Essay on Jean Piaget and the Four Major Stages of Cognitive Theory

Words: 876
Pages: 4
Open Document
JEAN PIAGET and THE FOUR MAJOR STAGES OF COGNITIVE THEORY

The patriarch of cognitive theory was Jean Piaget(1896-1980). Piaget was a biologist, who became interested in human thinking while working to evaluate the results of child intelligence tests. As Piaget worked he noted the correlation between the child's age and the type of error they made. Intrigued by the discovery that certain errors occurred predictably at certain age, he began to focus his time and energy to the further investigation of his findings. Starting with his children and moving on to other students, Piaget developed what is known as the Cognitive theory, a behaviorism theory which emphasizes the structure and development of thought …show more content…
While children tend to think very concretely and specifically in earlier stages, the ability to think about abstract concepts emerges during the formal operational stage. Instead of relying solely on previous experiences, children begin to consider possible outcomes and consequences of actions. This type of thinking is important in long-term planning in life.
Piaget's focus on quality development had an important impact on education. While Piaget did not specifically apply his theory to education, many educational programs today are built upon the belief that students should be taught at the level for which they are developmentally prepared. In addition a number of instructional strategies have been derived from Piaget's work. These strategies include providing a supportive environment, social interactions and peer teaching, and helping children learn from mistakes and improve on their thought processes.
Piaget’s theory fits into today’s society because as we see, children are always learning throughout every stage of their lives. They begin with touching, sucking, and squeezing. Then move along to learning language and interacting with their environment, before learning logical and abstract concepts. While each stage might not be exact to the age group, all stages provide building blocks necessary to move on to the next stage of life.

Works cited
1.) "Cognitive Learning Theory |
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Jean Piaget and the Four Major Stages of Cognitive Theory

Theory of Cognitive Development Essay

and contrast Piaget's and Vygotsky's views of cognitive development. Cognitive development is the growth in our capabilities as learners. Cognitive development theory attempts to explain how humans acquire and construct knowledge of themselves and their world. The first systematic theory of cognitive development was proposed by Jean Piaget, however there are other major theoretical approaches to cognitive development, including those of Vygotsky. Piaget approached the subject from a biological, nature…

Words 385 - Pages 2

Essay about Educational Psych Assign 1

the most recognized cognitive psychologists, are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, they developed theories based on cognitive development and learning among children and adolescents. Both theorist share some similarities but differences do exist amongst them in educational settings. Methods and approaches to teaching have been greatly influenced by the research of Piaget and Vygotsky. Both brought major contributions to the field of education by offering explanations for cognitive learning styles and…

Words 723 - Pages 3

Social and Moral Development Essay example

infants at birth and as they grow into adults are through the developmental theories. Some of the developmental theories are sexual development, social development and moral development. Both Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg view similarities as well as differences between the theories they each believe in regards to the development of a child social and moral development. Jean Piaget put forth the theory of cognitive development wherein he established a clear as well as a logical connection…

Words 1109 - Pages 5

Outline Of Vygotsky's Theories Of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget is regard as the first psychologist to construct a systematic study of cognitive development. Piaget's theory centered on the four stages of development he believed everyone goes through. These stages are the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage. The main objective during the sensorimotor stage is object permanence, which is the understanding that an object continues to exist even when not seen (McLeod, 2009). In the preoperational…

Words 534 - Pages 3

Comparing Piaget And Lev Vygotsky

How children learn and develop has sparked many differing views and theories amongst academics with continuing adaptations and opinions (Gray & Macblain. 2015). Do children learn by doing? are they born ready to learn? or is this something that parents have to instil into their children. But most importantly in which way does all of this happen? ask many different people and it will open a world of many beliefs and viewpoints. With the subject being so rich and complex there are countless amounts…

Words 723 - Pages 3

Thoery essay

Discuss Factors and Theories that Influence Children and Young People’s Development and How these Influence Current Practice. Within this essay I am going to discuss and explain the differences between Personal factor and External factor. As well as discussing and conversing the different factors I am also going to talk about the influence of child development within three theorists, these three theorists are Maria Montessori, Lev Yvgotsky and Jean Piaget. Once I have explained each theorist and…

Words 4013 - Pages 17

The Importance of Theory and Research in Child Development Essay

The Importance of Theory and Research in Child Development JoLinda Freeman PSY104 Child and Adolescent Development Instructor Mark Kavanaugh April 4, 2015 The Importance of Theory and Research in Child Development In order for us to understand how a child develops we must conduct research on theories that we believe and others believe to be true. When we do understand the development of children we will be able to understand the skills and behaviors of children. This will help us to understand…

Words 896 - Pages 4

Vygotsky Vs Piaget

When comparing the works of Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget, the simplest analogy would be nurture versus nature. Piaget, a psychologist and philosopher from Switzerland, is very well known in the education field, especially for his Theory of Cognitive Development. He believes that as a child transitions through the stages of development, learning is internally directed due to a child’s natural inquisitiveness. A child is born with and continues to develop schemas, or the mental representation of…

Words 2562 - Pages 11

How Do the Major Theories of Child Development (Known as the ‘Grand Theories’) Explore the Importance of Social Experiences? Essay

How do the major theories of child development (known as the ‘grand theories’) explore the importance of social experiences? Social experiences play a vital role in the development of children. Theories of child development have been created to help us to understand how children’s minds develop, taking into account the differences between cultures around the world. Some of these theories explore the possibility that children gain knowledge, develop new concepts and bridge new ideas through interaction…

Words 1677 - Pages 7

Developmental Psych Paper

Part 1 There are many theories in Developmental Psychology; past, present, and future. But out of all the theories there are “Grand Theories”. Grand theories in Developmental Psychology are major concepts used to describe every aspect of development from cognitive, emotional, physical, social and educational development from Birth to Adulthood. Behind the major stage theories are major stage theorists. After learning in detail about each theorist and their stage theories on development I was able…

Words 1194 - Pages 5