Piaget’s Theory

Children’s cognitive development involves more than just knowledge acquisition; they also need to create a mental model of the environment in which they live (Miller, 2011). He is recognized as the founding father of developmental psychology for his body of work. In this piece, we look at the effects his research has on kids’ intellectual growth in the classroom.
Piaget’s primary duty as an employee of the Binet Institute in the 1920s was to translate English intelligence test questions into French. He developed an interest in learning the reasons behind the wrong responses that kids provided to logical thinking tasks (Meadows, 2019).

According to Piaget, these incorrect responses showed notable distinctions between children’s and adults’ ways of thinking. Piaget put up a fresh set of theories on children’s intelligence.

• Children are not passive learners
• They actively increase their knowledge of the world around them.
• To gain an understanding of children’s logic
• It is best to consider things from their perspective

Piaget was opposed to testing children’s intelligence by having them count, spell, or solve puzzles. His main curiosity was learning how basic ideas like time, number, justice, amount, and so on came to be (Greenfield, 2019).
Piaget employed observations and clinical interviews with older children who had the ability to engage in discourse and comprehend inquiries. In addition, he conducted controlled observations, employed naturalistic observation with his own three children, and created journal descriptions complete with developmental charts.
The foundation of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is the notion that children go through four developmental phases, each of which has distinct traits and skills. From birth to about age two, there is the first stage, known as the sensorimotor stage.

The child’s capacity to reason rationally about tangible things and events characterizes the third stage, known as the concrete operational stage, which lasts from roughly seven to twelve years of age. Lastly, the child’s capacity for abstract and hypothetical reasoning characterizes the fourth stage, known as the formal operational stage, which starts at age twelve.

Who exactly was Jean Piaget?

He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1896. He initially intended to study medicine after graduating from high school, but he quickly switched to sociology and philosophy. He served as an army physician in World War 1. After the war, he resumed his studies in law before moving on to sociology and philosophy once more. He released “Genetic Epistemology,” his debut book, at the age of thirty, to critical acclaim. He became one of the most prominent psychologists of his generation as a result of this. In his honor, the Jean Piaget Society was founded.
Child development, logic, mathematics, languages, the social sciences, and education were among his areas of interest in research.
“Logic,” “Reasoning and Judgment,” and “Constructionism” are some of his best known pieces. Jean Piaget’s contributions are significant because they shed light on the cognitive processes that occur during

Developmental psychology was impacted by Piaget’s work since it demonstrated that learning occurs in phases rather than being gained all at once. It is highly likely that anyone considering a career in child psychology will come across his seminal work. Although it has faced some criticism recently, there is no denying the significance of his contribution to developmental psychology.

He created the hypothesis that children develop in phases and was among the first to research how children develop.
– Additionally, he conducted research on how children learn and discovered that kids learn by doing, not simply by hearing or reading about things.
– He also learned that kids don’t always follow the same rules as adults and that they learn in different ways.
Additionally, he discovered that kids enjoy playing and exploring and are highly imaginative and creative.
– Additionally, he thought that kids shouldn’t be punished for making mistakes and instead be given the freedom to learn from them.

Stages of Cognitive Development

Children go through a number of phases of development, according to Jean Piaget, which is attributed to the interaction between innate abilities and external events (Wellman, 2011). These phases follow the same order in all cultures. Though at a varying pace, all kid experiences the same phases of cognitive development throughout their lives.

Sensorimotor stage (Object permanence)

From birth to 18-24 months

Infants investigate and pick up knowledge about their surroundings through their senses and activities.
Children learn object permanence during this stage, which means they comprehend that things exist even when they are hidden from view. This is a critical developmental stage in cognitive growth because it enables kids to begin creating mental models of their environment. They will continue to expand on this knowledge base as they move through the ensuing stages, eventually acquiring more sophisticated cognitive capacities.
At this point, a wide range of cognitive skills emerge, the most prominent ones being self-recognition, object permanence, postponed imitation, and representational play.

‍

Pre-operational stage (Symbolic thought)

From 2 to 7 years

One critical stage in children’s cognitive development is the pre-operational stage. In this phase, youngsters struggle with ideas like cause and effect and their thinking is not yet concrete or logical. Their egocentric mindset stems from their incapacity to comprehend other people’s viewpoints. Furthermore, their reasoning is based more on instinct than on logic, which could result in poor judgment. Children in the pre-operational period are still capable of amazing growth and learning despite these limitations, so it’s critical that parents and teachers provide them the support and direction they require to flourish.

‍‍

‍

Concrete operational stage (Logical thought)

7 to 11 years

Children begin to exhibit rational thought regarding tangible events at this age. They begin to understand the idea of conservation. They are aware that despite changes in appearance, certain characteristics never alter. At this age, children are able to mentally flip things. They become less egocentric and begin to consider the thoughts and feelings of others.
As toddlers start to reason logically, this stage is sometimes referred to as “concrete.” Because it signifies the beginning of operational or logical thinking, Piaget believes that this stage is a crucial turning point in a child’s cognitive development. At this age, a youngster can solve problems on an internal level (instead than testing solutions in the real world).

Formal operational stage (Symbolic reasoning)

Age 12 and above

People at this point carry out formal operations on concepts and concrete operations on objects. Formal logic is completely independent of physical and perceptual constraints. Adolescents are capable of comprehending abstract ideas at this point. They are capable of adhering to any particular style of argument without considering any unique instances.
Children start to learn how to think symbolically and abstractly throughout the Formal Operational Stage.

Critical Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory

Support

       Developmental psychology has been greatly influenced by Piaget’s theories. His theories altered both the way that people thought about children’s worlds and the ways that they were taught.

Criticism

   Are there truly stages in life? Criticisms of Formal Functioning The belief is that cognitive progress cannot be adequately explained by the completion of formal procedures.