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JEAN PIAGET’S COGNITIVE LEARNING

THEORY

Module 1
INTRODUCTION
Jean Piaget, a Swiss biologist, had profound interest in epistemology, a branch of
philosophy concerned with the nature of knowledge. But, afterwards, he
developed a keen interest in child and cognitive psychology. Piaget proves a larger
context in which he views the acquisition of knowledge and competence as
consequence of growth and interaction with the physical and social environment.
Piaget’s had a background in Biology. He called his theoretical framework as
‘genetic epistemology’ because he was primarily interested in how knowledge
developed in human organisms.
Piaget too was an ardent spokesman of cognitive development approach to
learning. He explained how, out of the natural tendency, to develop intellectually
or cognitive, human organisms interact with the environmental stimuli, process
the various items of information that draw their attention, internalize these,
integrate the related ones and thus build up a cognitive structure. By cognitive
structure he meant a totality of integrated whole containing all items of
knowledge internalized built into a structure. The learning theory of Piaget
explains how cognitive development happens in this manner.
To explain this developmental process, Piaget uses the term schema which he
considers as the basic unit with which the cognitive structure is built up. It may be
conceived as the mental image of an experience that has been received by an
organism. It may be as simple as a physical schema like shutting the eyes to a
complex schema like writing. It may be physical as the one cited above, social as
smiling or saying ‘Ta..ta..’ to a guest, conceptual like trapezium, etc. As the
individual draws more and more experiences, the number and complexity of the
schemas also increase. When a chain of schemas are involved in a particular task,
it may be aid to be a scheme. For example setting the apparatus and conducting
an experiment. Thus schemas (schemata) and clusters of schemas resulting in
schemes, give shape to the cognitive structure. It is evident therefore that
efficiency of the cognitive development of an individual is determined by the

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number; variety and quality of the schemas, and also the way in which these are
systematically form a structure. Piaget examines how this could be efficiently
made possible through the process of instruction.
To explain how cognitive development occurs, Piaget uses the analogy of
biological adaptation. According to him biologically every living organism would
like to remain in the existing state of equilibrium without being disturbed. This is
because loss of equilibrium brings out changes in the energy level which in turn
creates anxiety and threatens its safety. But at the same time the organism
cannot remain static because it has to face constantly internal and external
stimuli impinging on it. The disequilibrium thus experienced is so distressing that
the organism is motivated to take steps to bring back the disturbed energy level
to a state of equilibrium or to equilibrate. When equilibration is made possible
the organism gets relieved because it has adapted with the situation biologically.
Assimilation has been conceived by Piaget as the process by which an unfamiliar
schema is made familiar by linking it with familiar schemas already existing in the
cognitive structure. It is for this purpose schemas are to be shuttled forward and
backward using the ability for reversibility. Once assimilation takes place, the
unfamiliar schemas become ready to enter the cognitive structure. Then come
the need for proper integration, registration, and structuring. For this, the
assimilated schemas are to be given a most suitable place in the cognitive
structure, so that it becomes a part of that entity. This process is known as
accommodation. When the new schemas involved in the problematic situation
are then assimilated and accommodated, the disequilibrium disappears and
equilibrium regained. This process is equilibration. By equilibration, the individual
adapts with the new problematic situation and thus get developed cognitively.

Module 2
STAGES OF INTELLECTUAL DEVELOPMENT
Piaget, on account of his biological background, traced the initiation of human
cognitive development in terms of biologically inherited ways of interacting with
the environment. He further postulated that the changes and developments in
one’s cognitive structure are brought about by interaction with one’s physical and
social environment. This task is carried out through the mechanism of
equilibration, resulting in constant organisation of one’s cognitive structure by the

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interplay of accommodation and assimilation. This task of constant organisation

of the mental structure is an individual phenomenon; we may, therefore find
wide differences between children in terms of possession of cognitive abilities.
However, as Piaget concluded, this organisation of the mental structure in all
children always takes place in a particular order involving definite stages of
intellectual development. Thus, although children of the same age may differ in
terms of possession of mental abilities, the order, in which the abilities evolve,
and the pattern of development are quite constant and universal. Let us discuss
this pattern of intellectual development in terms of the four developmental
stages suggested by Piaget.

I- Sensory-motor Stage (From birth to about 2 years)

Piaget called the first stage of intellectual development the sensory-motor stage
because it is characterized by the absence of language, and it is limited to direct
sensory and motor interactions with the environment. The cognitive development
occurs along the following pattern:
1. At birth the infant exhibits a limited number of uncoordinated reflexes such
as sucking, looking, reaching and grasping.
2. During the next four months the uncoordinated reflexes are coordinated
into simple schemas providing the child with a general potential to perform
certain classes of behaviour. For example, the infant now tries to suck
anything which is put into his mouth, stares at whatever he sees, reaches
for everything and grasps all that is put into his hands.
3. By the age of 8 months, the infant is able to react to objects outside him.
He begins to realize that the objects around him are separate from himself
and they have their independent and permanent existence. Prior to such
development, his view of the environmental objects is quite object
permanence transitory, i.e. what is out of sight is purely out of mind.

II- Pre-operational Stage (about 2 to 7 years)

While stepping into this stage, the child begins to replace direct action in the form
of sensory or motor exploration with symbols. The learning of the language

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provides him with a good tool for thinking. He begins to utter words to ask for
something rather than just reaching out to get it. In addition to words, his
thinking is also characterized by other symbolic representations or images of the
things in the environment. This stage can be further sub-divided into (1) the pre-
conceptual phase (approximately two to four years) and (2) the intuitive phase
(approximately four to seven years).
1. Pre-conceptual phase (approximately two to four years)
This is the period of the rudimentary concept formation and is characterized by
the following features:
a) In the early part of this stage, the children seem to identify objects by their
names and put them into certain classes. However, they usually make
mistakes in this process of identification and concept formation. For
example, they think all men are ‘daddy’, and all women are ‘mummy’.
b) Their mode of thinking and reasoning is quite illogical at this stage. It is
neither inductive nor deductive but rather transductive in nature. For
example, the child at this stage would reason like: as “cows are big animals
with four legs and a long tail. This animal is also big and has four legs and a
long tail, therefore it is a cow”.
c) Their thinking is sometimes too imaginative and far removed from reality.
It may be seen in their play activities when a block of wood is turned into a
riding horse or motor cycle and a doll into a baby. Moreover, at this stage
they are unable to distinguish between living and non-living objects. For
them, the doll in their hands is a live baby who can cry, smile and sleep.
d) The other major characteristic of the intellectual structure of the child at
this stage is concerned with his egocentric nature. By egocentrism, Piaget
means that the child can see the world only from his own standpoint. He
cannot think that people may have different opinions and differ in their
modes of thinking and conclusions.
2. Intuitive phase (approximately four to seven years)
At this stage the child progresses towards the formation of various concepts at a
more advanced level. For example, now he will agree that apples, oranges and
bananas are all fruits despite the difference in their shape, colour or taste. But
what he thinks or solves at this stage is carried out intuitively, rather than in
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accordance with any logical rule. It is clearly reflected in the absence in him of
the two main cognitive characteristics namely, reversibility (ability to reverse) and
conservation (ability to see an object as permanent even though its length, width
or shape changes).
III- Concrete Operational Stage (about 7 to 11 years)
This stage shows marked developments in the cognitive functioning of the child.
1. The child now learns to deal with concepts and ideas that exist only in
mental terms.
2. He begins to think in terms of a set of interrelated principles than single
bits of knowledge.
3. His thinking becomes more logical and systematic. He can now make use
of inductive and deductive approaches in terms of reasoning and arriving
at conclusion.
4. The child now develops the ability to conserve both in terms of quantity
and number of objects.
5. The thinking of the child is no longer ‘rigid’ and ‘irreversible’. A female
child who has a sister now clearly realizes that her sister also has a sister.
6. The child now is no longer ego-centric in his thinking. He does not think of
himself as the centre of the external world and does not perceive the world
only from his own standpoint.
7. The child now develops the abilities to deal adequately with classes. He
can classify objects.
8. The child now learns to carry out rather complex operations or tackle
problems as long as they are concrete and not abstract
In this way, the child reaches a satisfactory level in terms of intellectual
development, by his thinking becoming quite systematic and logical. However,
what is done or thought by him at this stage is done purely on a concrete level.
His thought processes are limited to real events observed or the actual objects
operated by him. He is unable to think in abstract terms.
IV- Formal Operation Stage (about 12 to 15 years)

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The intellectual development and functioning takes a very sophisticated shape at

this stage as the child learns to deal with abstraction by logical thinking. Actually
he learns to utilize the tool of symbolism as effectively as possible in the process
of thought and problem solving. The child now gets interested in forms. He begins
to construct relationships between concrete operations and between symbols.
Generalizations and framing of rules by operating in abstract terms become quite
possible at this stage. The child now begins to appreciate that some hypothetical
problems can be solved mentally by applying the same rules as would be applied
to concrete problems. He begins to look at problems in many ways and explore
various solutions but in a very systematic and logical way. For example, if a child
of this stage is shown five colorless, odorless liquids in test tubes and is asked to
find out what combination of the five will produce a brown liquid, he is likely to
discover the possible combination by adopting a systematic approach. Thus it is
quite distinctive in comparison to the children belonging to earlier stages of
cognitive development who will simply resort to trial and error for finding the
solution.
Moreover, the child’s thinking at this stage does not remain only concrete but
becomes hypothetical, with considerations given to the most unusual ideas.
Hence the creative aspects in the child are very much visible during this age not
only in terms of concrete operations but also in terms of abstraction and pure
imagination. The other noticeable characteristic of this stage, as Piaget found, was
the child’s interest in dealing with things that do not exist in reality instead of the
things concerning the present which are actually perceived by him.
In fact, Piaget was of the opinion that the thought process and the intellectual
functioning of a child at the formal operational period reflect the beginning of the
most advanced stage in the functioning of his cognitive system. It provides a
ladder to reach the limits of a person’s intellectual development and actualize his
potentiality to the maximum in the available circumstances. The high order of
intellectual functioning developed through this stage, according to Piaget, is
usually characterized by the presence of the most sophisticated cognitive abilities
like the ability to
(a) Build up multiple hypotheses and a number of alternate solutions;
(b) Verify all possible solutions in a systematic and logical way and
(c) Generalize and arrive at abstract rules that cover many specific situations.

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In this way, according to Piaget, after the expiry of the formal operation stage the
child may reach full intellectual potential. He may discover the solutions of
problems through mental manipulation of symbols by adopting a logical and
systematic procedure known as scientific thinking and problem solving rather
than a reflexive, motor or sensory manipulation as is done at the sensory motor
stage; or by exposing his thinking operationally in more concrete terms as done at
the concrete operation stage. It thus represents a stage which helps the child to
attain mental maturity with respect to the development of his cognitive abilities.

Module 3
THEORY INTO PRACTICE - CLASSROOM APPLICATIONS OF PIAGET’S THEORY
It makes sense to listen carefully to children and watch them solve problems to
understand how they think and how they perceive their world. Instruction must
be adapted to students’ developmental levels. It is important to stimulate
students to move beyond their current level of functioning, but not too far. For
example, it is probably pointless to teach first-graders the word geography
because they have no conception of what a “country”, “state”, or even “city” is. It
would make more sense to reach them local geography – their neighborhood,
school, classroom, and so on. Teaching algebra to fourth-graders is also probably
a waste of time because the subject requires more ability to deal with
abstractions than students at the concrete operational stage are likely to have.
Another implication is that children in preschool and elementary school need to
see examples of concepts. With young children you do not say, “Imagine that I
had a pie with six slices and I took out two of the slices”. Rather, you must show
them a picture of a pie and physically remove the slices if you expect them to
learn the underlying mathematical concepts. Applying Piaget’s insights to
instruction means constant use of demonstrations and physical representations of
ideas. Student should be allowed to experiment with materials in order to
accommodate new understandings, and to discover information for themselves
through active participation. Discovery learning is one way in which Piaget’s
principles have been put into action in classroom instruction.
Piagetian principles of instruction are most often applied in preschool and
kindergarten programs that emphasize (1) learning through discovery and hands-

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on experiences, and (2) the teacher’s role as one who sets up environments in
which students can have a wide variety of learning experiences
The most obvious implication of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is that
young children view the world differently from older children and adults.
Consequently, Piagetian theory is often used to guide decisions about the
readiness of children for specific activities. This has been especially true of the
teaching of mathematics and science – subjects in which the mental operations
described by Piaget are critical. Attempts to apply Piaget’s ideas to early
education focus on encouraging children to construct more adequate concepts.
Cognitive development is not the accumulation of isolated pieces of information;
rather, it is of the construction by children of a framework for understanding their
environment. Teachers should serve as role models by solving problems with
children, explaining the problem-solving process and talking about the
relationships between actions and outcomes. Teachers should be available as
resources, but should not become the authorities who enforce correct answers.
Children must be free to construct their own understandings. Educators should
also learn from children. Observing children during their activities and listening
carefully to their questions can reveal much about their interests and levels of
thinking. Children’s solutions to problems and their questions reveal their point of
view.