What the exam asks
- Section I (Multiple Choice): Expect concept-application scenarios where a child makes a reasoning error (e.g., thinking two pieces of a broken cookie equal more food than one whole cookie) and you must identify the specific Piagetian concept or stage. Set-based questions often present cross-sectional vs. longitudinal graphs of adult intelligence.
- Section II (AAQ and EBQ): Developmental studies frequently appear as summarized peer-reviewed articles in the AAQ (e.g., evaluating operational definitions of object permanence using infant gaze duration). In the EBQ, Piaget’s cognitive milestones and Vygotsky’s scaffolding are prime outside concepts to apply in parts B(ii) and C(ii) when arguing claims about education or child development.
Core ideas
Piaget’s schemas and developmental processes
Jean Piaget proposed that children actively construct knowledge by building schemas (mental frameworks or categories). While Piaget is known as a stage (discontinuous) theorist because he identified four distinct shifts in the quality of thinking, children also experience continuous development inside each stage as they gradually modify their schemas through two processes:
- Assimilation: Incorporating new experiences into an existing schema without changing the category (e.g., a toddler has a “dog” schema for furry, four-legged animals, sees a cat, and calls it “dog”).
- Accommodation: Modifying an existing schema or creating a new schema to fit new information (e.g., after being corrected, the toddler creates a separate “cat” schema that includes meowing and climbing).