COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
A. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
Building on the accomplishments of the first stage of cognitive development,
which takes place during infancy and involves sensorimotor regulations, preschoolers
enter the second stage of cognitive development, called the preoperational stage,
which is organized around symbolic regulations. According to Piaget, this stage occurs
from the age of 2 to 7 years. In the preoperational stage, children use symbols to
represent words, images, and ideas, which is why children in this stage engage in
pretend play. A child’s arms might become airplane wings as she zooms around the
room, or a child with a stick might become a brave knight with a sword. Children also
begin to use language in the preoperational stage, but they cannot understand adult
logic or mentally manipulate information. The term operational refers to logical
manipulation of information, so children at this stage are considered pre-operational.
Children’s logic is based on their own personal knowledge of the world so far, rather
than on conventional knowledge.
The preoperational period is divided into two stages:
1. The symbolic function substage occurs between 2 and 4 years of age and is
characterized by gains in symbolic thinking, in which the child is able to mentally
represent an object that is not present, and a dependence on perception in
problem solving.
2. The intuitive thought substage, lasting from 4 to 7 years, is marked by greater
dependence on intuitive thinking rather than just perception (Thomas, 1979).
This implies that children think automatically without using evidence. At this
stage, children ask many questions as they attempt to understand the world
around them using immature reasoning. Let us examine some of Piaget’s
assertions about children’s cognitive abilities at this age.
Pretend play
Pretending is a favorite activity at this time. A toy has qualities beyond the way
it was designed to function and can now be used to stand for a character or object
unlike anything originally intended. A teddy bear, for example, can be a baby or the
queen of a faraway land. Piaget believed that pretend play helped children practice
and solidify new schemata they were developing cognitively. This play, then, reflected
changes in their conceptions or thoughts. However, children also learn as they pretend
and experiment. Their play does not simply represent what they have learned (Berk,
2007).
Symbolic representation
In addition to ushering in an era of pretend play, the development of symbolic
representation revolutionizes the way young children can think and act.
Representational capacities underlie the emergence of language which opens up
channels of communication with others and provides young children words and
concepts for their inner experiences (like emotion labels). Symbolic capacities also
scaffold the development of memory, and allow young children to remember and
discuss autobiographical events. They become very interested in two dimensional
representations, like photographs and computer screens, and can interact with
grandparents and others using these tools. As seen at the end of the sensorimotor
period, toddlers begin to use primitive representations to solve problems in their
heads. During the preschool years, cognitive advances allow them to get better and
better at trying out strategies mentally before taking action. Hence, planning and
problem-solving become central activities. Problem-solving can be used to facilitate
physical play (e.g., planning how to build a castle), solve interpersonal conflicts (e.g.,
two children want the same toy), or figure out how to comfort oneself when one is sad.
Mental representations are also key to the advances in executive function and
self-regulation described earlier. When children can hold goals in their minds that are
different from the ones that spontaneously emerge, they use representations of what
they are supposed to do to modulate or manage what they want to do. Young children
show an outpouring of representational activities, including language, pretend play,
story telling, singing, drawing, looking a photos, and discussing the past and present.
They love to engage in joint problem-solving and be read to, often asking for the same
book or video over and over again, pouring over and discussing the story, until they
can repeat every word.
Despite the many advances that symbolic thought brings to young children,
there are still several significant limitations to their thinking, including egocentrism,
perceptual salience, and animism. When parents see behaviors typical of the
preoperational stage, it is important that they correctly interpret their meaning. Young
children are not being hard to get along with. These behaviors are the result of genuine
limitations in their cognitive functioning. Young children can understand many ideas
and follow rules, but for the best developmental outcomes, adults should temper their
expectations and demands so that they are reasonable, and explain their thinking
using language that is developmentally attuned to children’s current cognitive
capacities.
Egocentrism
Egocentrism in early childhood refers to the tendency of young children not to
be able to take the perspective of others, and instead the child thinks that everyone
sees, thinks, and feels just as they do. Egocentric children are not able to infer the
perspective of other people and instead attribute their own perspective to everyone in
the situation. For example, ten-year-old Keiko’s birthday is coming up, so her mom
takes 3-year-old Kenny to the toy store to choose a present for his sister. He selects
an Iron Man action figure for her, thinking that if he likes the toy, his sister will too.
Piaget’s classic experiment on egocentrism involved showing children a three-
dimensional model of a mountain and asking them to describe what a doll that is
looking at the mountain from a different angle might see (see Figure 5.2). Children
tend to choose a picture that represents their own, rather than the doll’s view. By age
7 children are less self-centered. However, even younger children when speaking to
others tend to use different sentence structures and vocabulary when addressing a
younger child or an older adult. This indicates some awareness of the views of others.
Perceptual salience. Perceptual salience means that children reason, not based on
what they know, but based on what they perceive (ie.g., see and hear) in the present
local context. This cognitive limitation is on display every Halloween, when parents
dress up, especially if they use masks. For a preoperational child, the mask is so
perceptually salient that even if the parent continues to talk and the child can recognize
their voice, their experience is overwhelmed by the transformation of the parent’s face,
that they react to the masked parent as if they were a stranger. At this age, children’s
understanding is halfway between the reasoning based on action of the sensorimotor
period and the reasoning based on logic of the concrete operational period. During the
preoperational period, reasoning is based on empirical reality, that is, information
provided by the senses.
Animism
Animism refers to attributing life-like qualities to objects. The cup is alive, the
chair that falls down and hits the child’s ankle is mean, and the toys need to stay home
because they are tired. Cartoons frequently show objects that appear alive and take
on lifelike qualities. Young children do seem to think that objects that move may be
alive, but after age three, they seldom refer to objects as being alive (Berk, 2007).
Intuitive substage (age 4-7 years)
During the intuitive substage, children begin to move toward logical thinking.
They show some signs of logical reasoning, but can’t explain how or why they think
as they do. This is an age filled with questions, as children begin to make sense of
their worlds. Parents should know that children’s ceaseless “why?” questions do not
require detailed explanations. They are looking for brief and simple explanations. For
example, if children ask “Why do I have to wear a helmet when I ride a bicycle?” they
are not looking for a lecture on legal issues, but just a simple “To keep your head safe.”
Likewise, if they come back from a bike ride and say “Well, I didn’t fall down, so now I
don’t need to wear a helmet any more”, you can explain the idea of risk through an
everyday example, saying, “You have to wear it every time, because you could fall
down.” If you want to try a metaphor, you could explain, ” Your head is like a glass, it
could get broken. Does a glass break every time you drop it? No. But does that mean
that it’s a good idea to drop it? No. We want to keep your head safe.”
Centration
The primary limitation of thought during the intuitive substage is called
centration. Centration means that understanding is dominated (i.e., centered on) a
single feather– the most perceptually salient one. At this age, children cannot hold or
coordinate two features of an object at the same time. Piaget demonstrated this aspect
of preoperational thought in a series of experiments. They showed that young children
do not yet have the logical notion of conservation, which refers to the ability to
recognize that aspects like quantity remain the same, even when over transformations
in appearance.
Inability to conserve
Using Kenny and Keiko again, dad gave a slice of pizza to 10-year-old Keiko
and another slice to 3-year-old Kenny. Kenny’s pizza slice was cut into five pieces, so
Kenny told his sister that he got more pizza than she did. Kenny did not understand
that cutting the pizza into smaller pieces did not increase the overall amount. This was
because Kenny exhibited centration when he focused on only one characteristic (the
number of pieces) to the exclusion of others (total amount). Kenny’s reasoning was
based on his five pieces of pizza compared to his sister’s one piece even though the
total amount of pizza each had was the same. Keiko was able to consider several
characteristics of an object than just one. Because children have not developed this
understanding of conservation, they cannot perform mental operations.
The classic Piagetian experiment associated with conservation involves liquid
(Crain, 2005). As seen on the left side of Figure 5.3, the child is shown two glasses
which are filled to the same level and asked if they have the same amount. Usually
the child agrees they have the same amount. The experimenter then pours the liquid
in one glass to a taller and thinner glass (as shown in the center of Figure 5.3). The
child is again asked if the two glasses have the same amount of liquid. The
preoperational child will typically say the taller glass now has more liquid because it is
taller (as shown on the right side). The child has centrated on the height of the glass
and fails to conserve.
Classification errors
Preoperational children also demonstrate centration when they have difficulty
understanding that an object can be classified in more than one way. For example, if
shown three white buttons and four black buttons and asked whether there are more
black buttons or buttons, the child is likely to respond that there are more black buttons.
They focus on the most salient feature (black buttons) and cannot keep in mind the
the general class of buttons, so they compare black versus white buttons, instead of
part versus whole. Because young children lack these general classes, their reasoning
is typically transductive, that is, making faulty inferences from one specific example to
another. For example, Piaget’s daughter Lucienne stated she had not had her nap,
therefore it was not afternoon. She did not understand that afternoons are a time
period and her nap was just one of many events that occurred in the afternoon (Crain,
2005). As the child’s capacity to mentally represent and coordinate multiple features
improves, the ability to classify objects emerges.
Critique of Piaget
Similar to the critique of the sensorimotor period, several psychologists have
attempted to show that Piaget also underestimated the intellectual capabilities of the
preoperational child. For example, children’s specific experiences can influence when
they are able to conserve. Children of pottery makers in Mexican villages know that
reshaping clay does not change the amount of clay at much younger ages than
children who do not have similar experiences (Price-Williams, Gordon, & Ramirez,
1969). Crain (2005) also showed that under certain conditions preoperational children
can think rationally about mathematical and scientific tasks, and they are not always
as egocentric as Piaget implied. Research on theory of mind (discussed later in the
chapter) shows that some children overcome egocentrism by 4 or 5 years of age,
which is sooner than Piaget indicated. As with sensorimotor development, Piaget
seemed to be right about the exact sequence and the processes involved in cognitive
development, as well as when these steps are typically observable under naturalistic
conditions. But current research has provided more accurate estimates of the exact
ages when underlying capacities emerge, which could only be revealed by working
with children in specific experimental conditions that removed barriers to their
performance.
B. Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory: Changes in Thought with Guidance
Modern social learning theories stem from the work of Russian psychologist
Lev Vygotsky, who produced his ideas as a reaction to existing conflicting approaches
in psychology (Kozulin, 1990). Vygotsky’s ideas are most recognized for identifying
the role of social interactions and culture in the development of higher-order thinking
skills. His theory is especially valuable for the insights it provides about the dynamic
“interdependence between individual and social processes in the construction of
knowledge” (John- Steiner & Mahn, 1996, p. 192). Vygotsky’s views are often
considered primarily as developmental theories, focusing on qualitative changes in
behavior over time, that attempt to explain unseen processes of development in
thought, language, and higher-order thinking skills. Although Vygotsky’s intent was
mainly to understand higher psychological processes in children, his ideas have many
practical applications for learners of all ages. Three themes are often identified with
Vygotsky’s ideas of sociocultural learning: (1) human development and learning
originate in social, historical, and cultural interactions, (2) the use of psychological
tools, particularly language, mediates the development of higher mental functions, and
(3) learning occurs within the Zone of Proximal Development. While we discuss these
ideas separately, they are closely interrelated.
Sociocultural theory
Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory emphasizes the importance of culture and
social interaction in the development of cognitive abilities. Vygotsky contended that
thinking has social origins, social interactions play a critical role especially in the
development of higher-order thinking skills, and cognitive development cannot be fully
understood without considering the social and historical context within which it is
embedded. He explained, “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears
twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first between people
(interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.
57). It is through working with others on a variety of tasks that a learner adopts socially
shared experiences and associated effects and acquires useful strategies and
knowledge (Scott & Palincsar, 2013).
Rogoff (1990) refers to this process as guided participation, where a learner
actively acquires new culturally valuable skills and capabilities through a meaningful,
collaborative activity with an assisting, more experienced other. It is critical to notice
that these culturally mediated functions are viewed as being embedded in sociocultural
activities rather than being self-contained. Development is a “transformation of
participation in a sociocultural activity” not a transmission of discrete cultural
knowledge or skills (Matusov, 2015, p. 315). For example, young children learn
problem-solving skills, not by sitting alone at a desk trying to solve arbitrary problems,
but by working alongside parents or older siblings as they work on actual culturally-
relevant tasks, like preparing a family meal or repairing a fence. Working together, the
dyad or group encounter social or physical problems, and discuss their possible
solutions before taking action. Through participation in joint problem-solving, young
children develop these skills.
Language as a developmental tool
In his sociocultural view of development, Vygotsky highlighted the tools that the
culture provides to support the development of higher order thought. Chief among
them is language. For Vygotsky, children interact with the world through the tool of
language. For Piaget, children use schemas that they construct and organize on the
mental plane, but for Vygotsky, language, a social medium, was the mechanism
through which we build knowledge of the world. He believed that with development,
the language we acquire from our environment shapes the ways in which we think and
behave. With development, language becomes internalized as thought (i.e., cognition,
or reasoning) and children use this internalized language to guide their action.
Scaffolding and the “Zone of Proximal Development.”
Vygotsky differed with Piaget in that he believed that a person not only has a
set of actual abilities, but also a set of potential abilities that can be realized if given
the proper guidance from others. He believed that through guided participation known
as scaffolding, with a teacher or capable peer, a child can learn cognitive skills within
a certain range known as the zone of proximal development. Both Piaget and Vygotsky
highlighted the importance of interactions with the social and physical world as the
sources of developmental change, Piaget’s ideas of cognitive development
emphasized universal stages progressing toward increasing cognitive complexity.
Vygotsky presents a more culturally-embedded view in which situated participatory
learning drives development. The idea of learning driving development, rather than
being determined by the developmental level of the learner, fundamentally changes
our understanding of the learning process and has significant instructional and
educational implications (Miller, 2011).
Have you ever taught a child to perform a task? Maybe it was brushing their
teeth or preparing food. Chances are you spoke to them and described what you were
doing while you demonstrated the skill and let them work along with you throughout
the process. You gave them assistance when they seemed to need it, but once they
knew what to do, you stood back and let them go. This is scaffolding. This approach
to teaching has also been adopted by educators. Rather than assessing students on
what they are doing, they should be understood in terms of what they are capable of
doing with the proper guidance and mentoring.
This difference in assumptions has significant implications for the design and
development of learning experiences. If we believe as Piaget did that development
precedes learning, then we will introduce children to learning activities involving new
concepts and problems, but follow their lead, allowing learners to initiate participation
when they are ready or interested. On the other hand, if we believe as Vygotsky did
that learning drives development and that development occurs as we learn a variety
of concepts and principles, recognizing their applicability to new tasks and new
situations, then our instructional design will look very different.
