Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget

Born: August 9, 1896

in Neuchatel, Switzerland

Jean Piaget was a biologist who originally

studied mollusks

however he soon began studying the development of childrens understanding .

Because there was

little to no work in that

area, he was able to give it

a label

He called it "Genetic Epistemology"

-Which means the study of the development of knowledge.

Essentially, he was noted as

"The Father of Cognitive

Development."

• Observing
• Talking
• Listening

Beliefs

• Behavior is related to thinking or cognition.

• Cognition is developmental.

• Both genetics and environmental play roles in cognition.

Important to Know

In Order to Understand

His Theory!

Simple blocks of cognition that help

infants to adapt.

(Sucking, grasping)

Operations:

Logical thought process.

Schema:

Reflexes categorized into schema

in the same way, that a computer

organizes data.

How People Grasp

New Information.

Assimilation

fitting new information

into an already existing schema.

Example:

When faced with a new food, one might say, "what does it taste like?"

In this way he is trying to assimilate it.

Accommodation

Adjusting schema

to fit new situations

or demands

Adjusting existing knowledge to

accommodate to new information.

Sensory Motor Stages

• Children learn through their sense.

At the end of this

stage children develop

"object permanence".

This is where they

realize objects exist

independently of

their perception of it.

2. Pre-operational

Stage

2-6

*Children learn to use

language

The child also relies on intuition

(what seems right.)

Example:

If a child is asked:

"Which is more

or are the two worth the same?"

The child would pick

a nickel instead of a dime

because a nickel is "bigger"

Children at the age of 2-6 can not think from the perspective of some one else.

*Abstract thinking.

Children also begin to

think in terms of fantasy and

imagination.

3. Concrete Operational Stage

Age: 7-11

• Children can reason.
• Deal with the world

in the way they see it.

Children begin thinking logically

about concrete events, although

understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts is still hard for them

Reversibility:

Children are able to reverse the order of

relationships between mental categories

Example

A child might be able to recognize

that his or her dog is a Labrador,

that a Labrador is a dog, and that a

dog is an animal.

4.Formal Operational Stage

Ages: 12 and up

(Mastery of Thought)

Able to think

abstractly.

Can understand

form of a mathmatical

problem

Who?

or

What?

Questions Critics have Raised

About Piaget...

Piaget's theories are based

on case studies of a small population of white, middle-

class children. Are the stages true for other cultures, atypical living

arrangements, and other populations? What influences do environmental factors have on these stages?

2. The sequences and chronology

of Piaget are rigid. Some "normal"

children are far behind these stages

while others far ahead. Can stages be skipped? What about precocious seven-year-old chess players? Shouldn't adults be capable of formal operational thinking?

(e.g., if adults know that drinking and

driving is dangerous, why do they do it?)

3.Piaget doesn't adequately

describe adolescents. Should they

have their own egocentric stage? They

appear to understand rules, as in formal

opperational stage, yet many feel that rules apply to everyone else but themselves.

(e.g., Teenagers believe in using birth control, yet many don't use birth control

themselves.

4. What are the implications

that Piaget's Theories have for

classroom educators? For example,

if most children don't reach the

formal operations stage until age 12,

should algebra be taught in middle schools?

If children can't understand the hypothesis

and can't do inductive reasoning before the

formal operational stage, should science fair

projects be required in elementary school?

What happens when teachers ask numerous

"why" questions to students in the concrete

operational stafe?

Reflexes:

4 Stages of Cognitive Development

-As the child grows and developes, he/she goes through for stages of cognitive development

1.

{Mastery of concrete objects}

Ages:

Birth-2

New Object

*

Ages:

egocentric