There are many theorists who have given theories on child

development. The theories are grouped as below

Child
Development
Theories

PsychoAnalytic
Theories

Sigmund Freud

Cognition
Based Theories

Jean Piaget

Lev Vygotsky

Social
Development
Based Theories

Behaviour
Based Theories

Bruner

B.F. Skinner

J.B Watson

In this slide we will just cover Piagets theory

Ivan Pavlov

Albert Bandura

Lev Vygotsky

Jean piaget studied lot of children. He believed that children were not
less intelligent than Adults but there way of thinking was different
from adults

Piagets theory has three main components

Schemas: Building Blocks of Knowledge

Adaptation process which enables the transition from one state to

another. The adaption process included equilibrium, assimilation
and accommodation

Four Stages of development

Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete Operational

Formal Operational

According to piaget schemas are the units of knowledge which help us

to understand the world. Various schemas are linked to one another

For example a child see a four legged animal with a tail and come to
know that it is a horse. The schema for horse would be formed
Four legged animal
with tail and 5 ft in
height is horse

Schema for Horse

Later the child see a cow and calls it a horse as per his existing
schema. But the parents tell that it is not a horse but a cow. The
child will modify the existing schema for horse and make new
schema for a cow
Schema for Cow
Four legged animal
with tail and 5 ft in
height and specific
shape of a cow is a cow

Modified Schema for Horse

Four legged animal
with tail and 5 ft in
height and specific
shape of a horse is
horse

Later the child see a small horse and calls it a dog. But parents correct
him that is a small horse. Child will modify his existing schema for
horse

Four legged animal with tail and 5 ft in

height and shape specific to horse is
horse. The horse can be small which is
also four legged and shape similar to
horse
Modified Schema for Horse

So with experience existing schemas are modified and new schemas

are formed

Sometimes persons see new things but they are not ready to change
their schemas. In other words they will not accept new information.
We call such people as old-fashioned people or biased to one set of
information.

Children have schema right from time they are born. For example
a new born child would have a sucking schema. Whenever we
touch anything like a nipple or finger to childs lips the child
starts to suck that thing

Similarly child has grasping schema. Whenever we touch anything

to palm of childs hand the child grasps that thing

In general there are schemas in the mind right from the birth.
These schemas are very simple at the start but they keep on
becoming complex as we mature and interact with the
environment

The process of taking in new information into our

already existing schemas is called assimilation

For example you have a schema that cars from

Maruti are very good. You bought a new car but
it started giving problem after one month. The
company replaced the car and gave you a new
car

If you use the process of assimilation then you

might think that its was just one off case of
manufacturing defect. The company is good
since they replaced your car

Similarly if a child thinks that a four legged

animal, 5ft in height and having a tail is a horse.
Later the child see a cow and thinks that it is
also a horse. This is also assimilation

In both cases you are not changing your opinion

about the company or the horse. It is in line with
your existing schema. This is an example of
assimilation

The process of taking in new information and altering our

schemas to interpret the information is called
Accommodation

For example in case of Maruti Car, the replaced car also

starts giving problem. One of your friend also bough a
Maruti car and is facing the same problem. This would
lead to disequilibrium in your mind. Now your opinion
might change and you would think that Cars from Maruti
are not good. This would result in altering of the existing
schema resulting in accommodation

Similarly if a child thinks that a four legged animal, 5ft in

height and having a tail is a horse. Cow is also a horse to a
child. But parents of the child tell the child that cow is
not a horse. This would lead to alteration of schema in the
childs mind.

In both cases you are changing your opinion about the

company or the horse. It is not in line with your existing
schema. This is an example of accommodation

Post accommodation the

equilibrium.

mind would again

be in

There are Four Stages of development

Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete Operational
Formal Operational

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years)

In this stage child learns mainly by their senses such as taste, smell etc.

He also learns by his motor movements such as creeping and walking

Child in this stage is completely egocentric where he has no view of the

world other than his own view

Child achieve object permanence by the end of this stage. Object

permanence means that the thing exists even if we do not see them. E.g.
If we show a toy to a five month old child he gets existed but if toy is
hidden the child soon forgets that the toy existed. This means for a five
month old child object permanence does not exist. On the other hand, if
we same is done with 1.5 year child he looks for the toy even after it is
hidden. For a 1.5 years old child object exists even if it us hidden. Hence,
object permanence exists for a 1.5 year child.

This stage is from 2-7 Years. During this stage children cannot use logic and Combine
separate idea

Some Key Features of this stage are

Egocentrism: The child is egocentric at the start of this stage. Child assumes
that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as the child does. By the
end of this stage child becomes less egocentric and they also start playing with
other children and share their toys

Language Development: Child also leans to speak language during this stage

Symbolic Representation: Child learns symbolic representation during this

stage. They can use anything to represent something else. For example they can
use a broom to represent it as a horse

Pretend Play: Children pretend to be doctors, policemen, teachers while

playing. They tent to be pretend someone else which they are not

Animism: Children believe that all objects that all objects such as toys and
teddy bears have human feelings and intentions

Artificialism:
Children believe that
certain things in environment are
manufactured by the people. For example clouds in the sky

Two more aspects which are important

during this stage are conservation and
Centration

Centration means that child can focus on

only one aspect at a point during this
stage. For example, if you arrange two
rows of 5 blocks such that one row has
more space between the blocks and is
longer. But if you ask children which row
as more blocks then a child would answer
that longer row has more blocks. This is
because child cannot concentrate on two
aspects (length and number) at the same
time

Conservation is the understanding that

something stays the same in quantity
even though its appearance changes.
Child does not understand conservation
at this stage. For example if the same
amount of liquid from a big container is
put into a long and narrow glass then
child would think that longer glass has
more liquid

This stage is from 7-11 years and marks the

beginning of logical or operational thought but the
child can apply logic only to physical objects

Child learns to apply the principle of conservation,

seriation , reversibility and decentring

Conservation:- Child learns that something stays

same in quantity though its appearance may
change. E.g. If the liquid is put from a wide
container into a narrow long glass then the child
understands that the liquid is same in both the
containers

Seriation:- It involves the mental ability along a quantifiable dimension. For example, the
arrangement of balls from small to big sizes

Reversibility:- Child understands that the things can be reversed. For example, If water is freezed
into ice then it can be melted back to water

Decentring means that child can focus on many aspects during this stage. For example, if you arrange
two rows of 5 blocks such that one row has more space between the blocks and is longer. But if you
ask children which row has more blocks then a child would answer that both rows have same number
of blocks. This is because child can concentrate on two aspects (length and number) at the same
time

This stage is form 11 years onwards

In this stage child gains the ability to think in an abstract manner that
he becomes capable to think about the imaginative world

Child can think creatively, use abstract reasoning and imagine the
outcome of particular actions

For example, If a child is asked if A is taller than B and B is taller than

C, who is the tallest? In this question child needs to do abstract
thinking about the thing he has not experienced. Child in formal
operational stage would be able to do this thinking in his mind. In case
the child is not able to do thinking in his mind and needs to draw a
picture of A, B and C then he is in concrete operational stage

Children can do complex calculations and complex reasoning in this

stage

Discovery learning:- Child learns best by exploring the world

through hand on activities. The child should be active learner not
a passive one

Collaborative learning :- Children should be allowed to learn in a

group so that they learn from each other

The focus should be on learning rather than end product

Readiness:- Children should be taught certain concepts when they

are ready for it. For example, Child should be taught the concept
of conservation only when they have reached concrete
operational stage. Teaching this concept at preoperational stage
would lead to confusion for the child

Piaget believed that development occurs in stages but many theorists

believe that development is a continuous process and not confined
to stages

Piaget believed that children learn as he matures. But he failed to

consider the effect of culture and social setting and environment

The concept of schemas is an internal process which cannot be

measured and confirmed. Other theorists do not agree to the
concept of schemas

Piaget carried studies on small sample size and many of his studies
were carried out on his children indicating that the results might be
biased