Background of Theorist: The know renown Swiss clinical psychologist Jean Piaget was Jean Piaget, a Swiss clinical psychologist was the main theorist to develop the theory of cognitive development (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). He was born on August the 9th 1896 in Neuchatel, Switzerland where he would spend his childhood growing up with his family (Kohler, 2014). The relationship Piaget had with both his parents was an ambivalent yet fundamental one, as the respectful yet fearful relationship he had with his father and his urge to stay away from his mother’s temper issues had allowed him to isolate himself and focus on prospering in his studies, thus making him the success he is today (Kohler, 2014). Main principles of learning theory: …show more content…
Furthermore, for children to think symbolically, it can demonstrate that the child has progressed from the previous stag and too, their thinking ability (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). However, a child’s thinking ability at this stage does not dramatically increase, as they are set back with the follow characteristics of: centration, irreversibility, egocentrism and animalistic thinking which limit their thinking abilities. Concrete operational: The concrete operational stage is the third stage in a child’s cognitive development and occurs between the ages of 7-11 years of age. In this stage, children are now able to come to term with the world and information given to them with more logical perspective and thinking style (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). Also, children’s thinking at this stage has developed drastically from the last two stages as they are not only thinking logically, but are able to understand: compensation, reversibility and conservation, classification and serialisation (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). Formal operational: The formal operational stage is considered the very last stage in a child’s cognitive development as it starts at the age of 12 and continues all the way throughout adulthood. By this stage, all the previous knowledge and schemes created in all the past stages are still being used and help develop the remaining characteristic that they will obtain (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). Children are now able to use:
During this stage, infants use their hands, mouth, ears, and eyes to solve problems. For example, when an infant may play with a Jack-in-the-box, the infant will be able to hear, see, and feel the crank as he is winding it up. As the infant continues to wind the “box” Jack will then pop out; solving the problem. Secondly, there is the preoperational stage which ranges from two-years of age to seven years old. The preoperational stage deals with language development and the make-believing play, by using symbols learned in the first stage of sensorimotor. Additionally, the concrete operational stage ranges from seven years to eleven-years-old. While in the concrete operational stage there is more logical reasoning to actions such as determining how much of their favorite beverage may remain. Not to mention, during this stage the child also begins to have a sense of organization with objects. For instance, a young boy that arranges his toys in order from most favorite to least would also be an example of the concrete operational stage. Lastly, the final stage in Piaget’s theory is formal operational from eleven years of age and beyond. In the formal operational stage, adolescents can solve more abstract
The third stage is the Concrete Operational Stage, which occurs around age seven to age eleven. This stage marks the beginning of logical or operational thoughts for the child. Their thinking becomes less egocentric, and the child can now understand that although the appearance of something changes, the “thing” itself does not. For example, if a child decided to spread out a pile of blocks, they know there are still as many blocks as there were before, even though it looks different.
In this stage, children are likely to be more creative thinkers and problem solvers. Piaget tested the formal operational stage in many ways, one being asking the children if they had a third eye and where they would they put it. Younger children would simply answer, “in the middle of their head” whereas older children would logically think about it, giving creative answers such as, “on my hand, so I can look around corners” (Piaget, 1970) "The formal operational thinker has the ability to consider many different solutions to a problem before acting.” (Salkind,
Jean Piaget developed a systematic study of cognitive development. He conducted a theory that all children are born with a basic mental structure. He felt that their mental structure is genetically inherited and their learning evolved from subsequent learning and knowledge. Piaget’s theory is different from other theories and he was the first to study a child’s learning by using a systematic study of cognitive development. His theory was only concerning the learning of children, their development and not how they learn. He proposed stages of development marked more by qualitative differences than by a gradual increase in number and complexities of behavior or concepts. His goal for his theory was to explain the mechanisms a child uses from the infant stage to the growing child who develops into a thinking and reasoning individual when reasoning and using hypotheses. His theory was that cognitive development was how the brain reorganized mental processes over time due to biological maturation and the experiences they have in an environment. The three basic components to Piaget’s cognitive theory is schemas, adaption processes that allow the child to transition from one stage to another, and the four different stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational.
During the third "concrete operational stage," children aged 8–11 develop cognitively through the use of logic that is based on concrete evidence. Piaget considered this a major turning point in development because it marked the beginning of logical or operational thought. The child is mature enough to use logical thought or operations (rules) but can only apply that logic to physical objects (hence the term concrete operational). They become less egocentric and better at conservation tasks (conservation refers to a logical thinking ability). If two round balls of playdough of exactly the same size are balanced opposite each other on a scale, a child can be shown that they weigh the same. However, if one is squashed and the child is asked
Throughout history, many brilliant minds have made impactful contributions in Psychology which have shaped our understandings of the human mind and our behaviors. Jean Piaget was by no means an exception. Piaget was a clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. He was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. Over the course of his later career in child psychology, he identified four stages of mental development that took into account young people 's development from basic object identification to highly abstract thought. This paper will focus on Piaget’s life history and personality, as well as his theory on the cognitive developmental stages, its purpose, and its applications during his lifetime and now.
In conclusion, it can be drawn by the person’s cognitive development that children are able to learn. First, concrete operational is a stage from a lot age 7 to 12. This stage means that children will become concrete. Children understand speed, causation, numbers and size. If a person never develops past the concrete operational stage, he or she will never make it to the formal operational stage. They will not be reaping the benefits of the formal operational stage. The child would only be able to learn about numbers, but want be able to talk about the concepts. The child would be concrete in their understanding. We would only be able to understand at minimal, but would be able to learn simple steps. We would be stuck mentally in the learning
For example, I set a glass of milk on the counter, and the 3-year-old understands the size. However, when I pour the milk into a different glass that is a different size and is shorter, the child won’t know which glass had more milk inside of it. The following stage, entitled Concrete operational stage, lasts from ages 7 to 11. Therefore, our 9-year-old in question would be in this sector. The concrete operational stage in characterized by the ability to perform mental operations on physical events only. In opposition with the 3-year-old, our 9-year-old can pass conservation tasks and understand that physical presentation changes do not equal an amount change. The 9-year-old will now be fascinated by organizational tasks. For example, the 9-year-old will be fascinated by sorting laundry by color or sorting buttons by size. They will also like more intricate tasks such as setting up a battle scene with toy soldiers. This stage still remains poor at performing mental operations abstractly, and they need physical experiences at an anchor to grasp mental
In this stage the children should be able to classify objects and group them by color. Concrete Operational (7-11 years old) Children begin to think logically about objects and events. Formal Operational Stage (11 years and up) Children begin to think with logic about abstract propositions and test hypotheses systematically. Children with language and communication disorders have difficulty with abstract language skills. Erik Erikson is a Psychosocial Psychologist. He studied child development but his stages of development also moved to ages 55, 65 and death. Infancy: Birth-18 months is Basic Trust vs. Mistrust. During this stage of development the child is dependent on the caregiver the child depends on touch and visual stimulation. Autonomy vs. Shame this is the second stage of development and the ages are 18 months - 3 years. The child develops self-esteem and the child learns what right from wrong during this stage. Initiative vs. Guilt-Purpose this is the preschooler ages 3 to 5. The children learn to play and copy adults during pretend play. Industry vs. Inferiority-competence ages 6-12. This is when the children start to learn, creating and accomplishing new skills and knowledge. Lev Vygotsy is a
The concrete operational stage occurs between the ages of 7 to 11years.This period spans the time of middle childhood and is characterized by the development of logical thought. While kids at this age become more logical about concrete and specific things, they still struggle with abstract ideas. Piaget determined that children in the concrete operational stage were fairly good at the use of inductive logic. Which involves going from a specific experience to a general principle. On the other hand, children at this age have difficulty using deductive logic which involves using a general principle to determine the outcome of a specific event. Also, reversibility is also important in this stage due to the fact that it creates an awareness that actions can be
During this stage, children learn how to think figuratively. At this time, children’s language skills begin to improve, and children also acquire memory development and an imagination. Throughout this stage, babies are not fully capable of intuitive reasoning. Children cannot comprehend difficult conceptions. The third stage is the concrete operational stage, which occurs between the ages of seven and eleven.
In the concrete operational stage between the ages of seven and twelve, children become capable of logical thought, they also start to be able to think abstractly. However they are best suited to visible or concrete objects and things they can see (Lee and Gupta). Once the child has reached the formal operations stage from twelve years onwards it becomes more practiced at abstract processing, carrying out problem solving systematically and methodically thus completing the cognitive development process.
The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is considered one of the 20th Century’s most influential naturalistic researchers in clinical psychology and child development. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is based in the belief that childhood plays a vital and crucial role in later development to an adult.
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.
Several years ago, an insightful and profound man, Jean Piaget, established a theory of cognitive growth during childhood. This theory was viewed as a major model for understanding the intricate steps of mental development from the thinking to understanding for a child. This theory also gave rise to the mentality that cognitive processes during childhood are not minuscule versions of adults but rather an irrational yet unique process with its own rules. Even though Piaget’s theory seems quite reasonable and logical, under the light of recent speculation his theory has been widely challenged. However, Piaget’s theory holds great impact in today’s psychology.