Correct Answer - Option 3 : Schemas
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.
Piaget’s theory is based on the idea that the developing child builds cognitive structures, schemes are used to understand and respond to the world around them.
The mental networks that children form in their mind are known as 'Schemas' as:
- Schemas are organized bodies of information stored in memory. These are specific psychological structures, constructed in organized ways to make sense of experience.
- The information in a schema provides a representation of how the social world operates as well as allows us to categorize and interpret new information related to the schema.
- We all hold schemas relating to everyday objects in our environment. We might, for instance, hold a schema for automobiles –we have an idea of what they look like, how they are used, what they can do for us, and how to differentiate them from other vehicles such as buses and horse, and buggy.
- More importantly, from a social psychological point of view, we hold a schema for particular people (one’s mother, brother, or sister) and of classes of people playing a given role (mail carriers, teachers, or librarians). Each of these schemas provides a way of organizing behavior into meaningful wholes.
Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory: Piaget introduced some basic components which lead the cognitive development in the child.
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Schemas (building blocks of knowledge)
- Processes that enable the transition from one stage to another:
- Equilibrium
- Adaptation
- Assimilation
- Accommodation
- Schemas: Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior – a way of organizing knowledge. 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. These are the mental structures.
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Adaptation refers to adjustments to the changes in the environment, or the ability to understand and fit in with the physical world.
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Assimilation is a process in which a child using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation. Assimilation refers to the act of captivating information and observations in a way that is well-matched with the person's current schema of the world.
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Accommodation happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.
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Equilibration and disequilibration: If the "new situation" is adjusted with the existing schema then that stage is referred to by Piaget as the "stage of equilibration" in that the existing knowledge base is working.
Hence, we conclude that In his theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget explains cognitive structures in terms of Schemas.
