Piaget Review - Guiding Questions

Note: Please print out these questions and bring them and your text book to lab with you, ALONG WITH YOUR TEXTBOOK. You will compete them during the lab session.

In your group, consult chapter 3 to answer  the following questions during the lab session:

1) How does Piaget define intelligence?  What general assumptions does Piaget make about  development?  What are schemes? According to Piaget, how is cognitive development related to social development?

2) According to Piaget, how do we develop (disequalibrium)? Describe and give examples of organization and adaptation (assimilation and accommodation).

3) Describe (briefly) the sensorimotor period.  What are circular reactions?  What is deferred imitation and object permanence, and how are these cognitive milestones related to social development?

4) Describe (briefly) Preoperational thinking.  What is the role of symbolism and pretend play  in cognitive development?  What is egocentrism? What social developmental implications might there be for egocentrism?

5) Describe (briefly) concrete operations.  Describe a Piagetian conservation task.  What consequences does the understanding of transitivity and seriation, and the ability to conserve have for children’s social development?

6) Describe (briefly) formal operations.  What is hypothetical-deductive reasoning? What are the personal fable and the imaginary audience?  How are they relevant to social development?

7) What are some contributions and criticisms of Piaget’s theory?

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