Jean Piaget's Influence On Child Development

In the “Study of the Child: Theories of Development I” (Learning Seed, 1997), according to Vygotsky, the cognitive development in children is in direct relationship, and dependent on interaction with others. (Feldman 2010, pg. 20). Vygotsky believed to truly understand cognitive development; a child’s social and cultural experiences must be considered.

Piaget, Vygotsky, and Erikson are very well known men for their different theories of development. Although each of them believe different things about how a child develops, I believe that a child can go through all of these theories and benefit from them. I also understand that not everyone is the same, and what might be true for someone could be different for someone else. In my own personal experience, I believe I went through and I’m going through all these different stages in theories throughout my life. I also work at a daycare and we use aspects from each of these theories when going about teaching children. The three different theories include: Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, Vygotsky;s sociocultural theory of

Piaget – Cognitive Development - Observed his own children, plus others to develop his theories. His theory is broad and runs from birth to adolescence and includes concepts of language, scientific reasoning, moral development and memory. Piaget believed that children went

The constructivist view of development was formed by Piaget in the 1920’s and 30’s. Jean Piaget’s stage theory suggests that there are four stages of development that every child will experience and progress through, regardless of culture. Piaget also developed the concept of schemata, and the theory that children gained knowledge through interaction between experiences and schematic concepts.

Jean Piaget has introduced theories on child development from 1896-1980. He is the the most cited and most influential on cognitive development. Piaget is the foundation of current child developmental in psychology. His inspiration came from observing children’s as he even used his own. His development of the cognitive deployment focused on mental process, remembering, believing and reasoning. To help explain his theory, Piaget’s came up with Stage-bound cognitive development. “Stage-bound is the development progresses through a series of stages as a result of assimilating (using the environment for already-learned activities)and accommodating (changing behaviors—and mental structure—in the face of environmental demands)” (Lefrancois, G. R. 2012). Piaget’s stage theory makes up four components, Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operations, and Formal operations. With these components a teacher or educator can designs its class room and better understand the deployment a child goes through. Once the knowledge of the theories is understood the teacher can teach the child the correct development that they are in. It’s important to know the characteristics of the development a child is going trough because all different age group have their own development stages.

There are multiple theories explaining how cognitive development occurs. Piaget’s stage theory, for example, focuses on whether children progress qualitatively through stages of development (Diener 2017). A theory based in nature vs. nurture, Piaget believed a child’s cognition develops biologically as they grow, based on their interactions with the environment. Sociocultural theory, on the other hand, believes children are influenced by the beliefs, values, perceptions, and opinions of those around them. Finally, information processing theories suggest that children process the information they receive and do not merely react to stimulus.

There have been many theorists throughout history that have given their own unique explanation of why and how children develop mentally and physically. I will be analyzing the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky.

The Critique of Piaget's Theories Jean Piaget (1896 – 1980) was a constructivist theorist. He saw children as constructing their own world, playing an active part in their own development. Piaget’s insight opened up a new window into the inner working of the mind and as a result he carried out some remarkable studies on children that had a powerful influence on theories of child thought. This essay is going to explain the main features and principles of the Piagetian theory and then provide criticism against this theory. Cognitive development refers to way in which a person’s style of thinking changes with age.

Researchers such as Norozi and Moen (2016) argue that the notion of childhood is socially constructed and varies depending on the norms and values each society carries. Nowadays, however, the definition of child is universal and refers to a “human being below eighteen years” (UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, Article 1). This definition has received various critiques for being monolithic and biased towards Western ideals (Kemper 2005; Denov 2010; Rosen, 2005). Jezequel (2006) explains why he considers it biased focusing specifically on the African continent. He (2006, p.6) notes that African societies have their own “models of childhood” and consequently they struggle to apply the restrictions on the use of child soldiers. Ferme (2001, p.281) agrees, and adds to his argument that in Africa “the trajectory between childhood and adulthood cannot be seen as an unambiguous process” meaning that the transition from childhood to adulthood depends on specific contexts. Boyden and Levinson (2000, p.28) sum up the argument that age is not an appropriate criterion to define who is considered as a child:

Jean Piaget is most known for studying the developmental progress of children and forever changing the education and psychology world. Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of children (Internet). Through studies Piaget was able to conclude that children possessed with a limited way of thinking that wasn’t necessarily wrong but instead different than grown adults (2013). Piaget created a four stage theory which provides insight to the mental development of children. This theory outlines the natural inclination children take towards mental development. Through a creation of studies Piaget was able to prove these stages and ever since many have done studies on this theory (Internet). Piaget had incorporated three parts into his theory: schema, the four processes that enable the transition from one stage to another, the four stages of cognitive development. In the process of Schema, Piaget believed there was two parts of this: assimilation and accommodation. A child may adapt by either interpreting an experience so that it fits an existing scheme, assimilation, or changing an existing scheme to incorporate the experience, accommodation (2013).

Jean Piaget is considered to be very influential in the field of developmental psychology. Piaget had many influences in his life which ultimately led him to create the Theory of Cognitive Development. His theory has multiple stages and components. The research done in the early 1900’s is still used today in many schools and homes. People from various cultures use his theory when it comes to child development. Although there are criticisms and alternatives to his theory, it is still largely used today around the world.

The three adaptive processes for cognitive development are assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium. These are three agents

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development Very briefly describe Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and explain what he meant by saying that young children are egocentric. Use experimental evidence to consider this claim. Cognitive development is what psychologists talk about when discussing a child’s intellectual growth. Jean Piaget (1896 to 1980), a Swiss psychologist developed a theory of cognitive development, which is still much discussed and critiqued today. Providing a firm building block to all work done in the study of child development and the concept that young children are egocentric.

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development suggested that to develop cognitively, children must have social interaction. He also “believed that this lifelong process of development was dependent of social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development” (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky believed that children 's social learning must come before social development. Vygotsky also believed that "human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings" (Woolfolk, 2004). Therefore, our culture helps shape our cognition.

Jean Piaget, a cognitivist, believed children progressed through a series of four key stages of cognitive development. These four major stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational, are marked by shifts in how people understand the world. Although the stages correspond with an approximate age, Piaget’s stages are flexible in that if the child is ready they can reach a stage. Jean Piaget developed the Piagetian cognitive development theory. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development proposes that a child’s intellect, or cognitive ability, progresses through four distinct stages. The emergence of new abilities and ways of processing information characterize each stage. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.