NOTES: DATE:24/3/23

1. SOCIAL LOAFING:
That team members do less in a group setting. Individual put less effort when they are in group
settings. Max Ringelmann first described the social loafing phenomenon in 1913. (Rope
experiment done as individual and group setting). Found that individual put less effort when they
are in group than individual who done rope pulling as individual. This phenomena later termed as
social loafing.

Ringelmann's Rope-Pulling Experiments

One of the first experiments in social loafing was conducted by French agricultural engineer, Max
Ringelmann in 1913.1

He asked participants to pull on a rope both alone and in groups. He found that when people were
part of a group, they made less of an effort to pull the rope than they did when working
individually.[Findings]

CAUSES:

 Motivation (or lack thereof): This can play an important role in determining whether
social loafing takes place. People who are less motivated by a task are more likely to engage
in social loafing when they are part of a group.
 Diffusion of responsibility: People are more likely to engage in social loafing if they feel
less personally accountable for a task, and know their individual efforts have little impact
on the overall outcome. This is often used to explain the bystander effect, or the tendency
to be less likely to help a person in need when others are present.
 Group size: In small groups, people are more likely to feel their efforts are more important
and will, therefore, contribute more. The larger the group, however, the less individual
effort people will extend.
 Expectations: If you expect other people to slack off, you probably will as well since you
don’t want to get stuck doing all of the work. On the other hand, if you are in a group of
high-achievers who seem to be in control of everything, you might also be more likely to
kick back and let them handle all the work.
How to Reduce Social Loafing

Social loafing can have a serious impact on group performance and efficiency. However, there are
some things that can be done to minimize the effects of social loafing.1

 Assigning individual tasks and responsibilities

 Creating small groups and establishing individual accountability can help.
 Establishing clear standards and rules
 Evaluating individual and group performance
 Highlighting the achievements of individual members

2. PIAGET THEORY:

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different
stages of learning. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge,
but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.1 Piaget's stages are

 Sensorimotor stage: Birth to 2 years

 Preoperational stage: Ages 2 to 7
 Concrete operational stage: Ages 7 to 11
 Formal operational stage : 12 years to up

1.The Sensorimotor Stage

During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge
through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest
period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses.

Birth to 2 Years

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

 Know the world through movements and sensations

 Learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and
listening
 Learn that things continue to exist even when they cannot be seen (object permanence)
 Realize that they are separate beings from the people and objects around them
 Realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them

2.Preoperational stage:

The foundations of language development may have been laid during the previous stage, but the
emergence of language is one of the major hallmarks of the2 to 7 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

 Begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects
 Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others
 Getting better with language and thinking, but still tend to think in very concrete terms

Centration

For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and
then give a child the choice between two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is
rolled into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape. Because
the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece, even
though the two pieces are exactly the same size.

3. Concrete operational stage:

The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear as kids become better at thinking about
how other people might view a situation. 7 to 11 Years

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

 Begin to think logically about concrete events

 Begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a short, wide
cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example
 Thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete
 Begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a general principle

4. Formal operational stage:

The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive
reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas.3

At this point, adolescents and young adults become capable of seeing multiple potential
solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.

Age 12 and Up

Major characteristics and developmental changes during this time:

  Begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
 Begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that
require theoretical and abstract reasoning
 Begins to use deductive logic or reasoning from a general principle to specific information

CONCEPTS OF PIAGET THEORY:

4 STAGES

 Schema:
Mental framework or representation.
 Assimilation:

The process of taking in new information into our already existing Another part of adaptation is
the ability to change existing schemas in light of new information; this process is known as
accommodation.
 Accomodation:

New schemas may also be developed during this process.schemas is known as

assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify
experiences and information slightly to fit in with our preexisting beliefs
 Equilibration:

As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a

balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account
for new knowledge (accommodation).

Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation
using a mechanism he called equilibration. Equilibration helps explain how children can move
from one stage of thought to the next.