24/12/2025
1. Jean Piagetโs Theory of Cognitive Development
โFocus: How a childโs thinking capability changes with age. Piaget believed children are "little scientists" who actively construct their understanding of the world.
โThe 4 Stages of Development:
โSensorimotor (0โ2 years): The child learns through senses (touching, looking). Key milestone: Object Permanence (knowing an object still exists even if you can't see it).
โPre-operational (2โ7 years): The child begins to use language and symbols but thinks only from their own perspective (Egocentrism). They cannot yet understand complex logic.
โConcrete Operational (7โ11 years): The child begins to think logically but only about concrete (physical) events. Key milestone: Conservation (understanding that water poured into a tall glass is the same amount as in a wide bowl).
โFormal Operational (12+ years): The adolescent can think abstractly, hypothetically, and systematically.
โKey Terms for the Exam:
โSchema: The mental "folder" where we store information.
โAssimilation: Adding new info to an existing folder (e.g., seeing a zebra and calling it a "horse").
โAccommodation: Changing the folder to fit new info (e.g., realizing a zebra is different and creating a new "zebra" folder).