Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

he was what we call a structuralist

there are universal stages of psychological development and that each stage represents a qualitative difference in the way a person thinks or solves conflict. He is the name in cognitive development

he has also been called a universal constructivist

the stages of development are universal, and the child literally constructs their cognitive development.

scheme

the way a person acquires knowledge about the world.

schema/schemata

patterns of organized thought or behavior.

internalized/interiorized scheme

the child develops a viewpoint or a mental structure to learn about the world.

assimilation

when you learn from an existing scheme or take knowledge by using a cognitive structure that already exists. When a child uses their existing understanding of the world to make sense of the environment.

accommodation

where you modify a scheme to incorporate existing information. When the child changes their previous ways of knowing the world to make sense of the new information.

equilibration

the balance of assimilation and accommodation in a new situation

THE SENSORIMOTOR INTELLIGENCE STAGE

From birth until approximately two years

#1

o   Categorized by a lot of reflexive behavior (sucking grasping). He called it sensorimotor because of its emphasis on the senses (especially touch, vision, and motor because there is an emphasis on motor activities like sucking or grasping)

o   Object permanence is an important concept in this stage

§  9^th and 12^th month. The ability to recognize that an object still exists even when it is out of reach and out of sight.  

§  Object permanence could also be called symbolic or representational thought.

§  With object permanence comes the concept of causality and space.

·       Ex: a child learns that a hand causes a toy to move from one space to another.

The child learns time. One thing occurs before another

·       THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE or the PREOPERATIONAL PERIOD

o   From ages 2 to 7

o   Stage in which the child develops language.

o   An operation is simply a thought or a cognitive skill.

o   An important factor in this stage is that the child lacks the ability to see another person’s point of view. Piaget called this egocentrism (again, the child can only see their own point of view) – “the rain is following me” - think of the mountain experiment – “what would the mountain look like from the other side of the mountain?”

o   The preoperational stage is also characterized by centration which is focusing on one key part of an object and forgetting about the rest (clown nose)

o   The child develops schema in this stage (sometimes called symbolic play). It’s the ability to use symbols and language.

§  Ex: a mass of play-doh can become a cake, pie, or even a mountain. A soda bottle can become a spaceship.

o   Piaget warns us not to put too much stock in language at this age. Why? It is what’s known as nominal reasoning.

§  Ex: if you tell a child his doll’s name can be changed from Mickey to Joe, the child cannot comprehend this.

§  Language develops at this age.

·       A child in the preoperational stage cannot comprehend the reversal of actions.

·       CONCRETE OPERATIONS

o   Ages 7 to 11

o   A child can comprehend conversations. In this period, a child can mentally manipulate objects for the first time. Piaget tells us that counting begins in this period.

o   Before this time, for example, a child can’t really count without counting on fingers etc.

o   The key concept in the concrete operations stage is conservation.

§  The different sized water glasses have the same amount of water but the child who has not mastered conservation will tell you that the tall, skinny water glass has more than the short fat one.

§  Conservation helps the child understand the concept of volume and reversibility.

·       Now the child understands units, volumes, and again, the concept of reversibility and what it’s like to be in somebody else’s shoes and understand their point of view.

o   Conservation starts with a C, so does Concrete operations, and so does Counting.

·       – FORMAL OPERATIONS

o   Ages 11 to 12 to about 15

o   As people get older, they often become more formal; hence the formal operations stage, or operational stage – the last stage.

o   This stage is the beginning of abstract, hypothetical, and deductive reasoning. The child learns the concept of experimentation with problems and begins to understand metaphors.

o   Piaget and other researchers have said that only 50% of all adults make it to Piaget’s final stage.

o   Some researchers revealed that only 15 to 25% of college students ever use formal operational thinking.

o   *Some have suggested that the child’s cognitive level, rather than chronological age, should be used to determine what grade the child should be placed in.

o   Abstract counseling approaches rarely, if ever, are appropriate for children below age 12. Why? Because younger children often have not mastered abstract thinking skills.

·       What do critics say about Piaget’s four stage model of cognitive development?

o   Stage theories can be incorrect. Ex: object permanence can occur earlier than Piaget mentions.

o   Stage theories such as Piaget’s don’t generally lend themselves to operational definitions that can be replicated in research settings. His stages don’t truly display the qualitative differences he discusses. Not every child will have an identical learning path.

o   Development may not be linear or predictable.

§  The theory seems to ignore emotions and social relationships in the process of cognitive development.

o   Keep in mind many of his observations came from watching his own children.

o   A child who is paralyzed or has other physical disabilities could not manipulate the environment as Piagetian theory requires – sometimes referred to as an action-oriented approach to experience cognitive development – and obviously this is not true since according to this theory these children could not display cognitive development.  

o   Piaget’s theory is based (some might say biased) on Western culture and ignores the influence of other cultural, environmental, and even educational factors.