Piaget and Cognitive Development

Kakali Bhattacharya, Seungyeon Han

Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia
Review of Piaget and Cognitive Development
Contents
[hide]
1 Introduction
2 Two Major Principles
3 Assimilation
4 Accommodation
5 Equilibration
6 Schemata
7 Stages of Cognitive Development
8 Conclusion
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 Additional Resources
12 Citation

Introduction
The research of Swiss cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget has contributed immeasurably to our
understanding of the development of learning in children. Piaget suggested many comprehensive
developmental theories. However, this chapter will discuss four of Piaget's key concepts that are
applicable to learning at any age: assimilation, accommodation, equilibration, and schemas.
Two Major Principles
According to Piaget, two major principles guide intellectual growth and biological development: adaptation
and organization. For individuals to survive in an environment, they must adapt to physical and mental
stimuli. Assimilation and accommodation are both part of the adaptation process. Piaget believed that
human beings possess mental structures that assimilate external events, and convert them to fit their
mental structures. Moreover, mental structures accommodate themselves to new, unusual, and
constantly changing aspects of the external environment.
Piaget's second principle, organization, refers to the nature of these adaptive mental structures. He
suggests that the mind is organized in complex and integrated ways. The simplest level is the schema, a
mental representation of some physical or mental action that can be performed on an object, event, or
phenomenon. We now turn to a discussion of these concepts.
Click Here to Play Video. Caption: This video depicts Angie's experience described below. The intent is to
give you an alternative way of learning about assimilation, accommodation, equilibration and schemas.
The video is a Windows Media Player file. By Kay Sauers, Tiffany Davis, and Meghann Hummel (2006).
Assimilation
Angie sees her own snapshot in a photo album for the first time. Her father asks her, "Who is that,
Angie?" She points to the little girl in the picture and replies, "It is a baby, Daddy." She cannot identify
herself. The father points out that the picture is of her. He tells her, "Yes Angie. That is a baby, and that
baby is you." He then explains how pictures are taken to capture moments.
In order for Angie to make sense of what her father just told her about the picture, she would have had to
somehow assimilate the information from her father into her existing internal cognitive structures. She
might do this by assuming that her dad was teasing her, and that the pictures were of another child; or
she could infer that the picture was taken at a different time as explained by her father. In this way, Angie
finds a way to fit this external reality with her internal cognitive structures, or schemas. Assimilation
occurs when a child perceives new objects or events in terms of existing schemas or operations. Piaget
emphasized the functional quality of assimilation, where children and adults tend to apply any mental
structure that is available to assimilate a new event, and actively seek to use this newly acquired mental
structure.
Accommodation
Accommodation refers to the process of changing internal mental structures to provide consistency with
external reality. It occurs when existing schemas or operations must be modified or new schemas are
created to account for a new experience. Obviously, accommodation influences assimilation, and vice
versa. As reality is assimilated, structures are accommodated.
Consider again the case of Angie. Angie understands that she cannot simultaneously exist in two places.
Thus, if her father points out to her that she is the child in the picture, Angie would naturally have to alter
her internal mental structures to adjust to the newly discovered external reality. This might mean that
Angie would have to believe that photographs represent moments from the past. Therefore, Angie can
see herself in the picture and still exist in present time; in this way, Angie can accommodate her internal
mental structures to her external reality.
Equilibration
Returning again to the example of Angie: hearing that she is indeed the baby in the picture causes her
some internal conflict, or a state of disequilibration. Angie's natural biological drive would immediately
guide her to achieve a state of equilibrium between her external world and her internal mental structures.
She would first try to assimilate the information received from the external world into her existing internal
cognitive structures. Angie would somehow adjust the stimulus of her photo to account for the fact that
she can exist in still form in a picture, and at the same time be in motion in real life. To do this, Angie must
reinterpret, alter the nature of reality, or change her belief system. This might mean that Angie interprets
that her father is teasing her and it is not Angie in the picture, or that it is Angie but that the photo was
taken at a different time as her father explained. Either way, Angie must interpret and alter external reality
to fit into her internal mental structures until a state of equilibrium is achieved. This internal attempt to
make sense of external events according to one's internal events by achieving balance between
assimilation and accommodation enables Angie to form new internal mental structures through which she
will further evaluate her external world in the future.
Piaget believed that cognitive development in children is contingent on four factors: biological maturation,
experience with the physical environment, experience with the social environment, and equilibration.
Equilibration refers to the biological drive to produce an optimal state of equilibrium between people's
cognitive structures and their environment (Duncan, 1995). Equilibration is an attempt to bring about a
state of equilibrium between the first three factors and the reality associated with one's external
environment. This state must be present for cognitive development to take place. Equilibration involves
both assimilation and accommodation. During each stage of development, people conduct themselves
with certain logical internal mental structures that allow them to adequately make sense of the world.
When external reality does not match with the logical internal mental structures (disequilibria),
equilibration occurs as an effort to bring balance between assimilation and accommodation as the person
adapts more sophisticated internal mental structures. Human beings continually attempt to make sense of
the world around them by assimilating new information into pre-existing mental schemes and
accommodating thought processes as necessary. This effort to maintain a balance, denoted by
equilibration, allows for cognitive development and effective thought processes.
Schemata
Piaget defined a schema as the mental representation of an associated set of perceptions, ideas, and/or
actions. Piaget considered schemata to be the basic building blocks of thinking (Woolfolk, 1987). A
schema can be discrete and specific, or sequential and elaborate. For example, a schema may be as
specific as recognizing a dog, or as elaborate as categorizing different types of dogs. As cognitive
development proceeds, new schemata are developed, and existing schemata are more efficiently
organized to better adapt to the environment. Cognitive development becomes evident through changes
in behavior as this adaptation takes place. The process of assimilation involves attempts to organize
existing schemata for better understanding events in the external world, whereas accommodation
involves changing pre-existing schemata to adapt to a new situation.
Stages of Cognitive Development
Review the four major stages of cognitive development: Piaget's Stages
Conclusion
Cognitive development is a complex process comprising three principal concepts affecting the
development process: assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. All three are associated with the
formation of schemata and their modification in order to attain a balanced sense of understanding of the
external world.
References
Driscoll, M. P. (2000). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (2nd Ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn &
Bacon
Duncan, R. M. (1995). Piaget and Vygotsky revisited: Dialogue or assimilation? Developmental Review,
15, 458-472
Schunk, D. H. (2000). Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice-Hall
Woolfolk, A.E. (1987). Educational Psychology (3rd Ed). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
Bibliography
Suggested Readings for an Introduction to Piaget:
Piaget, J. (1964). Six Psychological Studies. New York: Vintage. [the first 70 pages]
Piaget, J. (1973). The child and reality.
Piaget, J. (1983). "Piaget's Theory". In P. Mussen (Ed.) Handbook of child psychology. Wiley.
Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books. (original work
published 1966)
Piaget, J. (1985). Equilibration of cognitive structures. University of Chicago Press.
Piaget, J. (1995). Sociological studies. Routledge.

Main works (in chronological order):
1918, Recherche. Lausanne: La Concorde.
1924, Judgment and reasoning in the child, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1928.
1936, Origins of intelligence in the child, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1953.
1957, Construction of reality in the child, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1954.
1941, Child's conception of number (with Alina Szeminska), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1952.
1945, Play, dreams and imitation in childhood, London: Heinemann, 1951.
1949, Trait de logique. Paris: Colin.
1950, Introduction l'pistmologie gntique 3 Vols. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
1954, Intelligence and affectivity, Palo Alto, CA: Annual Reviews, 1981.
1955, Growth of logical thinking (with Brbel Inhelder), London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1958.
1962, Commentary on Vygotsky's criticisms. New Ideas in Psychology, 13, 325-40, 1995
1967, Logique et connaissance scientifique. Paris: Gallimard.
1967, Biology and knowledge, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1971.
1970, Piaget's theory. In P. Mussen (ed) Handbook of child psychology, Vol.1. New York: Wiley, 1983.
1970, Main trends in psychology, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973.
1975, Equilibration of cognitive structures, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
1977, Sociological studies, London: Routledge, 1995
1977, Studies in reflecting abstraction. Hove: Psychology Press, 2000
1977, Essay on necessity. Human Development, 29, 301-14, 1986.
1981, Possibility and necessity, 2 Vols, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987.
1983, Psychogenesis and the history of science (with Rolando Garcia), New York: Columbia University
Press, 1989.
1987, Towards a logic of meanings (with Rolando Garcia), Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates, 1991.
1990, Morphisms and categories (with Gil Henriques, Edgar Ascher), Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates,
1992.
Additional Resources
Articles
De Lisi, R. (2002, Winter2002). From Marbles to Instant Messenger: Implications of Piaget's Ideas
About Peer Learning. Theory Into Practice, 41(1), 5.
Abstract by Nicole Goddard, April 2009
Piagets Theory is linked to childrens involvement in education. In many classrooms, students learn
through working with their peers. This article attempts to examine and evaluate peer learning using
Piagets Theory. Teachers may find this article particularly interesting because it describes real life
applications. Current educational practice including why peer learning is used begins this article. Then,
two main objectives of peer learningsharpening academic skills and managing interactions with
classmatesare explicitly addressed. Teachers must be mindful of the interactions students have with
their peers as this contributes to positive or negative feelings concerning school. Finally, peer learning
and technology are discussed at the end of this article.

Flavell, J. (1996, July). Piagets legacy. Psychological Science, 7(4), 200-203.
Abstract by Victor Colon, April 2009
The authors main objective is to summarize what he believed to be Piaget's contributions to what it is
known about cognitive development and how people think about it. Flavell accomplishes this by
enumerating Piagets greatest contributions throughout the article and explaining the reasoning behind
his decision. He divided Piagets contribution as:
1. The founding of the field of cognitive development
2. The assimilation-accommodation model of cognitive growth
3. How Piaget helped people accept the idea that children's cognitive behavior is intrinsically rather
than extrinsically motivated
4. How to characterize human cognitive development adequately
5. Piagets equilibrium model
6. Piagets concept of scheme (or schema)
7. Piagets contribution to the research methods for studying childrens intellectual growth
8. Piagets empirical discoveries
9. Piagets descriptions of how children think
10. Piagets influence on fields other than cognitive-developmental psychology
11. Piagets questions and the issues arise by them

Siegler, R., & Ellis, S. (1996, July). Piaget on childhood. Psychological Science, 7(4), 211-215.
Abstract by Sean Boyle, April 2009
The authors main focus is to summarize the influence of Piagets ideas regarding childrens cognitive
development and the ways in which Piaget influenced future directions of research and theory in the field
of cognitive development. Siegler and Ellis focus on three aspects of Piagets legacy: constructivism,
essentialism and dynamism. The authors begin with the classic Piagetian illustration of constructivism in
the numerical domain. Siegler and Ellis state that recent research has built upon Piagets basic tenets of
constructivism and shown that most children continue to construct new problem solving strategies even
with existing, successful strategies in place. Second, Siegler and Ellis analyze Piagets stages of
cognitive development with regard to essentialism. The authors argue that recent research suggests that
children of different ages employ either unidimensional and/or multidimensional reasoning therefore
identifying the essential components of a childs reasoning at a particular age may not be possible.
Finally, the authors examine dynamism and Piagets proposals of assimilation, accommodation and
equilibration. Siegler and Ellis state that Piagets attempt to recognize essences in children may have
prevented the recognition of the role of variability in childrens thinking. Recent research has discovered
connections between cognitive variability and cognitive change and despite Piagets proclivity for
developmental stage theory he understood the importance of cognitive conflict in change.

Videos
Piagets Developmental Theory: An Overview Davidson Films Summary: This video highlights some of
the things that influenced the work of Piaget. Additionally, a discussion of sensorimotor stage,
preoperational stage, concrete operations, and formal operations follows a brief history of his childhood.

Websites
Jean Piaget Archives - Web site for the University of Genevas collection of Piagets writings as well as
secondary literature inspired by the School of Geneva in the field of developmental psychology. Online
materials are bibliographic records (citations) and only available in French.
Jean Piaget Society Web site for the Jean Piaget Society (JPS); contains information regarding the life,
work and impact of Jean Piaget. Also provides information regarding JPSs journal, book and newsletter
publications.
Citation
APA Citation: Bhattacharya, K.& Han, S. (2001). Piaget and cognitive development. In M. Orey (Ed.),
Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved <insert date>,
from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/


ean Piaget
Jean Piaget (1896 - 1980) was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his
job was to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests.
He became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their wrong answers on the
questions that required logical thinking. He believed that these incorrect answers
revealed important differences between the thinking of adults and children.
Piaget was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive
development. His contributions include a theory of cognitive child development,
detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but
ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.
Before Piagets work, the common assumption in psychology was that children are
merely less competent thinkers than adults. Piaget showed that young children think
in strikingly different ways compared to adults.
According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically
inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge is based.
Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways:
o It is concerned with children, rather than all learners.
o It focuses on development, rather than learning per se, so it does not address
learning of information or specific behaviors.
o It proposes discrete stages of development, marked by qualitative differences,
rather than a gradual increase in number and complexity of behaviors, concepts,
ideas, etc.
The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the
infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using
hypotheses.
To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental
processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience. Children
construct an understanding of the world around them, then experience discrepancies
between what they already know and what they discover in their environment.
There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory:
1. Schemas
(building blocks of knowledge)
2. Processes that enable the transition from one stage to another
(equilibrium,assimilation and accommodation)

3. Stages of Development:
sensorimotor,
preoperational,
concrete operational,
formal operational

Schemas
Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior a way of
organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as units of
knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions and
abstract (i.e. theoretical) concepts.
When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around
it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e. a state of cognitive (i.e. mental) balance.
Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development, and
described how they were developed or acquired. A schema can be defined as a set of
linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to
respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations
and apply them when needed.
For example, a person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The
schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu,
ordering food, eating it and paying the bill. This is an example of a type of schema
called a 'script'.
Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply
it to the situation. The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this -
especially those used by infants. He described how - as a child gets older - his or her
schemas become more numerous and elaborate.
Piaget believed that newborn babies have some innate schemas - even before they
have had much opportunity to experience the world. These neonatal schemas are the
cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically
programmed into us.
For example babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching
the baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's
finger. Piaget therefore assumed that the baby has a 'sucking schema'.
Similarly the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a
baby's hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards
something which touches its cheek, were assumed to result operations: for example
shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas, grasping and shaking.
Assimilation and Accommodation
Jean Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation(adjustment) to the
world. This happens through:
Assimilation
Which is using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation.
Accommodation
This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to
be changed to deal with a new object or situation.
Equilibration
This is the force, which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive
development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.
Equilibrium is occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information
through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when
new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).
Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be
frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge
(accommodation).
Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new
schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.

Example of Assimilation
A 2 year old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair
on the sides. To his fathers horror, the toddler shouts Clown, clown (Sigler et al.,
2003).
Example of Accommodation
In the clown incident, the boys father explained to his son that the man was not a
clown and that even though his hair was like a clowns, he wasnt wearing a funny
costume and wasnt doing silly things to make people laugh
With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of clown and
make this idea fit better to a standard concept of clown.
Stages of Development
A child's cognitive development is about a child developing or constructing a mental
model of the world.
Imagine what it would be like if you did not have a mental model of your world. It
would mean that you would not be able to make so much use of information from
your past experience, or to plan future actions.
Jean Piaget was interested both in how children learnt and in how they thought.
Piaget studied children from infancy to adolescence, and carried out many of his own
investigations using his three children. He used the following research methods:
Naturalistic observation: Piaget made careful, detailed observations of children. These
were mainly his own children and the children of friends. From these he wrote diary
descriptions charting their development.
Clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to understand
questions and hold conversations.
Piaget believed that children think differently than adults and stated they go through 4
universal stages of cognitive development. Development is therefore biologically
based and changes as the child matures. Cognition therefore develops in all children
in the same sequence of stages.
Each child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out -
although some individuals may never attain the later stages. There are individual
differences in the rate at which children progress through stages.
Piaget did not claim that a particular stage was reached at a certain age - although
descriptions of the stages often include an indication of the age at which the average
child would reach each stage.
Piaget believed that these stages are universal - i.e. that the same sequence of
development occurs in children all over the world, whatever their culture.
Stage of Development Key Feature Research Study
Sensorimotor
0 - 2 yrs.
Object Permanence Blanket & Ball Study
Preoperational
2 - 7 yrs.
Egocentrism Three Mountains
Concrete Operational
7 11 yrs.
Conservation
Conservation of
Number
Formal Operational
11yrs +
Manipulate ideas in
head, e.g. Abstract
Reasoning
Pendulum Task
Educational Implications
Piaget did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers have
explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning.
Piaget has been extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching.
For example, a review of primary education by the UK government in 1966 was based
strongly on Piagets theory. The result of this review led to the publication of
the Plowden report (1967).
Discovery learning the idea that children learn best through doing and actively
exploring - was seen as central to the transformation of primary school curriculum.
'The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the
centrality of play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by
discovery and the importance of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should
'not assume that only what is measurable is valuable.'
Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages the notion of
'readiness' important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts
should be taught. According to Piaget's theory children should not be taught certain
concepts until they have reached the appropriate stage cognitive development.
Within the classroom learning should be student centred a accomplished through
active discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than
direct tuition. Therefore teachers should encourage the following within the
classroom:
o Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it.
o Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths".
o Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from
each other).
o Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the
child.
o Evaluate the level of the child's development, so suitable tasks can be set.
Evaluation of Piaget's Theory
Support
The influence of Piagets ideas in developmental psychology has been enormous.
He changed how people viewed the childs world and their methods of studying
children. He was an inspiration to many who came after and took up his ideas.
Piaget's ideas have generated a huge amount of research which has increased our
understanding of cognitive development.
His ideas have been of practical use in understanding and communicating with
children, particularly in the field of education (re: Discovery Learning).
Criticisms
Are the stages real? Vygotsky and Bruner would rather not talk about stages at all,
preferring to see development as continuous. Others have queried the age ranges of
the stages. Some studies have shown that progress to the formal operational stage
is not guaranteed. For example, Keating (1979) reported that 40-60% of college
students fail at formal operation tasks, and Dasen (1994) states that only one-third
of adults ever reach the formal operational stage.
Because Piaget concentrated on the universal stages of cognitive development and
biological maturation, he failed to consider the effect that the social setting and
culture may have on cognitive development (re:Vygotsky).
Piagets methods (observation and clinical interviews) are more open to biased
interpretation than other methods. Because Piaget conducted the observations
alone data collect are based on his own subjective interpretation of events. It would
have been more reliable if Piaget conducted the observations with another
researcher and compared the results afterwards to check if they are similar.
As several studies have shown Piaget underestimated the abilities of children
because his tests were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand (e.g. Martin
Hughes, 1975).
The concept of schema is incompatible with the theories of Bruner and
Vygotsky. Behaviorism would also refute Piagets schema theory because is
cannot be directly observed as it is an internal process. Therefore, they would
claim it cannot be objectively measured.
Piaget carried out his studies with a handful of participants (i.e. small sample size)
and in the early studies he generally used his own children (from Switzerland).
This sample is biased, and accordingly the results of these studies cannot be
generalized to children from different cultures.
APA Style References
Central Advisory Council for Education (1967). Children and their Primary
Schools ('The Plowden Report'), London: HMSO.
Dasen, P. (1994). Culture and cognitive development from a Piagetian
perspective. In W .J. Lonner & R.S. Malpass (Eds.), Psychology and Culture.
Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Hughes , M. (1975). Egocentrism in preschool children. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation. Edinburgh University.
Keating, D. (1979). Adolescent thinking. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of
adolescent psychology, pp. 211-246. New York: Wiley.
Piaget, J. (1932). The moral judgment of the child. London: Routledge & Kegan
Paul.
Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.
Piaget, J. (1945). Play, dreams and imitation in childhood. London: Heinemann.
Piaget, J. (1957). Construction of reality in the child. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul.



Jean Piaget and Cognitive Development
Dr. C. George Boeree

Jean Piaget began his career as a biologist - specifically, one that studies
mollusks. But his interest in science and the history of science soon overtook his
interest in snails and clams. As he delved deeper into the thought-processes of doing
science, he became interested in the nature of thought itself, especially in the
development of thinking. Finding relatively little work done in the area, he had the
opportunity to give it a label. He called it genetic epistemology, meaning the study
of the development of knowledge.
He noticed, for example, that even infants have certain skills in regard to objects in
their environment. These skills were certainly simple , sensorimotor skills, but they
directed the way in which the infant explored his or her environment and so how they
gained more knowledge of the world and more sophisticated exploratory skills. These
skills he called schemas.
For example, an infant knows how to grab his favorite rattle and thrust it into his
mouth. Hes got that schema down pat. When he comes across some other object --
say daddys expensive watch, he easily learns to transfer his grab and thrust schema
to the new object. This Piaget called assimilation: The baby assimilates a new object
into an old schema.
When our infant comes across another object again - say a beach ball - he will try his
old schema of grab and thrust. This of course works poorly with the new object. So
the schema will adapt to the new object: Perhaps, in this example, squeeze and
drool would be an appropriate title for the new schema. This is
calledaccommodation: The baby accomodates the old schema to a new object.
Assimilation and accommodation are the two sides of adaptation, Piagets term for
what most of us would call learning. Piaget saw adaptation, however, as a good deal
broader than the kind of learning that Behaviorists in the US were talking about. He
saw it as a fundamentally biological process. Even ones grip has to accommodate to
a stone, while clay is assimilated into our grip. All living things adapt, even without a
nervous system or brain.
Assimilation and accommodation work like pendulum swings at advancing our
understanding of the world and our competency in it. According to Piaget, they are
directed at a balance between the structure of the mind and the environment, at a
certain congruency between the two, that would indicate that you have a good (or at
least good-enough) model of the universe. This ideal state he calls equilibrium.
As he continued his investigation of children, he noted that there were periods where
assimilation dominated, periods where accommodation dominated, and periods of
relative equilibrium, and that these periods were similar among all the children he
looked at in their nature and their timing. And so he
developed the idea of stagesof cognitive
development. These constitute a lasting contribution to
psychology.

The sensorimotor stage
The first stage, to which we have already referred, is the sensorimotor stage. It lasts
from birth to about two years old. As the name implies, the infant uses his or her
senses and motor abilities to understand the world, beginning with reflexes and ending
with complex combinations of sensorimotor skills.
Between one and four months, the child works on primary circular reactions - just
an action of his own which serves as a stimulus to which it responds with the same
action, and around and around we go. For example, the baby may suck her
thumb. That feels good, so she sucks some more... Or she may blow a
bubble. Thats interesting so Ill do it again....
Between four and 12 months, the infant turns to secondary circular reactions, which
involve an act that extends out to the environment: She may squeeze a rubber
duckie. It goes quack. Thats great, so do it again, and again, and again. She is
learning procedures that make interesting things last.
At this point, other things begin to show up as well. For example, babies become
ticklish, although they must be aware that someone else is tickling them or it wont
work. And they begin to develop object permanence. This is the ability to recognize
that, just because you cant see something doesnt mean its gone! Younger infants
seem to function by an out of sight, out of mind schema. Older infants remember,
and may even try to find things they can no longer see.
Between 12 months and 24 months, the child works on tertiary circular
reactions. They consist of the same making interesting things last cycle, except
with constant variation. I hit the drum with the stick -- rat-tat-tat-tat. I hit the block
with the stick -- thump-thump. I hit the table with the stick -- clunk-clunk. I hit
daddy with the stick -- ouch-ouch. This kind of active experimentation is best seen
during feeding time, when babies discover new and interesting ways of throwing their
spoons, dishes, and food.
Around one and a half, the child is clearly developing mental representation, that is,
the ability to hold an image in their mind for a period beyond the immediate
experience. For example, they can engage in deferred imitation, such as throwing a
tantrum after seeing another child throw one an hour ago. They can usemental
combinations to solve simple problems, such as putting down a toy in order to open a
door. And they get good at pretending. Instead of using a doll as something to sit on,
suck on, or throw, now the child will sing to it, tuck it into bed, and so on.

Preoperational stage
The preoperational stage lasts from about two to about seven years old. Now that the
child has mental representations and is able to pretend, it is a short step to the use
of symbols.
A symbol is a thing that represents something else. A drawing, a written word, or a
spoken word comes to be understood as representing a real thing. The use of
language is, of course, the prime example, but another good example of symbol use
is creative play, wherein checkers are cookies, papers are dishes, a box is the table,
and so on. By manipulating symbols, we are essentially thinking, in a way the infant
could not: in the absence of the actual objects involved!
Along with symbolization, there is a clear understanding of past and future. For
example, if a child is crying for its mother, and you say Mommy will be home soon,
it will now tend to stop crying. Or if you ask him, Remember when you fell down?
he will respond by making a sad face.
On the other hand, the child is quite egocentric during this stage, that is, he sees
things pretty much from one point of view: his own! She may hold up a picture so
only she can see it and expect you to see it too. Or she may explain that grass grows
so she wont get hurt when she falls.
Piaget did a study to investigate this phenomenon: He would put children in front of a
simple plaster mountain range and seat himself to the side, then ask them to pick from
four pictures the view that he, Piaget, would see. Younger children would pick the
picture of the view they themselves saw; older kids picked correctly.

Similarly, younger children center on one aspect of any problem or communication at
a time. for example, they may not understand you when you tell them Your father is
my husband. Or they may say things like I dont live in the USA; I live in
Pennsylvania! Or, if you show them five black and three white marbles and ask
them Are there more marbles or more black marbles? they will respond More
black ones!
Perhaps the most famous example of the preoperational childs centrism is what
Piaget refers to as their inability to conserve liquid volume. If I give a three year old
some chocolate milk in a tall skinny glass, and I give myself a whole lot more in a
short fat glass, she will tend to focus on only one of the dimensions of the
glass. Since the milk in the tall skinny glass goes up much higher, she is likely to
assume that there is more milk in that one than in the short fat glass, even though there
is far more in the latter. It is the development of the child's ability to decenter that
marks him as having moved to the next stage.

Concrete operations stage
The concrete operations stage lasts from about seven to about 11. The
word operations refers to logical operations or principles we use when solving
problems. In this stage, the child not only uses symbols representationally, but can
manipulate those symbols logically. Quite an accomplishment! But, at this point, they
must still perform these operations within the context of concrete situations.
The stage begins with progressive decentering. By six or seven, most children
develop the ability to conserve number, length, and liquid
volume. Conservationrefers to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite
changes in appearance. If you show a child four marbles in a row, then spread them
out, the preoperational child will focus on the spread, and tend to believe that there are
now more marbles than before.

Or if you have two five inch sticks laid parallel to each other, then move one of them
a little, she may believe that the moved stick is now longer than the other.

The concrete operations child, on the other hand, will know that there are still four
marbles, and that the stick doesnt change length even though it now extends beyond
the other. And he will know that you have to look at more than just the height of the
milk in the glass: If you pour the milk from the short, fat glass into the tall, skinny
glass, he will tell you that there is the same amount of milk as before, despite the
dramatic increase in milk-level!

By seven or eight years old, children develop conservation of substance: If I take a
ball of clay and roll it into a long thin rod, or even split it into ten little pieces, the
child knows that there is still the same amount of clay. And he will know that, if you
rolled it all back into a single ball, it would look quite the same as it did - a feature
known as reversibility.

By nine or ten, the last of the conservation tests is mastered: conservation of area. If
you take four one-inch square blocks ("houses"), and lay them on a six-by-six cloth
together in the center, the child who conserves will know that they take up just as
much room as the same blocks spread out in the corners, or, for that matter, anywhere
at all.

If all this sounds too easy to be such a big deal, note that many adults do not conserve
area. Or test your friends on conservation of mass: Which is heavier: a million tons
of lead, or a million tons of feathers? Many will focus on the words "lead" and
"feathers", and ignore the fact that they both weigh a million tons.
In addition, a child learns classification and seriation during this
stage. Classification refers back to the question of whether there are more marbles or
more black marbles. Now the child begins to get the idea that one set can include
another. Seriation is putting things in order. The younger child may start putting
things in order by, say size, but will quickly lose track. Now the child has no problem
with such a task. Since arithmetic is essentially nothing more than classification and
seriation, the child is now ready for some formal education!

Formal operations stage
But the concrete operations child has a hard time applying his new-found logical
abilities to non-concrete - i.e. abstract - events. If mom says to junior You shouldnt
make fun of that boys nose. How would you feel if someone did that to you? he is
likely to respond I dont have a big nose! Even this simple lesson may well be too
abstract, too hypothetical, for his kind of thinking.
Dont judge the concrete operations child too harshly, though. Even adults are often
taken-aback when we present them with something hypothetical: If Edith has a
lighter complexion than Susan, and Edith is darker than Lily, who is the
darkest? Most people need a moment or two.
From around 12 on, we enter the formal operations stage. Here we become
increasingly competent at adult-style thinking. This involves using logical operations,
and using them in the abstract, rather than the concrete. We often call
this hypothetical thinking.
It is the formal operations stage that allows one to investigate a problem in a careful
and systematic fashion. Ask a 16 year old to tell you the rules for making pendulums
swing quickly or slowly, and he may proceed like this:
A long string with a light weight - lets see how fast that swings.
A long string with a heavy weight - lets try that.
Now, a short string with a light weight.
And finally, a short string with a heavy weight.
His experiment - and it is a true experiment - would tell him that a short string leads to
a fast swing, and a long string to a slow swing, and that the weight of the pendulum
makes no difference at all!
It doesnt seem that the formal operations stage is something everyone actually gets
to. Even those of us who do get there dont operate in it at all times. Even some
cultures, it seems, dont develop it or value it like ours does. Abstract reasoning is
simply not universal.











Social
Cognitive
Perspectives
Psychologists
Developmental
Behaviorism
Edward Thorndike
Classical Conditioning
Pavlov's Dogs

Home Perspectives Behaviorism Operant Conditioning
Skinner - Operant
Conditioning
by Saul McLeod published 2007, updated 2014
By the 1920s John B. Watson had left academic psychology and
otherbehaviorists were becoming influential, proposing new forms of learning other
than classical conditioning.
Perhaps the most important of these was Burrhus Frederic Skinner. Although, for
obvious reasons he is more commonly known as B.F. Skinner.
Skinner's views were slightly less extreme than those of Watson. Skinner believed that
we do have such a thing as a mind, but that it is simply more productive to study
observable behavior rather than internal mental events.
Skinner believed that the best way to understand behavior is to look at the causes of
an action and its consequences. He called this approach operant conditioning.
Skinner's theory of operant conditioning was based on the work of Thorndike(1905).
Edward Thorndike studied learning in animals using a puzzle box to propose the
theory known as the 'Law of Effect'.
BF Skinner: Operant Conditioning
Skinner is regarded as the father of Operant Conditioning, but his work was based on
Thorndikes law of effect. Skinner introduced a new term into the Law of Effect -
Reinforcement. Behavior which is reinforced tends to be repeated (i.e. strengthened);
behavior which is not reinforced tends to die out-or be extinguished (i.e. weakened).
Skinner (1948) studied operant conditioning by conducting experiments using animals
which he placed in a Skinner Box which was similar to Thorndikes puzzle box.

B.F. Skinner (1938) coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing
of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response.
Skinner identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior.
Skinner coined the term operant conditioning; it means roughly changing of behavior
by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. Skinner
identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior.
Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor
decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated.
Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a
behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative.
Punishers: Response from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a
behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.
We can all think of examples of how our own behavior has been affected by
reinforcers and punishers. As a child you probably tried out a number of behaviors
and learnt from their consequences.
For example, if when you were younger you tried smoking at school, and the chief
consequence was that you got in with the crowd you always wanted to hang out with,
you would have been positively reinforced (i.e. rewarded) and would be likely to
repeat the behavior. If, however, the main consequence was that you were caught,
caned, suspended from school and your parents became involved you would most
certainly have been punished, and you would consequently be much less likely to
smoke now.
Reinforcement (strengthens behavior)
Skinner showed how positive reinforcement worked by placing a hungry rat in his
Skinner box. The box contained a lever in the side and as the rat moved about the box
it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did so a food pellet would drop
into a container next to the lever. The rats quickly learned to go straight to the lever
after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of receiving food if they
pressed the lever ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.
Positive reinforcement strengthens a behavior by providing a consequence an
individual finds rewarding. For example, if your teacher gives you 5 each time you
complete your homework (i.e. a reward) you are more likely to repeat this behavior in
the future, thus strengthening the behavior of completing your homework.
The removal of an unpleasant reinforcer can also strengthen behavior. This is known
as negative reinforcement because it is the removal of an adverse stimulus which is
rewarding to the animal. Negative reinforcement strengthens behavior because it
stops or removes an unpleasant experience.
For example, if you do not complete your homework you give your teacher 5. You
will complete your homework to avoid paying 5, thus strengthening the behavior of
completing your homework.
Skinner showed how negative reinforcement worked by placing a rat in his Skinner box
and then subjecting it to an unpleasant electric current which caused it some discomfort.
As the rat moved about the box it would accidentally knock the lever. Immediately it did
so the electric current would be switched off. The rats quickly learned to go straight to
the lever after a few times of being put in the box. The consequence of escaping the
electric current ensured that they would repeat the action again and again.


In fact Skinner even taught the rats to avoid the electric current by turning on a light
just before the electric current came on. The rats soon learned to press the lever when
the light came on because they knew that this would stop the electric current being
switched on.
These two learned responses are known as Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning.
Punishment (weakens behavior)
Punishment is defined as the opposite of reinforcement since it is designed to weaken
or eliminate a response rather than increase it.
Like reinforcement, punishment can work either by directly applying an unpleasant
stimulus like a shock after a response or by removing a potentially rewarding
stimulus, for instance, deducting someones pocket money to punish undesirable
behavior.
Note: It is not always easy to distinguish between punishment and negative
reinforcement.
Behavior Modification
Behavior modification is a set of therapies / techniques based on operant conditioning
(Skinner, 1938, 1953). The main principle comprises changing environmental events
that are related to a person's behavior. For example, the reinforcement of desired
behaviors and ignoring or punishing undesired ones.
This is not as simple as it sounds always reinforcing desired behavior, for example,
is basically bribery.
There are different types of positive reinforcements. Primary reinforcement is when a
reward strengths a behavior by itself. Secondary reinforcement is when something
strengthens a behavior because it leads to a primary reinforcer.
Examples of behavior modification therapy include token economy and behavior
shaping
Token Economy
The token economy is a system in which targeted behaviors are reinforced with tokens
(secondary reinforcers) and are later exchanged for rewards (primary reinforcers).
Tokens can be in the form of fake money, buttons, poker chips, stickers, etc. While
rewards can range anywhere from snacks to privileges/activities.
Token economy has been found to be very effective in managing psychiatric patients.
However, the patients can become over reliant on the tokens, making it difficult for
them once they leave prisons, hospital etc.
Teachers use token economy at primary school by giving young children stickers to
reward good behavior.
Operant Conditioning in the Classroom
Behavior modification therapy is much used in clinical and educational psychology,
particularly with people with learning difficulties. In the conventional learning
situation it applies largely to issues of class- and student management, rather than to
learning content. It is very relevant to shaping skill performance.
A simple way of giving positive reinforcement in behavior modification is in
providing compliments, approval, encouragement, and affirmation; a ratio of five
compliments for every one complaint is generally seen as being the most effective in
altering behavior in a desired manner.
Operant Conditioning Summary
Looking at Skinner's classic studies on pigeons behavior we can identify some of the
major assumptions of behaviorists approach.
Psychology should be seen as a science, to be studied in a scientific manner.
Skinner's study of behavior in rats was conducted under carefully controlled
laboratory conditions.
Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to
internal events like thinking and emotion. Note that Skinner did not say that the
rats learnt to press a lever because they wanted food. He instead concentrated on
describing the easily observed behavior that the rats acquired.
The major influence on human behavior is learning from our environment. In the
Skinner study, because food followed a particular behavior the rats learned to
repeat that behavior, e.g. classical and operant conditioning.
There is little difference between the learning that takes place in humans and that
in other animals. Therefore research (e.g. classical conditioning) can be carried out
on animals (Pavlovs dogs) as well as on humans (Little Albert). Skinner proposed
that the way humans learn behavior is much the same as the way the rats learned to
press a lever.
So, if your layperson's idea of psychology has always been of people in laboratories
wearing white coats and watching hapless rats try to negotiate mazes in order to get to
their dinner, then you are probably thinking of behavioral psychology.
Behaviorism and its offshoots tend to be among the most scientific of the
psychological perspectives. The emphasis of behavioral psychology is on how we
learn to behave in certain ways. We are all constantly learning new behaviors and how
to modify our existing behavior. Behavioral psychology is the psychological approach
that focuses on how this learning takes place.
Critical Evaluation
Operant conditioning can be used to explain a wide variety of behavior, from the
process of learning, to addiction and language acquisition. It also has practical
application (such as token economy) which can be applied in classrooms, prisons and
psychiatric hospitals.
However, operant conditioning fails to taken into account the role of inherited
and cognitive factors in learning, and thus is an incomplete explanation of the learning
process in humans and animals.
For example, Kohler (1924) found that primates often seem to solve problems in a
flash of insight rather than be trial and error learning. Also social learning
theory (Bandura, 1977) suggests that humans can learn automatically through
observation rather than through personal experience.
The use of animal research in operant conditioning studies also raises the issue of
extrapolation. Some psychologists argue we cannot generalize from studies on
animals to humans as their anatomy & physiology is different from humans, & they
cannot think about their experiences and invoke reason, patience, memory or self-
comfort.
References
Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Keller, W. (1924). The mentality of apes.
Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of Organisms: An Experimental Analysis. New
York: Appleton-Century.
Skinner, B. F. (1948). Superstition' in the pigeon. Journal of Experimental
Psychology, 38, 168-172.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. SimonandSchuster.com.
Thorndike, E. L. (1905). The elements of psychology. New York: A. G. Seiler.
How to cite this article:
McLeod, S. A. (2007). Skinner - Operant Conditioning. Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
Further Information








Operant Conditioning for the ClassroomPresentation Transcript
1. OPERANT CONDITIONING By: K. Garcia
2. WHAT IS IT? Operant Conditioning describes learning that is controlled and results in shaping
behavior through the reinforcement of stimulus-response patterns.1 In other words: Rewarding the
desired behavior will make the behavior more likely to happen. 2 1. Integrating Technology and
Digital Media in the Classroom, sixth ed. pg. 369 2.
http://www.pacon.com/edu_aids/classroom_aids/images/RewardSticker_Boy.j pg
3. WHO THOUGHT OF THIS? The pioneer in this learning theory was B.F. Skinner (1904 1990).
He conducted experiments in which he rewarded the desired behavior of the subjects and therefore
saw them behaving in the desired manner. For example: Skinner placed a rat in a box with a lever.
As the rat moved about the box, and the rat would move the lever, a food pellet would immediately
fall into the box. The rat soon learned that by moving the lever, a food pellet would be expelled. The
reinforcement represented by the food pellet assured that the rat would move the lever again and
again. 1 1. http://www.simplypsychology.org/operant-conditioning.html
4. HOW IS THIS HELPFUL FOR TEACHERS? Teachers can use the principal ideas behind
operant conditioning to motivate a student to do well by reinforcing positive and good behavior in the
classroom with learning and testing and at home with homework and studying. For example: A
student may earn classroom dollars for each A they get on a test. These classroom dollars can then
be used to purchase goodies from a treasure chest thats filled with items priced according to their
value in classroom dollars. Students will be motivated to earn an A on a test in hopes of being able
to purchase their desired item from the treasure chest. By reinforcing (classroom dollars) good
behavior (earning an A on a test), the student is more likely to want to earn an A. In a technology
classroom, a student could be reinforced with internet game time minutes instead of classroom
dollars. Students that earn an A could use the awarded minutes to play computer games while in the
classroom. They could even accumulate these and build up to an hour of internet game time!
5. HOW DOES THIS AFFECT STUDENTS? Students benefit under this theory because they are
motivated to do well. Students are going to want to purchase something from the treasure chest in
the classroom or they are going to want internet play time during classroom time and without
knowing it, they are going to try harder to get that A and going to want to do it again and again. 1 1.
http://www.everypicture.com/shop/books/e55b8d1789356ed4a06d1ed3ae2e81bd/jeremy%26%2303
9%3Bs- reward.jpg
6. FOR MY OWN TEACHING? This theory is incredibly helpful for my own teaching. It will allow me
to think of different ways in which I could motivate my students by reinforcing their excellent behavior
in hopes of motivating them to do well in their schooling. This theory could be manipulated in so
many different ways to apply to many different subjects and grade levels that virtually EVERY
teacher be influenced by operant conditioning in order to better the chances of student achi