MODULE 3

Lesson 1
Developmental Theories and Other Relevant Theories: Piaget’s
Cognitive Development Theory

What’s This Lesson About?

Piaget's stages of development are part of a theory about the phases of
normal intellectual development, from infancy through adulthood. This includes
thought, judgment, and knowledge. The stages were named
after psychologist and developmental biologist Jean Piaget, who recorded the
intellectual development and abilities of infants, children, and teens (Ansorge,
2020).
This lesson will focus on Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory. It will
specifically explain the different stages of human development, together with the
highlights per stage.

What Will You learn?

At the end of the lesson, you must be able to explain Piaget’s views about human
cognitive development. Specifically:
1. Describe Piaget’s stages of cognitive development.
2. Conduct a simple Piagetian task interview with children.
3. Match learning activities to the learner’s cognitive stage.

Are you ready? Buckle up!

Let’s Try This!

Activity 1: Why is that?
DIRECTIONS: Read the situations below and answer the questions that follow.
1. It’s Christmas and Uncle Bob is giving “Aguinaldo” to the children. Three-year-
old Karen did not want to receive the one-hundred-peso bill and instead preferred
to receive four 20 – peso bills.
a. Question: Why do you think did Karen preferred the four 20 – peso bills over
1 one-hundred-peso bill?
___________________________________________________________________________
2. When eating on her highchair, seven – month old Liza accidentally dropped her
spoon on the floor. She saw mommy pick it up. Liza again drops her new spoon,
and she does this several times more on purpose. Mommy didn’t like it at all but
Liza appeared to enjoy dropping the spoons the whole time.
a. Question: Why do you think baby Liza appeared to enjoy dropping the spoons?
__________________________________________________________________________
 How was it? Were you able to explain the behavior exemplified by the children in
the two situations?
Do you have children at home? Do they do the same thing? If you haven’t observed
yet, try putting them in the same situation as the one given in number 1.
The behaviors shown by the children in the situations are described by Jean Piaget
in his Cognitive Theory of Development. In the first one, the child does not have the schema
of “Conservation” yet while in the second, Liza is somehow exploring with a certain object
in her environment.
Don’t worry! We are going to discuss these along the lesson. For the meantime,
let’s explore

Let’s now have the next activities.

Let’s Read!
Activity 2: What’s Latest?!
DIRECTIONS: Read the article below and then answer the guide questions at the end.

5 Core Benefits of Learning Through Discovery

Dragon Box

The “A-ha moment”. Your students have deeply learned that new piece of
knowledge, because they’ve discovered it on their own. This impressive form of
learning is called discovery or experimentation learning. But what exactly is
discovery learning? And why is it so important in the math classroom?
According to learning theorist J. Bruner, discovery learning allows the
student to draw on existing knowledge in order to solve the problem at hand. This
experimental process leads to learning new information at a deeper level than
passive learning.
However, this is just one of the many benefits of learning through
discovery. Let us take you through the 5 core benefits of this highly effective
method of learning.

Engagement
Children are inherently curious. They learn through their experiences,
solving mathematical operations by drawing on previous knowledge. As you
advance towards teaching more complex mathematical material, engage your
students in math talks. Instead of solving equations on the board, and giving
students the answer, have them talk through their process as they solve
mathematical operations.
Motivation
When your students are engaged, they become motivated to learn. A
curiosity and motivation for math develops through this hands-on, discovery
method of learning. It’s no longer just the learning of math facts. When you
engage your students in “math talk”, or ask questions while solving operations
on the board, students begin to make connections in their heads.
 Independence
Discovery learning promotes autonomy and independence. As your
students actively engage in the math, and progress through the curriculum, they
are doing so at their own pace. The autonomy of discovery learning allows your
students to progress only when ready. This keeps them further engaged, as well
as encouraged. They are responsible for their own progress and move forward
only when mastering each level. Even when working in groups, or engaging in
math talks, students must first think independently and creatively to engage in
problem-solving.

Retention
This high level of engagement leads to a much deeper understanding than
passively listening to explanations. Through discovery and experimentation
learning, levels of retention are exceedingly high. Discovery learning emphasizes
the importance of problem-solving, over the mere memorization of facts. Rather
than merely memorizing the correct answer, students learn to interpret

Life-long Results
Learning through discovery isn’t about your students absorbing what is
said or read to your them. When applied to mathematics, this form of learning
supports a strong number sense, and problem-solving abilities. Discovery
learning is about actively searching for solutions: a skill your students will be
able to use throughout their lives.

Learning through discovery and experimentation is essential

for developing your students’ curiosity in mathematics, as well as building a solid
foundation for future math endeavors. Now teachers, go continue to create rising
math stars.

Source: Dragon Box (2021). “5 Core Benefits of Learning Through Discovery” Retrieved from:
dragonbox.com on September 18, 2021

Guide Questions:
1. What is Discovery Approach?
2. What are the benefits of utilizing discovery approach in teaching?
3. How are these benefits attained through discovery approach?

When Piaget’s Cognitive Theory was established, it supported discovery approach and
experiential learning as strategies in teaching students in school. Let’s learn why this
approach/strategy is in line with Piaget’s theory. The contents below will give you more
information about this theory.
 Let’s Study!
Activity 3: Figments of Knowledge
DIRECTIONS: Read the contents below. This will help you strengthen what you have
learned in the previous activity. If you have books or sources related to the topic, you
can also read them so that you will be able to further explore this content.

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory

Piaget was born in Switzerland in the late 1800s and was a precocious
student, publishing his first scientific paper when he was just 11 years old. His
early exposure to the intellectual development of children came when he worked
as an assistant to Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon as they worked to
standardize their famous IQ test.
Much of Piaget's interest in the cognitive development of children was
inspired by his observations of his own nephew and daughter. These observations
reinforced his budding hypothesis that children's minds were not merely smaller
versions of adult minds.
Instead, he proposed, intelligence is something that grows and develops
through a series of stages. Older children do not just think more quickly than
younger children, he suggested. Instead, there are both qualitative and
quantitative differences between the thinking of young children versus older
children.
Piaget's stage theory describes the cognitive development of
children. Cognitive development involves changes in cognitive process and
abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development involves processes based
upon actions and later progresses to changes in mental operations.

The Stages
Through his observations of his children, Piaget developed a stage theory of
intellectual development that included four distinct stages:

The Sensorimotor Stage

Ages: Birth to 2 Years
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
• The infant knows the world through their movements and sensations
• Children learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking,
grasping, looking, and listening
• Infants learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be seen
(object permanence): by learning that objects are separate and distinct
entities and that they have an existence of their own outside of individual
perception, children are then able to begin to attach names and words to
objects.
• They are separate beings from the people and objects around them
• They realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world
around them
The Preoperational Stage
Ages: 2 to 7 Years
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
• Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures
to represent objects.
• Children at this stage tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from
the perspective of others.
• While they are getting better with language and thinking, they still tend to
think about things in very concrete terms.
Highlights:
• Symbolic Function: the ability to represent objects and events.
• Egocentrism: the tendency of the child to only see his point of view and to
assume that everyone also has his same point of view.
• Centration: tendency of the child to only focus on one aspect of a thing or
event and exclude other aspects.
• Irreversibility: inability to reverse their thinking.
• Animism: tendency of children to attribute human like traits or
characteristics to inanimate objects.
• Transductive reasoning: type of reasoning that is neither inductive nor
deductive.

The Concrete Operational Stage

Ages: 7 to 11 Years
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes
• During this stage, children begin to thinking logically about concrete
events
• They 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
• Their thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete
• Children begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific
information to a general principle
Highlights:
• Decentering: ability to perceive the different features of objects and
situations.
• Reversibility: ability to reverse thinking.
• Conservation: ability to know that certain properties of objects like
number, mass, volume, or area do not change even if there is a change in
appearance.

The Formal Operational Stage

Ages: 12 and Up
Major Characteristics and Developmental Changes:
• At this stage, the adolescent or young adult begins to think abstractly and
reason about hypothetical problems
• Abstract thought emerges
• Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and
political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning
 • Begin to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to
specific information
Highlights:
• Hypothetical Reasoning: ability to come up with different hypothesis about
a problem and to gather and weigh data in order to make a final decision.
• Analogical Reasoning: ability to perceive the relationship in one instance
and then use that relationship to narrow down possible answers to
another similar situation.
• Deductive Reasoning: general to specific instances

Important Concepts
To better understand some of the things that happen during cognitive
development, it is important first to examine a few of the important ideas and
concepts introduced by Piaget. The following are some of the factors that
influence how children learn and grow:
Schemas
A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in
understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us
to interpret and understand the world.
Assimilation
The process of taking in new information into our already existing 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. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is a case of
assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.
Accommodation
Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing
schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation.
Accommodation involves modifying existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new
information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this
process.
Equilibration
Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between
assimilation and accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget
called 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). Equilibration helps explain how children can move from one
stage of thought to the next.

Using Piaget's Stages of Development

Piaget's theory has influenced education and parenting. Here are some
practical ways teachers and parents can put his ideas to work:
• Remember that kids often learn best by doing things, rather than hearing
about them. Learning to solve problems isn't something that can be
taught. It must be discovered.
• The process of learning is as important (or more so) than the end result.
 • Don't try to teach a child something they aren’t ready to learn. According
to Piaget's stages, kids must master one level before they move on to the
next.
• Kids learn as much from each other as from parents or teachers. Give
them projects to do together, as well as individual tasks.

I hope the previous activities have helped you understand the Piaget’s Cognitive
Development Theory. Let’s now try making use of that knowledge.

Let’s Think About This!

Activity 4: Let’s Verify
DIRECTIONS: Choose children on the indicated age below and ask him/her the
corresponding suggested questions. Write your observation based on their responses.
Observation
Connection to
Age Group Question (Respond of the
Piaget’s Theory
child)
2 – 7 years old If you are going to
give a gift to your
mother for her
birthday, what give
are you going to
give?
8 – 11 years old If you will be given a
money, what will
you choose, is it a
10 – peso coin or 10
pieces of 1 – peso
coin?

We’re almost done with the first lesson of the second module. This time, I want you to
organize what’s on your mind after doing the activities of this module.

Let’s Remember!
The following pictures summarize the stages of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
and the Three Personality Components.
Let’s now have the last activity.

How Much Have You Learned?

Activity 5: Assessment
A. DIRECTION: Choose the letter of your answer.
1. According to Piaget, children are ______ in constructing their understanding
of the world.
a. Active b. Passive c. Neutral d. Bystanders
2. Incorporating new information into your existing ideas is a process known
as:
a. Accommodation b. Appropriation c. Assimilation d. Initiation
3. Two containers hold the same amount, but Jane thinks that the taller,
skinnier glass holds more. This is known as:
a. Accommodation b. Egocentrism c. False belief d.
Conservation
4. Piaget believed that children in the concrete operational stage have difficulty
with:
a. Perspective-taking c. Inductive logic
b. Deductive logic d. Conservation
5. Jean Piaget was a:
a. Child psychiatrist c. Biologist
b. Social psychologist d. Genetic Epistemologist
6. A schema is a:
a. Category of knowledge that allows us to interpret and understand the
world
b. The process of taking in new information and experiences
c. The process of balancing old knowledge and new information
d. None of the above
7. At which sensorimotor substage do children begin to develop symbols to
represent events or objects in the world?
a. Primary Circular Reactions
b. Secondary Circular Reactions
c. Tertiary Circular Reactions
d. Early Representational Thought
8. The ability to think abstractly and systematically solve problems emerges
during the:
 a. Concrete Operational Stage c. Formal Operational Stage
b. Sensorimotor Stage d. Preoperational Stage
9. Children in the preoperational stage have difficulty taking the perspective of
another person. This is known as:
a. Reversibility c. Metacognition
b. Egocentrism d. Constructivism
10. Piaget's stages have been criticized because:
a. His theory was based on an unrepresentative sample of children
b. Not all people reach the formal operational stage
c. His theory underestimates children's abilities
d. All of the above

B. Essay
1. Briefly discuss the stages of Piaget’s Cognitive Development
2. Assume you are assigned to teacher Grade 3 Mathematics to your students,
how are you going to teach the subject applying Piaget’s Theory?

References:

Ansorge, Rick (2020). “Piaget’s Stages of Development”. Retrieved from:

webmd.com on September 18, 2021.

Cherry, Kendra (2019). “The Four Stages of Cognitive Development” Retrieved from:
verywellmind.com on September 18, 2021

Dragon Box (2021). “5 Core Benefits of Learning Through Discovery” Retrieved

from: dragonbox.com on September 18, 2021

Corpuz, Brenda B. et.al (2018). The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning
Principles. Lorimar Publishing, Inc.: Quezon City.