Piaget 's Theory Of Cognitive Development

Cognitive developmental theories provide a framework for understanding about how children act and perceive the world. However, every theory has both strengths and weaknesses. A certain theory may explain one aspect of cognitive development very well, but poorly address or completely ignore other aspects that are just as important. Two well known theories of cognitive development are Piaget’s stage theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. As I plan to be a pediatric nurse, these two theories will be evaluated based on how applicable they are to the field of nursing.

Jean Piaget is a key figure for development, focusing on cognitive constructivism – that being that we must learn from experience and development, building on knowledge that has already been developed. The strengths and weaknesses of Piaget 's cognitive development theory will be discussed.

Piaget was a Swiss Psychologist and is most famous for his work and research on cognitive development. He put forward the Theory of Cognitive Development and key elements in this theory include the formation of “Schemas” and “organisation”. A “schema” is an individuals thoughts and beliefs about an object or event and “organisation” refers to the ability of the child to put stages of each period (eg. Sensori-Motor Period) into a logical order (Miller,

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.

Piaget, Erikson, Skinner and Vygotsky all have similarities and differences within their approaches in regards to cognitive development. Firstly, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes the changes in logical thinking of children and adolescents. Piaget suggested that children proceed through four stages that are based on maturation and experience. Piaget managed numerous intelligence tests to children and this led to him becoming interested in the types of faults children of different ages were most probable to make. Piaget hypothesized that cognitive development proceeds in four genetically determined stages that always follow the same sequential order (Developmental and Learning Theories, 2011). The four stages in Piaget theory are the Sensorimotor stage (infancy), the Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood), the Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence), and the Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). Furthermore, Piaget’s theory is guided by assumptions of how learners interact with their environment and how they integrate new knowledge and information on existing knowledge. In brief, Piaget proposed that children are active learners who build knowledge from their environments and they learn through assimilation and accommodation, and complex cognitive development occurs through equilibration (Developmental and Learning Theories, 2011). Piaget also believed that the interaction with physical and social

What are the major challenges to Piaget's theory of cognitive development and what aspects still have value?

The way that children think, see the world and the language that is used from the information that is received is described in Piaget 's theory as 'Piaget 's Cognitive Stages '. Piaget believed that the cognitive development of a child occurs in stages from birth to adulthood. These stages are: sensorimotor; preoperational; concrete operations and formal operations. Each stage has developmental milestones that are contained within it, in terms of the scenario a child that is in Year 8 would have already moved out of both the sensorimotor and preoperational stages. Concrete and formal operations would be observed with children in Year 8 as the stages recommend that children within the ages of 7-12 & 12+ will experience specific developmental milestones.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development consists of four stages, these stages include the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. When a person transitions from stage to stage they go through assimilation, accommodation, and equilibrium.

Can Piaget’s Experiments Be Replicated in Worthing and If Not What Are the Implications on His Theory of Cognitive Development?

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was based around his belief that children will develop their intelligence through a series of stages: Sensorimotor (birth – 2yrs), Preoperational (2-7yrs), Concrete Operational (7-11yrs) and Formal Operational (11+). He believed these stages to be invariant, the same stages taking place in a fixed order, and universal, the same for every child regardless of their background or culture. (McLeod, 2015)

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.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (Cardwell, 2009) divides the way children learn and develop their thinking into four groups, referred to as stages. The first stage occurs around 0-2 years and is called the sensorimotor stage in which children explore the world and objects around them through their reflexes. The second stage of development according to Piaget is called the pre-operational stage. In this stage, children between 2-6 years learn how to use a language to communicate; however, understanding of approach is general. They only know the world from their own aspect. The third stage of cognitive development is referred to as the concrete operational stage. Children use

Cognition is a complex idea, making it difficult to describe. Hooper and Umansky (p. 307, 2014) define cognitive development as an individual’s ability to translate objects and events into a symbolic form that can be stored in the brain. Cognition can be measured with perceptual and conceptual skills. Perceptual skills are the connection between the senses and experiences. Conceptual skills are higher level processing, such as, making decisions and problem solving (Hooper and Umansky, 2014).

Jean Piaget is one of many theorists to have proposed ideas about development. However he was the first to make a methodical study of cognitive development.

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.