...Jean Piaget Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland on August 9th, 1896. He was the oldest of three children, and the only boy. His father was Arthur Piaget, a professor of medieval literature. His mother was Rebecca Jackson, and his godfather was the Swiss scholar Samuel Cornut. In 1923, he married Valentine Chatenay. The couple had three children, Jacqueline, Lucienne, and Laurent. Piaget died in Geneva on September 16, 1980, after a brilliant scientific career made of over sixty books and several hundred articles (Papert, 1999). Piaget’s greatest contribution was to found the field of cognitive development. He believed children are the biggest manufacturers of their own development, as man’s capacity for logical thought is not learned but embedded along with hair color and sex, in his genes. In other words, a child cannot be forced to develop understanding any faster than the rate at which his powers mature to their full potential, so there is a limit to what overeager parents and teachers can achieve. On the flip side, a child who does not get the chance to apply his developing abilities and test limitations may never reach his full intellectual capacity (Pramling, 2006). According to Jurczak (1997), Piaget believed in four stages of cognitive development: • Stage 1: Sensorimotor – Newborn to Age 2 The child’s primary concern is mastering his own innate physical reflexes and extending them into interesting or pleasurable actions. During this time, the child becomes...
Words: 1869 - Pages: 8
...Jean Piaget Jean Piaget was an intriguing theorist who provided support that adults and children do not think alike. He dedicated his whole life to answer one single question, and that is “How does human knowledge develop?” He identified himself as a genetic epistemologist. Genetic epistemology is defined as the discovering of the roots of the different varieties of knowledge. Epistemology is a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the origin, nature, extent, and limits of human knowledge. Piaget was interested not only in the nature of thought, but in how it develops and understands how genetics impact this process, (J. P Biography, 2013). This paper will discuss the contributions that Jean Piaget made to the field of learning and cognition. Additionally, it will address the models of cognition development associated with his theories as well as analyzing the relevancy of the models to modern day. Jean Piaget started studying natural science when he was just 11. He was born in 1896 and was a native to Switzerland. He received his PhD in Zoology in 1918. During his early work with Binet's intelligence tests, it had led him to assume that children think differently than adults do. Through this observation it inspired his interest to understand how knowledge continues to grow 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...
Words: 773 - Pages: 4
...Ever wonder why children behave the way they do? According to theorist Jean Piaget there are some very simple explanations for this. Piaget explains through his theory of cognitive development, to what is occurring for a child at every stage of their live and how it gradually changes. The first stage of Piaget’s cognitive development is the sensorimotor stage. The sensorimotor stage is comprised of six sub-stages which begin at birth and are broken down specifically to age ranges of when development markers should occur up to two years of age. Piaget argues that an infant processes thought from sensory experiences with physical actions to gain an understanding of the world around them without judgment. Piaget argues that infants do not distinguish between the world and themselves meaning that objects have no permanency. For example, a toy given to a six month old, as long as it is in sight it exsists, but when distractions blocks the view of the toy, the child does not search for it because for them it is no longer there. Piaget’s theory is that infant should learn object permanence as they near the end of the sensorimotor stage (Santrock, 2010). In the preoperational stage Piaget contests that children with in the age range of two to seven years are beginning to think in a more egocentric kind of way. They are discovering themselves and the world around them. The children are unaware of differences in people and familiar objects. The child is oblivious to the fact...
Words: 851 - Pages: 4
...Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development PIAGET’S BACKGROUND His was one of the most important, yet most controversial theories of cognitive development (Hetherington & Parke, 2000). In 1907 at age ten, he published his first scholarly article in a journal on a rare albino sparrow.1 The career of this philosopher, psychologist and observer of children began the day his wife said to him, “watch the children for a while, will you, Jean?”2 He is a philosopher, psychologist and observer of children.2 He studied in Paris with Alfred Binet. He began to focus on the relationship between psychology and biological science with particular emphasis on development. While assisting Binet to develop standardized IQ tests for children, Piaget noticed not only that children of the same age made similar errors but that these errors differed from those of older or younger children. His opinion about cognitive development began to form as he also observed that these differences in the types of children’s errors seemed to also show unique age-related thought style and understanding of the world. Thus, he opined that the study of what children know or do not know is an avenue to understand the changes in how they think.3 He adopted unstructured interviews with children, such that he would pose the children with a problem to solve or a question to answer. But he substituted detailed observations for formal interviews, and this approach led others to criticize his work. He later...
Words: 2569 - Pages: 11
...attempts to analyse, using appropriate illustrations, the extent to which gender stereotyping conforms to Jean Piaget’s four stages of development, which he elaborated in his Theory of Cognitive Development. It will first begin by clearly defining the terms; ‘gender,’ ‘stereotype,’ and hence the term ‘gender stereotyping.’ It will thereafter define cognitive development and will furthermore discuss in depth the stages of cognitive development, which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational respectively. A critical assessment will then be made on the extent to which gender stereotyping acts in accordance to Piaget’s stages of development, to aid one have a final opinion of his Theory of Cognitive Development. Gender was a word used by Ann Oakley and others in the 1970s to describe the characteristics of men and women that are socially determined, in contrast to the ones that are biologically determined. Gender is therefore a term referring to the social and cultural construction of men and women. The word stereotype is defined as an organised set of beliefs concerning the characteristics of all members of a defined group (Golombok, 1995). Therefore, gender stereotyping is the overgeneralisation about the characteristics of an entire group of people based on their gender. It is the perception of people on how others should behave. According to Piaget (1952), cognitive development was a progressive reorganisation of mental processes as a result of...
Words: 1849 - Pages: 8
...Jean Piaget: the way children think is different from the way adults think. Maturation and Social environment is important in cognitive development. He started studying his own children and producing baby diaries based on the observations and talks with them. Criticized by using small sample and non-representative samples, lacks scientific rigor and cross-sectional design which makes it difficult to make concussion about changes over time Sensorimotor (0-2years) Born with a set of reflexes and drive to explore their world, using senses instead of mental operations. Object Permanence: object exists in environment even if we don’t see it. (Baillargoen and DeVos 1991): Toy care moving down the road. “Impossible and possible event” 3 ½ months age looked longer at the impossible event. Difficult to establish if this is actually true, but other researchers have found similar results, it might be considered a valid method of investigation Pre-operational stage (2-7years) Children develop their language skills. Understanding of the world is based on egocentrism Egocentrism: children only see the world from their own viewpoint, people will think like them. (Piaget and Inhelder 1956): children were asked to look at a model of 3 mountains. The position in which the children was sited changed. Children under 6 years old pick the picture that showed the position in which they saw the doll, not the other dimensions provided. Around 9 years old the children was already...
Words: 632 - Pages: 3
...Learning from B.F Skinner and Jean Piaget The psychological studies of B.F Skinner and Jean Piaget in the field of learning revolutionized the understanding of learning processes, and undoubtedly paved the way for future psychologists. The findings of B.F Skinner and his theory on operant learning expanded the horizons of his generation. Jean Piaget also constructed the basis by which we evaluate the logical capabilities of youth, and he developed a theory of schemas. Both of these eminent psychologists have left a mark on the field of learning, and while both are dissimilar, they have common themes and continuities that cannot be overlooked. Burrhus Frederic Skinner was born on March 20, 1904, to William Arthur Skinner (a lawyer) and Grace Madge Burrhus, born with an aptitude for mechanical toys and gadgets. In his adolescence he showed interest in works by Charles Darwin and Francis Bacon. In his early adult life he attended Hamilton College in Clinton, New York where he studied English language and Literature, during his time at University he was heavily engaged in the campus magazine, and was known for his hand in pranks. After graduation he was exposed to Behaviorism by the literary magazine Dial, and read further into Conditioned Reflexes by Ivan Pavlov, he soon realized that he was interested in human behavior and was convinced by a close friend that science was the next big thing, he decided to engage in work in psychology. He enrolled at Harvard in 1928, and began...
Words: 1375 - Pages: 6
...Jean Piaget was a Swiss scientist, as well as one of the most significant researchers in developmental psychology. He is also “the central theorist in the constructivist approach to thinking” (Swartz et al, 2011). Piaget was mostly interested in how people “come to know” and believed that one of the most distinctive aspects between human and animal thought, is the face that humans are able to do “abstract symbolic reasoning” and animals are not (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). He worked in an IQ testing laboratory and this lead him to become interested in getting to know how children learn to think. Piaget then determined that younger children tended to answer questions asked more qualitatively than those older than them, not because they were “dumber”, but rather because they had a different way of thinking (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). Piaget had a...
Words: 858 - Pages: 4
...Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Stages Applied to Education Jean Piaget has a constructivist view, which meant that he believed children actively construct knowledge of the world due to the interactions they are exposed to in their environment. Piaget strongly believed that actions led to knowledge and that development was the physical maturation and exposure to new and relevant experiences. Piaget’s theory included four universal stages of cognitive development, the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational; these stages help better explain what a child’s cognitive abilities should be for their age. This paper will provide some ideas of activities children should participate in while in each developmental...
Words: 958 - Pages: 4
...Jean Piaget (year 1896 to 1980) was working at the “Binet Institute” (1920s), where his task was to expand French descriptions of questions on English aptitude papers. Piaget became stratagem with the explanations/ causes children gave for their incorrect solutions to the questions that needed logical thoughts/ opinion. He thought that these wrong answers exposed significant differences between the thoughts of children and adults. (YouTube, 2015) Piaget (1936) explained his task as “genetic epistemology” (that is, the origins of thoughts). Genetics is the systematic study of where stuff comes from (their beginning). “Epistemology” is alarmed with the fundamental categories of thoughts, which are to state, the structural or framework elements of intelligence. Piaget required to do was not to calculate how fine children could spell, count, or solve issues as a way of ranking their Intelligence Quotient. He was more engrossed in was the method in which basic concepts like the very thought of justice, causality, quantity, time, number and so on appeared. (YouTube, 2015) Piaget (1936) was the 1st psychologist to make a methodical study of “cognitive development”. His assistance involve a theory of child cognitive growth, comprehensive observational studies of cognition in kids, as well as a sequence of easy but inventive tests to disclose various cognitive capabilities. Previous to Piaget’s task, the ordinary supposition in psychology was that kids are just less knowledgeable thinkers...
Words: 867 - Pages: 4
...Jean Paiget (1896-1980) was biologist who was originally studied molluscs. He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland he passed away September 16th 1980. Jean Piaget’s theory as 4 developmental stages these are, * The Sensorimotor Stage (birth-2 years) * The Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) * The Concrete Operational (7-11 years) * The Formal Operational Stage (11 years plus) All of these 4 developmental stages have sub-stages for each age range. Sensorimotor Sub-stages Simple reflexes - (birth-1 month old) At this time the infant uses natural reflexes that they were born with such as, sucking and rooting. In which they understand the environment purely on these actions. Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months) This stage a child may suck their thumb or finger by accident and then repeat the action intentionally for pleasure. Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months) The child becomes more focused of their immediate environment and likes to see the affects of their surroundings such as they may pick up a toy to place it in their mouth or move a toy to another place. Co-Ordination of Reactions (8-12 months) At this stage a child starts to explore their close surroundings such as picking up a set of toy keys and shake them to realise they make a noise once they are shaken. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months) At this stage a child starts to practice attention seeking form a parent or a career by shouting, screaming or just generally making...
Words: 954 - Pages: 4
...Stages of Cognitive 1 Jean Piaget: Stages of Cognitive of Development Stages of Cognitive Development Nelson Caldero Lifespan human Development Gwen Zegestowsky, PsyD Drexel University January 12, 2013 Stages of Cognitive 2 Stages of Cognitive Development Pre-operational (2-7 yrs.) Children in this stage can use language, symbols, and words to refer to things, people and events that are not physically present (Sigelman & Rider, 2012, p. 217). However, their understanding of the world is limited. This stage involves egocentrism: the child believes that everyone sees the world the way they do. The child will have difficulty understanding the idea of another person’s perspective (Todd, Jean Piaget on Development). A child in this stage will also have trouble understanding conservation: the idea that the quantity of something may remain the same even though the appearance has changed (Sigelman & Rider, 2012, p. 217). For example, they would not comprehend that a tall, slim glass could hold as much water as a short, wide glass. A parenting example would be when a child leaves the door open in winter time. It does not do any good to tell the child that he is leaving the heat go outside. A parent should only teach the child to close the door. Concrete operational (7-11 yrs.) Children in this stage use operation in logical thinking in concrete situation. They become less egocentric and can see things from other’s perspectives. They also develop a concrete...
Words: 572 - Pages: 3
...minds are rapidly developing and learning new things. Therefore, in this development stage every year advances motor skill, brain development, and impulse control (Berger, 2014, p. 182). However, Jean Piaget’s theory and Lev Vygotsky’s theory will described the effects of cognition during this stage of development. Jean Piaget stage two of four stages of the cognitive development theory is called the Pre- operational stage. In Paget’s first stage of cognitive development an infant’s behavior were dependent more on sensory and motor to be triggered by stimuli or reflexes. After children past the first stage of Paget’s theory sensorimotor stage, which was discussed in previous chapters, children start to use symbolic thought. Symbolic thought is when an object or word stand for something else including...
Words: 486 - Pages: 2
...An IQ test is a test designed to measure intellectual aptitude ,or ability to learn in school.Originally,intelligence was defined as mental age divided by chronological age,times 100-hence the term intelligent quotient or IQ. After taking the IQ test on the website ,I was not happy with my score and I don’t think it is an accurate assessment of my intellectual ability because i know I can do better than the score they gave me.English is not my first language,I am from Nigeria and an immigrant.I have to read the question very well and take my time to answer it but it stated in the test that each question should be answered in less than twenty seconds. I don’t think IQ test will predict academic achievement because the scores change,they are not consistent and i believe that no test can measure the complexities of the human brain.Many Studies suggest that people inherit a set of abilities,some high and some low,rather than a general intellectual ability(e.g Zhu et al,2010).Two leading developmentalists(Sternberg and Gardener) ...
Words: 524 - Pages: 3
...development. All theorists agree that people go through specific steps and/or stages of learning and understanding. Along with the fact that there are certain principles must be meet before learning can occur. There are many ideas and opinions that cognitive theorist have about the development of a person’s cognition. Two theorists that are commonly known in the field of cognitive development are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These two theorists agree on the several concepts of cognitive development but differ on others, the most commonly agreed difference among all theorists involved in cognitive development is the simple yet complex question of how cognitive development occurs. Jean Piaget, born 1896 and died 1980, was a Swiss psychologist; his focused was on the way an individual child acts upon an object in their environment, in order to build mental models of the way the world works. Piaget believed that the physical environment was important to a person’s cognitive development. Ensuring that the environment was rich and stimulating was the adult’s role, according to Jean Piaget. The adult, whether it be a parent, a teacher, or an older sibling is to occasionally ask questions that challenge children’s...
Words: 1675 - Pages: 7
