is said that, “Swiss
developmental Psychologist, Jean Piaget was so often asked by American
audience, “what should we do to foster a child’s cognitive development…?
It is by understanding clearly the true humanistic
nature of this process that Jean Piaget set forth to offer the world his
cognitive developmental theories. However, “we should remember that no
particular theory which provides such a comprehensive explanation of development, can be expected
to withstand the
tests of further investigations without
undergoing some criticisms said,
Beilin, 1989, 1990’ Daehler & Bukatko, 1985; Halford, 1989, 1990.” There are:
1.
In
his (Piaget) child’s developmental theories, he underestimated the cognitive
capabilities of children. For instance,
the kinds of memory, which researchers now find in babies at 6 months of age,
were not found by Piaget until babies were 18 months old.
2.
The concept of stage has also encountered many
objections: for example, that it gives the false impression that development
proceeds by a series of abrupt jerks rather than smoothly; that intellectual
functioning at any one age shows more fluctuation than the concept of stage
would suggests; that cross-cultural variability limits the usefulness of the
concept; that environment is more influential than Piaget allows; and so on.
Of
course, Piaget did not have many of the methods that are now available to
scholars, including equipment and procedures to measure the electrical activity
of the brain. These and various others,
which we shall see later constitute a great problem about his theories and
therefore needs to be carefully examined in order to clarify matters not well
presented. A proper examination into Piagetian theories of cognitive
development, as well as critically analyzing the theories, is what this writer
set out to explore in this research work.
1.3
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of this work is to make a proper study into
the Piagetian theories of cognitive development, as well as placing them
side-by-side with other cognitive theories, with a view to eliciting from them
the positive views and criticizing others that seem vague to the contemporary
mind.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE
STUDY
The main area this research work covers is the view of
Piagetian theories of cognitive development.
Hence, the views of other psychologists, scientists, and some
philosophical opinions will be entertained, but only as they affect Piaget’s
line of thought.
1.5 METHODOLOGY OF
THE RESEARCH
The method is expository, analytic, and prescriptive.
As this is a philosophical work fideistic arguments are carefully avoided.
1.6 THE DIVISION OF THE WORK
This research is sectionalized into four chapters for
a better apprehension. Chapter one explicates the background, problem of the
study, purpose of the study, scope, method of research and division of work.
Chapter two is devoted to the Piagetian Ideology. It traces his historical
background as well as presents a general orientation to his theories. Chapter
three comprises of the Piagetian theories of cognitive development in
comparison with other cognitive theories. Finally, the evaluation of the whole work
is conveyed in chapter four. Hence, chapter four represents my contribution to
the academic world.
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