Outline and evaluate Piagets theory of cognitive development (9+16marks)

their senses such as by putting items into their mouths and looking into an area where the noise is being made. Object permanence is the awareness that something can exist independently of us and continue to exist without our observation. Piaget carried out a study based on object permanence linking to the sensori motor stage. This study included a blanket and a teddy bear. Firstly the child was encouraged to play with the toy but then their attention was distracted. If the child was looking around for the teddy bear then it showed that they had developed object permanence. Piaget identified that children around the age of 8 months had developed object permanence.  The second stage is pre-operational stage which occurs around the ages of 18 months to around 7 years of age. This is when the child is egocentric and hasn’t developed empathy. They are unaware of the consequences of their actions and tend to think that others behave/think in the same way as they do. The 3 mountains task was a study used for this stage. There were three mountains on the board which differed in appearance. One had a big red cross at the top, another had snow at the top and finally the third had a hut next to it. Children were told to look at the mountains from the different views and were then told to sit down from one angle that they could see. A doll was placed at another side. The child was then given 10 images to choose from to identify which angle the doll could see from. Piaget identified that those who were around 4 years old would consistently choose the angle that they could see from, those around 5 years old would choose a different angle which wasn’t always the correct one but those around the ages of 7-8 months would consistently choose the correct answer. The third stage of Piaget’s theory is the concrete operational stage which occurs around the ages of 7-11 years old. This is when the child has now developed empathy and has become aware of the consequences of their actions. Children are now beginning to develop logical thinking and common sense such as being aware that if they fail to do their homework they will get a detention. A study that links to this stage is the conservation (beaker) test. In order for a child to have developed conservation is understanding that the volume of an object can remain the same even if it appears not to be. In this study 3 beakers were used. Two were of the same height and length and the third one was a cross-section and was wider and shorter than the first two. Firstly the child was asked if the first beakers that looked the same, had the same amount of volume of water in them. The child said yes. Then the researcher poured water from one of these beakers into the cross-section beaker and the child was asked the same question again. Children who were around 7 would say no but those over 9 years old would say yes showing that they had developed conservation. Finally the last stage of the theory is formal operational stage which develops around the age of 11 years and above. This is when the child has fully become aware of the environment and their consequences before carrying something out and has become quite independent. A study to link to this is the third eye test.  This is when the child was asked that if they had a third eye, where would they put it. Schaffer found in his test that children around the ages of 7-8 years old would say they would place the eye on their forehead close by to their existing eyes but children around the ages of 11 and above would think more analytically and said they would put it on one of their hands so they could look around corners. Piaget’s theory has two main strengths. Firstly it has influenced other theories of cognitive developments to develop such as Vygotksy’s theory of cognitive development and secondly it has changed the way education is taught. Rather than the teacher allowing the student to copy from a text book, group activities and independent work are now set in and outside of the lessons so students are able to discover that knowledge for themselves. However Piaget’s theory has also been criticised. Firstly his theory is argued as being reductionist because it only focuses on a child’s physical environment, not their social background. Children’s cognitive development may differ depending on their social background such as if they are from a LEDC or MEDC society. Those from LEDC countries are likely to be a lot slow in their biological maturation – this hasn’t been considered. Secondly it’s difficult to replicate Piaget’s theory and it can only be replicated if the researcher carries it out in exactly the same way as Piaget did. Piaget also has been criticised from not considering individual differences because childrens’ development will differ. Biological factors are not really considered as some children may inherently be “smarter” than other children such as being born as geniuses etc therefore Piaget underestimated childrens’ capability. There is also the criticism of demand characteristics as it’s believed that Piaget’s studies had an influence in the way children would answer. Children tended to be asked the same question twice so this could have influenced them to answer differently from the way they had originally planned to. Piaget’s theory has been criticised for being ethnocentric bias as it lacks generalizability and can only be applied to the culture that Piaget studied – and on the children he studied, including his own. Finally there is also the question of the scientific method that has been used. Piaget carried out the interviews and observations by himself so we can’t be a 100% certain that it’s valid. We can only go with the evidence that Piaget “found”.