Journal #2: Jean Piaget's Constructivist Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a Swiss Developmental Psychologist who was most interested in "how we come to know". Although he was first trained as a biologist, new questions about child development were raised for Piaget while evaluating the results of an IQ test for children. He came to the conclusion that "factual knowledge should not be equated with intelligence or understanding" (biography.com). He proposed that behavior is controlled through what he called schema: the building blocks of knowledge. Schemas become more complex as the child adapts to new challenges and demands. A younger child is not less intelligent than an older child, they just understand the world in a different way. Piaget identified four main stages of development.

Sensori-motor (Birth- 2 years):

For the first month, the infant explores the world through their senses and natural reflexes. They are totally dependent on others and require their help to do anything. In the following months, the child develops increasingly fine motor skills. They now explore their world through grasping and crawling. By month eight, they express their intelligence through goal oriented actions. For instance, grabbing a rattle causes a noise to happen, so they will repeat that action to express their knowledge. The child will also begin to develop object permanence at this age. This is the child's ability to recognize objects exist, even if they can't see them. This is the reason that peek-a-boo is so novel for younger children. When the face is covered, they are unable to understand that it still exists, so it's such a surprise when it suddenly reappears. However, when the child reaches this stage, they no longer see the humor.

Pre-operational (2-7 years):

In this stage, the child is starting to use symbols to stand for names, experiences, and places. Through out the stage, they will show a significant growth in the use of language and words. They will also begin to develop their imagination, and act out make believe scenes. These scenes are usually

a combination of real life, T.V. shows, and imaginary ideas. Children are also egocentric, and have no ability to empathize. They're unable to reverse a sequence of events, and they focus on only one aspect of an event at a time. The most important concept the child must grasp before they move on from this stage is conservation. Say you have two beakers with identical amounts of water in them, and you place them in front of a child. Does A have more, does B have more, or are they the same? The child will answer that they are the same. Then you pour the contents of beaker A into a taller container. Does A have more, does B have more, or are they the same? If the child has fully grasped conservation, they will answer that they are the same. If not, they will say that A has more.

Concrete operational (7-11 years):

The child officially moves on to this stage when they master conservation. Children in this stage are able to mentally reverse the steps in a process, and can think of multiple aspects in a situation at a time. The child is beginning to think less egotistically and is developing empathy. The child is also learning basic logic operations such as: If A>B and B>C, is A>C?

Formal operational (11 years and up):

Around the onset of puberty, the child has reached full cognitive maturity. They have the ability to think logically about abstract ideas, generate hypotheses and think deductively. The child generally is considerate of others and empathy is fully developed. They will remain in this stage for the rest of their lives, and further develop these skills.

Sources:

• http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm

• http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cognition/piaget.html

• http://www.biography.com/people/jean-piaget-9439915#early-life

• http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/sensorimotor.htm

Images Used (from top to bottom):

• http://sociologycanvas.pbworks.com/w/page/61769093/Sensorimotor%20stage%20of%20development

• http://pixgood.com/conservation-piaget.html

• http://blog.teleosleaders.com/2013/07/19/emotional-empathy-and-cognitive-empathy/

• https://sites.google.com/site/limbicsystembytaylorgallman/piaget-s-stages-of-cognitive-development/formal-operational-stage