Jean Piagets Theory

throughout history, some people pick out made many contri andions to the trail of psychology. One item-by-item is that of Jean Piaget and his theories on the cognitive ruinment confronts. Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland, where he studied at the university and received a doctorate in biology at the age of 22. Following college he became very kindle in psychology and began to research and studies of the subject. With his research Piaget created a broad conjectural system for the development of cognitive abilities.His work, in this way, was much like that of Sigmund Freud, but Piaget emphasized the ways that barbarianren think and acquire knowledge. Piaget referred to his theory as heritable epistemology. This is defined as the study of the acquisition, modification, and exploitation of abstract ideas and the abilities as on the basis of an inherited or biological substrate, an intelligent functioning that contributes the growth of abstract conception possib le. (Ginsburg 5) Piaget derived his theories from directly observing children and by questioning them about their thinking.He was less interested in whether the children answered correctly than how they arrived at their answers. Piaget viewed intelligence as an extension of biological adaptation that has a logical structure. One of the substitution points of his theories was that of epigenesis. This is that growth and development occur in a series of full points, each of which is built on the successful mastery of the previous power point. (Furth 33) Piaget described tetrad major stages leading to the capacity for adult thought.Each stage is a necessary for the following stage, but the rate at which different children move done different stages varies with their heredity and environment. Piagets four stages argon the sensorimotor stage, the stage of pre operative thought, the stage of concrete operations and the stage of formal operations. The first stage that Piaget snarl all children go through was the sensorimotor stage. This stage occurs between p arentage and two years of age.This is the stage when Infants go about to learn through sensory(a) observation, and they gain control of their motor functions through activity, exploration and manipulation of the environment. (Furth 29) From birth, biology and experience work together to produce learned behavior. As infants vex more(prenominal) mobile, one action is built upon another action, forming rising and more complex actions. Infants spatial, visual, and tactile populaces expand during this full point in which children actively act with their environment and use previously learned behaviors.The critical achievement of this period is the development of physical object permanence. This is the indication that a child has the ability to empathise that objects have an existence independent of the childs involvement with them. Infants learn to differentiate themselves from the realism and are able to maintain a mental image of an object, so far when it is not present and visible. (Rotman 40) At about 18 months, infants catch to develop mental symbols and to use words. This process is called symbolization. Infants are able to create a visual or mental image of an object to stand for or signify the real object.The attainment of object permanence marks the intonation from the sensorimotor stage to the preoperational stage. During the stage of peoperational thought, children use language and symbols more extensively than in the sensorimotor stage. Children learn without the use of reasoning, therefore are ineffectual to think logically or deductively. Children are able to name the object but they are unable to categorize or class these objects. Preopreational thought is midway between socialized adult thought and the completely autistic freudian unconscious. (Furth 57) Events are also not linked by logic.In this stage, children begin to use language and drawings in more elaborate ways. From once utilise one word utterances they begin to use two word phrases, which mark up a single noun and verb. Children in this developmental stage are ecogentric. They see themselves as the center of the universe, therefore they are unable to pay back the role of another person. In addition , children use animistic thinking which is the tendency to endow events and objects with lifelike attributes. The stage of concrete operations is so named because in this period children operate and act on the concrete, real, and perceivable world of objects and events.Egocentric thought is replaced by operational thought, which involves dealing with a wide vagabond of information outside the child. Therefore, children can now see things from someone elses perspective. Children in this stage begin to use limited logical thought and processes and are able to order and group things in classes on the basis of everyday characteristics. The child is able to reason and to follow rules and regulations. They are able to way of lifel themselves , and they begin to develop a moral sense and a canon of values.Conservation is the ability to recognize that, although the shape of objects may change, the mass and amount flummox the same. For example, if you put the same amount of liquid in two containers the child may think there is more in the taller cylinder. Children also begin to understand reversibility, which is the capacity to understand the relationship between things. They begin to greet that one thing can turn into another and back again. The just about important sign that children are still in the preoperational stage is that they have not achieved conservation or reversibility.Dealing with the future and its possibilities occurs in the formal operational stage. The formal operation stage deals with the ages of eleven through the end of adolescence. This stage is characterized by the ability to think abstractly, to reason deductively, and to define c oncepts. It also is shown by adolescents interest in a variety of issues including philosophy, religion, ethics, and politics. Another main weaken of this stage is that of Hypothetic deductive thinking. This is the advancedest organization of cognition and enables people to make a hypothesis or proposition and to test it against reality.Deductive reasoning moves from the oecumenical to the crabby and is a more complicated process than inductive reasoning, which moves from particular to general. (Rotman 44) This step also brings about self-conscious behavior because of the ability to ponder on their own and other peoples thoughts. As adolescents attempt to master new cognitive tasks, they may return to egocentric thought, but on a higher level than in the past. Not all adolescents enter the stage at the same time or to the same degree. Depending on various(prenominal) capacity some may not reach the stage at all and may remain in concrete operational mode throughout life.Despit e the psychiatric applications Piagets theories have been applied more widely in the area of education. Piagets concepts have been used to resolve educational problems, such as assessing intellectual development, scholastic aptitude, grade placement, and reading readiness. Innovative early school programs, such as Head Start can be traced to Piagets opine that experience plays a major role in human thought. Throughout his writings Piaget emphasized that the greater richness, complexity, and the diversity of the environment, the greater the likelihood that high levels of mental functioning are achieved.