Piaget Application Paper
Guidelines for the Piagetian Observation Project
For several chapters, we have been discussing Piaget’s view on cognitive development.He asserts that there are certain milestones that occur at each of his 4 stages, meaning that at each stage, infants and children should be able to “do” certain things.When they can accomplish these tasks, it shows that they are developing and progressing through the stages.This observation project provides you with an opportunity to apply Piagetian concepts to an interaction with an infant, child, or teen and to test whether or not he’s right in this specific instance.
Instructions
On the following pages, there are three paper options to choose from.You need to choose ONE of the options to perform with an age-appropriate participant.After you select which observation project to conduct and have an infant/child/adolescent to work with, complete the observation as specified in these instructions.You must include the corresponding appendix (worksheet) with your paper.
You will submit a 2-3 page paper that includes the following information:
- Brief Introduction: Include the following:
- Statement of purpose
- Some background information about Piaget’s theory (general information about the theory, general information about the 4 stages, specific information about the stage you will be studying, information about the task associated with the stage you will be observing)
Note: When discussing Piaget’s theory, you may use your text and class lectures.
- A description of your subject (age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status).
- Procedure:
- Describe everything that you did with the participant that differs from the procedure I specified.
- Results:
- Describe, in detail, the participant’s responses.
- Conclusions:
- How did your participant perform?Was he/she able to complete the task associated with that particular stage?How do you know?Explain.
- Based on your participant’s performance, what stage do you think he/she is in?Why do you think that?Explain.
- Was his/her behavior and abilities as Piaget’s theory would have expected?Do you agree with Piaget, in this case?Why or Why not?Explain.There are additional questions associated with each option.Don’t forget to include those in your conclusion section.
- Notes:Include your observation notes at the end.
Formatting guidelines
- Use APA style guidelines (i.e., typed, 12-pt Times New Roman font, double-spacing, and 1-inch margins all around).
- Use APA style citations and reference page.See APA Style Citations section on next page for more information.
- Papers should be 2-3 full pages long (body only – title page and reference page not included in page count).
Submission guidelines
- You MUST submit completed worksheet (Appendix A) with your paper.How do you do this?
- After the worksheet is filled out, scan and save it as an image file (.jpeg, .jpg, .gif, .tiff, etc.) to your computer.If you do not have a scanner, you can take a high-resolution picture of the worksheet.Just make sure your picture is clear enough to easily see and read everything.
- Put the worksheet image/picture directly into your paper by going to INSERT (in Microsoft Word) and then PICTURE.Select your worksheet, and click INSERT.
- If you have selected Option C (Cognition in Adolescence), you can follow this same procedure with your participant’s collage.
- You MUST submit your paper to Turnitin using the link provided on Blackboard Learn by the deadline.
- Click on Paper Info & Submission/Mandatory: Submit your Piaget Application Paper HERE.Follow the instructions and upload your paper.
Grading criteria
This assignment is worth 30 points and will be rated on the following criteria:
- Format (did you follow the instructions)
- Organization (flow and coherence)
- Writing style (grammar and spelling)
- Knowledge (displayed knowledge about theory and stages and correctly applied the concepts to the observation)
- Analysis and explanations (gave in-depth explanations of how the participant’s performance did or did not illustrate the stage and task)
- Conclusions (explained how the participant’s performance mapped on to Piaget’s expectations)
- APA format for citations
- Inclusion of notes
General writing guidelines
Imagine that the person reading your paper is an educated person, familiar with psychology, but not with any of the specific theories or concepts you mention.Even if we spent a whole class period talking about something, and you know that I am familiar with it, forget it.Pretend I don’t know.Anytime you introduce something new (i.e., a theory, concept, methodology, measure), explain it in general terms.You can then give an example if you would like, but do not use an example as a substitute for a general explanation.
The procedure and results should be relatively short.The majority of your paper should be spent discussing how well the child’s performance fit Piaget’s theory.To give you a bit of a guideline as to how long each part should be, the introduction should be about ½ a page.Your procedure and results should be about ½ a page long.Finally, your conclusion should be about 1 page.
APA formatted citations
As you draw on material that you learned in class, make sure that you cite your sources appropriately.Follow these guidelines for citing:
- When you copy someone else (i.e., textbook, lecture, article, website) word for word, put quotation marks around the copied parts, and include the author last name(s), year of publication, and page number in parentheses.For example: Piaget’s theory suggested that an infant or child is able to move to the next stage when he or she “reaches an appropriate level of physical maturation and is exposed to relevant experiences” (Feldman, 2018, p. 118).
- Copying word for word and not citing correctly is plagiarism.Avoid this at all costs.
- Copying word for word and citing correctly is not as bad, but it doesn’t demonstrate an understanding of the concepts.For my class, I do NOT want you to have quotes in your papers.To get full credit, define and explain concepts using your own words.It’s hard to paraphrase when you have the book or lecture notes in front of you.Read, make sure you understand, then put the material aside and come up with your own way of stating things.Check your sources to make sure you didn’t accidentally memorize the original wording.Check your definition to against what it says in the book to make sure that your explanation is accurate.
- When you put someone else’s ideas into your own words, simply include author last name(s) and year of publication in parentheses.i.e., Piaget’s argues that when children can accomplish certain cognitive tasks, it shows that they are developing and progressing through the stages (Feldman, 2018).
Try to adopt an outside perspective when you read over your paper.Make sure that your ideas are arranged logically and that your sentences make sense.Reading out loud can help you catch grammatical errors.Remember that I can’t read minds – you could understand something perfectly, but if it makes no sense on paper, that’s all I have to go on.
Option A: Object Permanence Task
Background Information: Many new cognitive skills are attained during the first year of life.The primary accomplishment during infancy is object permanence.Object permanence is the ability of the infant to mentally represent an object that is out of sight.By the 8th month most infants will search for an object that is partially hidden and by the 12th month most infants will search for an object that is completely out of view.
Objective: To explore an infant’s level of cognitive development using an object permanence task
Participant: An infant between 3-14 months old
Materials needed: A clean infant toy (e.g., a rattle or teething keys) and a piece of material large enough to cover the toy (e.g., towel, sheet, etc.)
Procedure:
- Sit down with the infant (the primary caregiver should be present).
- Show the infant the toy.
- Encourage the infant to play with the toy.(Most likely he or she will put it in his or her mouth).
- Take the toy from the infant and partially cover the toy with the towel (in plain view of the infant).
- Record if the infant searches for the toy.
- Give the infant the toy (if not uncovered) and encourage the infant to play with the toy.
- Take the toy from the infant and cover the toy completely with the hand towel (in plain view of the infant).
- Record if the infant searches for the toy.
General Comments on Cognition: What did you observe that indicates that the infant has or has not attained object permanence?What stage of development is your infant in?What sub-stage of development is your infant in?What are the implications of object permanence?
NOTE: Parent/guardian of child must be present during the object permanence task.
Option A: Object Permanence Task
Appendix A
Parental Consent:
I, ___________________________, give permission for my child, ________________________, to
(parent/guardian’s name) (child’s name)
participate in _______________________ ‘s PSYC 2310 class project and paper assignment.
(student’s name)
_______________________________
(parent/guardian’s signature)
Participant Information:
Infant’s Name: _____________________________________
Infant’s Age (in months): _________________ Infant’s Gender: Male Female
Infant’s Ethnicity:
___ African American/Black
___ Asian American/Pacific Islander
___ Caucasian/ European American/ White
___ Hispanic/Latin American
___ Indian/Pakistani
___ Middle Eastern
___ Other (Please specify): _______________
Observation Information:
Date: _____________________________________________
Starting Time: ______________________________________
Ending Time: _______________________________________
Observation Setting: _________________________________
Object Permanence Task:
- Does the infant play with the toy? Yes No
What does the infant do with the toy?
- Does the infant search for the toy when partially hidden? Yes No
What does the infant do?
- Does the infant search for the toy when completely hidden? Yes No
What does the infant do?
Option B: Conservation in Preschool-aged and School-aged Children
Background Information: The major tasks Piaget used to assess a child’s cognitive development are called conservation tasks.These are thinking problems that require the child to observe some transformation in physical quantities that are initially equivalent and to reason about their transformation.
Objective: To explore a preschool child’s level of cognitive development using a conservation task.
Participant: one child between the ages of 3-11.
Materials needed: one container of playdough (8 oz.).The playdough can be purchased or made by mixing one cup of flour and 1/4 cup of salt with enough boiling water to make it soft.Mix and knead well to make it “doughy”.
Procedure:
- Sit down with the child.
- Divide the playdough into 2 identical balls.
- Ask the child; “are these the same?”Show the child that the 2 balls are identical/same (that they have equal amounts of playdough).
- As the child watches, take one ball and form it into a snake.
- Ask, “do these have the same amount of playdough or a different amount of playdough?”
- Record the child’s response.
- Ask,“Which one has more playdough, the snake or the ball?”
- Record the child’s response.
- Reform the snake into a ball.Explain to the child that the 2 balls are the same.
- As the child watches, squash one ball into a pancake.
- Ask, “Do these have the same amount of playdough or a different amount of playdough?”
- Record the child’s response.
- Ask, “Which one has more playdough, the pancake or the ball?”
- Record the child’s response.
- Reform the pancake into a ball as the child watches.
- Ask, “Are these 2 balls the same?”
- Record the child’s response.
- If the child responded “no”, then ask, “Which ball has more playdough?”
- Record the child’s response.
General Comments on Cognition: What did you observe that indicates that the child has or has not attained the ability to conserve?What was your overall impression of how your child conserved?What stage of development is your child in?Why do you think that?
NOTE: Parent/guardian of child must be present during the conservation task.
Option B: Conservation in Preschool-aged and School-aged Children
Appendix A
Parental Consent:
I, ___________________________, give permission for my child, ________________________, to
(parent/guardian’s name) (child’s name)
participate in _______________________ ‘s PSYC 2310 class project and paper assignment.
(student’s name)
_______________________________
(parent/guardian’s signature)
Participant Information:
Child’s Name: _____________________________________
Child’s Age (in years): _________________ Child’s Gender: Male Female
Child’s Ethnicity:
___ African American/Black
___ Asian American/Pacific Islander
___ Caucasian/ European American/ White
___ Hispanic/Latin American
___ Indian/Pakistani
___ Middle Eastern
___ Other (Please specify): _______________
Observation Information:
Date: _____________________________________________
Starting Time: ______________________________________
Ending Time: _______________________________________
Observation Setting: _________________________________
Conservation Task:
Option C: Cognition in Adolescence
Background Information: During adolescence thought becomes hypothetical and abstract.Adolescents are able to think of multiple solutions to a problem, compare their performances in various domains, and contemplate abstract concepts such as justice and politics.
Objective: to assess abstract thought.
Participant: an adolescent between 12-18 years old.
Materials needed: a stack of magazines such as Sixteen, Young Miss, Teen, Sports Illustrated, GQ, George, Cosmopolitan, etc., scissors, one sheet of construction paper, and glue.
Procedure:
- Explain to the participant that he or she is to construct a collage (using the magazines) that represents who he or she is.
- Allow the participant to cut out pictures that describe him or herself and glue them to the sheet of construction paper.
- After the participant has completed the collage, have he or she explain how each of the pictures describe him or her.
- Record the participant’s responses for each picture.
- Keep the collage as you will turn it in as “Appendix B” of your paper.It should follow the Notes Section.
- Out of the participant’s view, classify each explanation as either abstract or concrete.For example, an abstract explanation would use a picture of lips to describe being “outspoken” while a concrete explanation would use a picture of blue eyes to describe his or her eye color.
- What percentage of explanations was abstract?
- What percentage of explanations was concrete?
General Comments on Cognition:Did your participant use formal operational thought (the majority of explanations were abstract)?What types of collage explanations did you find particularly interesting?
NOTE: Parent/guardian of child must be present during the procedure (if child is under 18 years of age).
Option C: Cognition in Adolescence
Appendix A
Parental Consent: (if child is under 18 years of age)
I, ___________________________, give permission for my child, ________________________, to
(parent/guardian’s name) (child’s name)
participate in _______________________ ‘s PSYC 2310 class project and paper assignment.
(student’s name)
_______________________________
(parent/guardian’s signature)
Participant Information:
Child’s Name: _____________________________________
Child’s Age (in years): _________________ Child’s Gender: Male Female
Child’s Ethnicity:
___ African American/Black
___ Asian American/Pacific Islander
___ Caucasian/ European American/ White
___ Hispanic/Latin American
___ Indian/Pakistani
___ Middle Eastern
___ Other (Please specify): _______________
Observation Information:
Date: _____________________________________________
Starting Time: ______________________________________
Ending Time: _______________________________________
Observation Setting: _________________________________
Collage Task:
