Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

1718 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Challenges of Piaget's theory

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss psychologist who had a lifelong interest in how individuals, especially children, use cognitive development to adapt to the world around them. Piaget published his first paper by the age of 10, completed his bachelor’s degree by the age of 18, and at the age of 22 received his PhD from the University of Neuchatel. Piaget spent many years of his life researching the developmental and cognitive knowledge of children. The Theory of Cognitive Development places focus on human intelligence and developmental thinking. “Influenced by his background in biology, Piaget (1950) viewed intelligence as a process that helps an organism adapt to its environment” (Rider and Sigelman, 2006, p.41). At an early age, and pretty much the rest of his life, Piaget devoted many years of his life to the study of Cognitive Development in children. According to Piaget, children use their own interpretation of the world to help them solve problems. “The interaction between biological maturation (most importantly a developing brain) and experience (especially discrepancies between the child’s understanding and reality) is responsible to the child’s progress from one state of cognitive development to a new, qualitatively stage” (Rider & Sigelman, 2006, p.42). Jean Piaget’s argument was children’s cognitive development evolves naturally throughout four stages. To help individuals grasp his idea of Cognitive Development, Jean Piaget came up with four stages. Piaget’s stages include: Sensorimoter, Preoperational, Concrete Operations, and Formal Operations.

Sensorimoter (stage one)

The Sensorimoter stage focuses on infants to children 2 years of age. As the stage name implies, infants use their motor and sensor a...

... middle of paper ...

...ed

Broderick, P.C., & Blewitt, P., (2009). The Life Span: Human Development for Helping Professionals 3rd Edition.

Cook-Cotton, C. (2004). Using Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Understand the Construction of Healing Narratives. Journal of College Counseling, 7(2), p.177-186. Retrieved from PsycINFOdatabase.

Fortosis, S. & Garland, K., (1990). Adolescent Cognitive Development, Piaget’s Idea of Disequilibration, and the Issue of Christian Nurture. Religious Education, 85(4), p. 631-644.

Hinde, E.R., & Perry, N. (2007). Elementary Teachers’ Application of Jean Piaget’s Theories of Cognitive Development during Social Studies Curriculum Debates in Arizona. The Elementary School Journal, 108(1), 63-79.

Sigelman, C.K., & Rider, E.A.,(2006). Life-Span Human Development 5th Edition.

Vernon, A., (2004). Counseling Children and Adolescents 3rd Edition

Show More
Related

  • Piaget Stage Theory

    2241 Words  | 5 Pages

    Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist that studied how children flourish and the process of how they learn. Throughout his study he followed many children and performed many test trying to provide facts and proof on how children learn best. Through many trial and errors Piaget came up with the stages of cognitive development which he broke down into four sub-stages. These stages are:

    Read More

  • Jean Piaget Analysis

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    A well-known psychologist, Jean Piaget is most famous for his work in child development. In his theory of cognitive development, Piaget presents four stages of mental development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Piaget explains the adaptation processes that allow transition from one stage to the next. He also emphasizes the role of schemas as a basic unit of knowledge.

    Read More

  • The Use of Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory in Education

    1936 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cook-Cotton, C. (2004). Using Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Understand the Construction of Healing Narratives. Journal of College Counseling, 7(2), p.177-186. Retrieved from PsycINFOdatabase.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Jean Piaget's Contribution To Play Therapy

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    For this assignment I have chosen Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory.

    Read More

  • Piaget's Theory Of Jean Piaget

    1422 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jean Piaget was a theorist which “who” focused on people’s “children’s” mental processes (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011, p.10). Piaget developed (words missing) how children differentiate and mentally show(tense) the world and how there , thinking , logic , and problem solving ability is developed (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011 , p.10). Piaget analyzed that children’s cognitive processes develop in an orderly sequence or series (Rathus, S., & Longmuir, S., 2011 , p.11) . But each stage show how children understand the world around them. – sentence fragment; should be joined to the previous sentence. Every child goes through the same development”al” steps but some are more advance(d) than others . Piaget described four stages of child

    Read More

  • Jean Piaget's Theory On The Cognitive Development Stages

    744 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many people have made astounding contributions to the school of psychology. One of them was Jean Piaget and his theories on the cognitive developmental stages. Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on August 9, 1896. He received a doctorate in biology at the age of 22. When he was younger, he became instantly interested in psychology and began researching and studying it. In Piaget’s research, he created an inclusive theoretical system for the development of cognitive abilities. His work was similar to Sigmund Freud, but Piaget focused on the way children think and obtain knowledge. At the age of ten, he wrote his first scientific paper. As a young teen, he was publishing papers in earnest. He was considered a great expert in the field.

    Read More

  • Piaget's Developmental Stages

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wood, K. "Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development," in M. Orey Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology, 2001.

    Read More

  • Fate vs. Free Will

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many philosophical debates over countless amounts of things. One of the big debates is over the question: Do humans perform actions via free will or is every action performed part of a bigger picture? Are human beings all victims of what is known as fate? Which side is correct is up for debate obviously. Both sides of this never ending debate provide excellent arguments on whether or not humans are free to choose their own actions, but in this Super-Bowl of all debates, only one team can come out on top. Yes, human beings act on free, but this does not mean that fate is inexistent. It merely means that fate plays a much smaller part and is not quite what people interpret it as. Many believe everything that happens to a person is already predetermined by a higher power, but the validity of their stance depends on the actual existence of a higher power, a "creator" of everybody's fates. The attempt to prove this existence has taken thousands of years without prevail, and has showed no true signs of improvement. The stance that I take is on the side which argues in the favor of free will, and I will not budge unless the opposing side can prove to the world that this "creator" exists.

    Read More

  • Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development

    1771 Words  | 4 Pages

    Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2003). Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved [date] from http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/piaget.html

    Read More

  • Cognitive Development and Language Skills Development

    2085 Words  | 5 Pages

    == Piaget’s theories of cognitive development are that children learn through exploration of their environment. An adult’s role in this is to provide children with appropriate experiences. He said that cognitive development happens in four stages. 1.

    Read More

  • Similarities And Similarities Between Piaget And Vygotsky

    1342 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory is focused on the belief that development precedes learning, specifically upon individual development of one’s knowledge through independent learning and experiences (Lourenco, 2012). Piaget’s theory discusses how an individual’s surroundings affect their development resulting in a series of changes in the understandings of their environment.

    Read More

  • Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The influence of Piaget’s ideas in developmental psychology has been enormous. He changed how people viewed the child’s 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.” (McLeod 2009). Piaget purposed that we move through stages of cognitive development. He noticed that children showed different characteristics throughout their childhood development. The four stages of development are The Sensorimotor stage, The Preoperational Stage, The Concrete operational stage and The Formal operational stage.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Erikson And Piaget's Theory Of Cognitive Development

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development focuses on the concept of schemas and cognitive thought that helps an individual organize knowledge and understand the world in comparison to Erikson’s theory which focuses on conflicts that arise between and within the ego. Accommodation and assimilation occur throughout Piaget’s theory as a result of children

    Read More

  • The Critique of Piaget's Theories

    1634 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Critique of Piaget's Theories Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was a constructivist theorist. He saw children as constructing their own world, playing an active part in their own development. Piaget’s insight opened up a new window into the inner working of the mind and as a result he carried out some remarkable studies on children that had a powerful influence on theories of child thought. This essay is going to explain the main features and principles of the Piagetian theory and then provide criticism against this theory. Cognitive development refers to way in which a person’s style of thinking changes with age.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Jean Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

    1757 Words  | 4 Pages

    One hundred years ago, Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a young man developing new insights about learning. He was one of a handful of constructivist-minded writers and educational theorists of the time. Learning theories open educators up to new ideas. They are necessary to expand our knowledge of how learning works. Piaget’s work is a well-tested and educators around the world should be aware of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive development in particular because it will improve the quality of their teaching. Once a teacher knows this theory, they can plan lessons appropriate to their students’ cognitive ability and build upon students’ earlier knowledge in a constructivist way.

    Read More

More about Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Open Document