Jean Piaget : Theory of Cognitive Development
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| Jean Piaget
Birth
and Death:
Born
August 9, 1896
Died
September 16, 1980
Jean Piaget's Early Life:
Jean
Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896 and began showing an interest in the
natural sciences at a very early age. By age 11, he had already started his
career as a researcher by writing a short paper on an albino sparrow. He
continued to study the natural sciences and received his Ph.D. in Zoology from
University of Neuchâtel in 1918.
Theory:
Piaget
identified himself as a genetic epistemologist. "What the genetic
epistemology proposes is discovering the roots of the different varieties of
knowledge, since its elementary forms, following to the next levels, including
also the scientific knowledge," he explained in his book Genetic
Epistemology. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with
the origin, nature, extent, and limits of human knowledge. He was interested
not only in the nature of thought, but in how it develops and understanding how
genetics impact this process.
His
early work with Binet's intelligence tests had led him to conclude that
children think differently than adults. It was this observation that inspired
his interest in understand how knowledge grows throughout childhood.
He
suggested that children sort the knowledge they acquire through their
experiences and interactions into groupings known as schemas. When new information is acquired, it
can either be assimilated into existing schemas or accomodated through revising and existing schema
or creating an entirely new category of information.
Today,
he is best known for his research on children's cognitive development. Piaget
studied the intellectual development of his own three children and created a
theory that described the stages that children pass through in the development
of intelligence and formal thought processes.
The
theory identifies four stages; (1) the sensorimotor stage, (2) the preoperational stage, (3) the concrete operational stage, and (4) the formal operation stage.
Contributions to Psychology:
Piaget
provided support for the idea that children think differently than adults and
his research identified several important milestones in the mental development
of children. His work also generated interest in cognitive and developmental
psychology. Piaget's theories are widely studied today by students of both
psychology and education.
Piaget
held many chair positions throughout his career and conducted research in
psychology and genetics. He created the International Center for Genetic
Epistemology in 1955 and served as director until his death.
Influence
on Psychology:
Piaget's
theories continue to be studied in the areas of psychology, sociology,
education, and genetics. His work contributed to our understanding of the
cognitive development of children. While earlier researchers had often viewed
children simply as smaller version of adults, Piaget helped demonstrate that
childhood is a unique and important period of human development.
His
work also influenced other notable psychologists including Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg.
Piaget's Stages
of Cognitive Development
Background and Key Concepts of
Piaget's Theory
According
to psychologist Jean Piaget, children progress through a series of four key
stages of cognitive development marked by shifts in how they understand the
world. Piaget believed that children are like "little scientists" and
that they actively try to explore and make sense of the world around them.
Through his observations of his own children, Piaget developed a stage theory
of intellectual development that included four distinct stages: the
sensorimotor stage, from birth to age 2; the preoperational stage, from age 2
to about age 7; the concrete operational stage, from age 7 to 11; and the
formal operational stage, which begins in adolescence and spans into adulthood.
Jean Piaget's Background
Jean
Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. After receiving his doctoral degree
at age 22, Piaget formally began a career that would have a profound impact on
both psychology and education. After working with Alfred
Binet, Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of
children. Based upon his observations, he concluded that children were not less
intelligent than adults, they simply think differently. Albert Einstein called
Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have thought of
it."
Piaget's
stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive
development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's
view, early cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and
later progresses into changes in mental operations.
A Quick Summary of Cognitive
Development
The Sensorimotor Stage: During this
stage, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and
manipulating objects.
The Preoperational Stage: At this
stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking
the point of view of other people.
The Concrete Operational Stage:
Kids at this point of development begin to think more logically, but their
thinking can also be very rigid. They tend to struggle with abstract and
hypothetical concepts.
The Formal Operational Stage: The
final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to
use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas.
It
is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual
development at a quantitative process; that is, kids do not just add more
information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older.
Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how
children think as they gradually process through these four stages. A child at
age 7 doesn't just have more information about the world than he did at age 2;
there is a fundamental change in how he thinks about the world.
In
order to better understand some of the things that happen during cognitive
development, it is important to first examine a few of the important ideas and
concepts introduced by Piaget. The following are some of the factors that
influence how children learn and grow:
Key Concepts
Schemas
- A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in
understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to
interpret and understand the world.
In
Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process
of obtaining that knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is
used to modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas.
For
example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If
the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe
that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child
encounters a very large dog. The child will take in this new information,
modifying the previously existing schema to include this new information.
Assimilation
- The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schemas
is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend
to modify experience or information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting
beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is
an example of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.
Accommodation
- Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas
in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation
involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or
new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process.
Equilibration - Piaget believed that all children
try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation, which is
achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children progress
through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a
balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing
behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation). Equilibration helps
explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next.
Piaget Key Idea
Development Table
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