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Sensorimotor Stage

Preoperational Stage
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational Stage

Jean Piaget
by Saul McLeod published 2009, updated 2012
ean Piaget !1"9# $ 19"0% &as employed at the 'inet (nstitute in the 1920s, &here his )ob
&as to de*elop French *ersions o+ ,uestions on -nglish intelligence tests.
/e became intrigued &ith the reasons children ga*e +or their &rong ans&ers on the ,uestions
that re,uired logical thin0ing. /e belie*ed that these incorrect ans&ers re*ealed important
di++erences bet&een the thin0ing o+ adults and children.
Piaget !191#% &as the +irst psychologist to ma0e a systematic study o+ cogniti*e de*elopment.
/is contributions include a theory o+ cogniti*e child de*elopment, detailed obser*ational studies
o+ cognition in children, and a series o+ simple but ingenious tests to re*eal di++erent cogniti*e
abilities.
'e+ore Piaget2s &or0, the common assumption in psychology &as that children are merely less
competent thin0ers than adults. Piaget sho&ed that young children thin0 in stri0ingly di++erent
&ays compared to adults.
3ccording to Piaget, children are born &ith a *ery basic mental structure !genetically inherited
and e*ol*ed% on &hich all subse,uent learning and 0no&ledge is based.
Piaget's Theory Differs From Others In Several Ways4
o (t is concerned &ith children, rather than all learners.
o (t +ocuses on de*elopment, rather than learning per se, so it does not address learning o+
in+ormation or speci+ic beha*iors.
o (t proposes discrete stages o+ de*elopment, mar0ed by ,ualitati*e di++erences, rather
than a gradual increase in number and comple5ity o+ beha*iors, concepts, ideas, etc.
6he goal o+ the theory is to e5plain the mechanisms and processes by &hich the in+ant, and then
the child, de*elops into an indi*idual &ho can reason and thin0 using hypotheses.
6o Piaget, cogniti*e de*elopment &as a progressi*e reorgani7ation o+ mental processes as a
result o+ biological maturation and en*ironmental e5perience. Children construct an
understanding o+ the &orld around them, then e5perience discrepancies bet&een &hat they
already 0no& and &hat they disco*er in their en*ironment.
There Are Three Basic Components To Piaget's Cognitive Theory4
1. Schemas
!building bloc0s o+ 0no&ledge%.
2. 3daptation processes that enable the transition +rom one stage to another
!e,uilibrium,assimilation and accommodation%.
1. Stages o+ 8e*elopment4
sensorimotor,
preoperational,
concrete operational,
+ormal operational.
The illstration !a"ove# demonstrates a child de*eloping a schema +or a dog by assimilating
in+ormation about the dog. 6he child then sees a cat, using accommodation compares e5isting
0no&ledge o+ a dog to +orm a schema o+ a cat. Animation created by Daurice Grossniklaus and
Bob Rodes (03/2002).
Piaget belie*ed that ne&born babies ha*e a small number o+ innate schemas $ e*en be+ore they
ha*e had much opportunity to e5perience the &orld. 6hese neonatal schemas are the cogniti*e
structures underlying innate re+le5es. 6hese re+le5es are genetically programmed into us.
For e5ample babies ha*e a suc0ing re+le5, &hich is triggered by something touching the baby9s
lips. 3 baby &ill suc0 a nipple, a com+orter !dummy%, or a person9s +inger. Piaget there+ore
assumed that the baby has a 9suc0ing schema9.
Similarly the grasping re+le5 &hich is elicited &hen something touches the palm o+ a baby9s
hand, or the rooting re+le5, in &hich a baby &ill turn its head to&ards something &hich touches
its chee0, &ere assumed to result operations4 +or e5ample sha0ing a rattle &ould be the
combination o+ t&o schemas, grasping and sha0ing.
Assimilation an$ Accommo$ation
ean Piaget !19:2; see also <ads&orth, 200=% *ie&ed intellectual gro&th as a process o+
a$aptation !ad)ustment% to the &orld. 6his happens through4
Assimilation
> <hich is using an e5isting schema to deal &ith a ne& ob)ect or situation.
Accommo$ation
> 6his happens &hen the e5isting schema !0no&ledge% does not &or0, and needs to be
changed to deal &ith a ne& ob)ect or situation.
%&ili"ration
> 6his is the +orce &hich mo*es de*elopment along. Piaget belie*ed that cogniti*e
de*elopment did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.
-,uilibrium occurs &hen a child9s schemas can deal &ith most ne& in+ormation through
assimilation. /o&e*er, an unpleasant state o+ dise,uilibrium occurs &hen ne&
in+ormation cannot be +itted into e5isting schemas !assimilation%.
-,uilibration is the +orce &hich dri*es the learning process as &e do not li0e to be
+rustrated and &ill see0 to restore balance by mastering the ne& challenge
!accommodation%.
Once the ne& in+ormation is ac,uired the process o+ assimilation &ith the ne& schema
&ill continue until the ne5t time &e need to ma0e an ad)ustment to it.
-5ample o+ 3ssimilation
3 2 year old child sees a man &ho is bald on top o+ his head and has long +ri77y hair on the sides.
6o his +ather2s horror, the toddler shouts ?Clo&n, clo&n@ !Siegler et al., 2001%.
-5ample o+ 3ccommodation
(n the ?clo&n@ incident, the boy2s +ather e5plained to his son that the man &as not a clo&n and
that e*en though his hair &as li0e a clo&n2s, he &asn2t &earing a +unny costume and &asn2t
doing silly things to ma0e people laugh.
<ith this ne& 0no&ledge, the boy &as able to change his schema o+ ?clo&n@ and ma0e this idea
+it better to a standard concept o+ ?clo&n@.
Stages of Development
3 child9s cogniti*e de*elopment is about a child de*eloping or constructing a mental model o+
the &orld.
(magine &hat it &ould be li0e i+ you did not ha*e a mental model o+ your &orld. (t &ould mean
that you &ould not be able to ma0e so much use o+ in+ormation +rom your past e5perience, or to
plan +uture actions.
ean Piaget &as interested both in ho& children learnt and in ho& they thought.
Piaget studied children +rom in+ancy to adolescence, and carried out many o+ his o&n
in*estigations using his three children. /e used the +ollo&ing research methods4
'atralistic o"servation4 Piaget made care+ul, detailed obser*ations o+ children. 6hese &ere
mainly his o&n children and the children o+ +riends. From these he &rote diary descriptions
charting their de*elopment.
Clinical intervie(s an$ o"servations o+ older children &ho &ere able to understand ,uestions
and hold con*ersations.
Piaget belie*ed that children thin0 di++erently than adults and stated they go through = uni*ersal
stages o+ cogniti*e de*elopment. 8e*elopment is there+ore biologically based and changes as
the child matures. Cognition there+ore de*elops in all children in the same se,uence o+ stages.
-ach child goes through the stages in the same order, and no stage can be missed out $ although
some indi*iduals may ne*er attain the later stages. 6here are indi*idual di++erences in the rate at
&hich children progress through stages.
Piaget did not claim that a particular stage &as reached at a certain age $ although descriptions o+
the stages o+ten include an indication o+ the age at &hich the a*erage child &ould reach each
stage.
Piaget !19:2% belie*ed that these stages are uni*ersal $ i.e. that the same se,uence o+
de*elopment occurs in children all o*er the &orld, &hate*er their culture.
Stage of Development )ey Featre *esearch St$y
Sensorimotor
0 $ 2 yrs.
Ob)ect Permanence 'lan0et A 'all Study
Preoperational
2 $ B yrs.
-gocentrism 6hree Mountains
Concrete Operational
B > 11 yrs.
Conser*ation Conser*ation o+ Cumber
Formal Operational
11yrs D
Manipulate ideas in head, e.g.
3bstract Eeasoning
Pendulum 6as0
%$cational Implications
Piaget !19:2% did not e5plicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers ha*e
e5plained ho& +eatures o+ Piaget9s theory can be applied to teaching and learning.
Piaget has been e5tremely in+luential in de*eloping educational policy and teaching. For
e5ample, a re*ie& o+ primary education by the FG go*ernment in 19## &as based strongly on
Piaget2s theory. 6he result o+ this re*ie& led to the publication o+ the Plo&den report !19#B%.
8isco*ery learning > the idea that children learn best through doing and acti*ely e5ploring $ &as
seen as central to the trans+ormation o+ primary school curriculum.
96he report9s recurring themes are indi*idual learning, +le5ibility in the curriculum, the centrality
o+ play in children9s learning, the use o+ the en*ironment, learning by disco*ery and the
importance o+ the e*aluation o+ children9s progress $ teachers should 9not assume that only &hat
is measurable is *aluable.9
'ecause Piaget9s theory is based upon biological maturation and stages the notion o+ 9readiness9 is
important. Eeadiness concerns &hen certain in+ormation or concepts should be taught. 3ccording
to Piaget9s theory children should not be taught certain concepts until they ha*e reached the
appropriate stage o+ cogniti*e de*elopment.
3ccording to Piaget !19:"%, assimilation and accommodation re,uire an acti*e learner, not a
passi*e one, because problem$sol*ing s0ills cannot be taught, they must be disco*ered.
<ithin the classroom learning should be student centred a accomplished through acti*e
disco*ery learning. 6he role o+ the teacher is to +acilitate learning, rather than direct tuition.
6here+ore teachers should encourage the +ollo&ing &ithin the classroom4
o Focus on the process o+ learning, rather than the end product o+ it.
o Fsing acti*e methods that re,uire redisco*ering or reconstructing HtruthsH.
o Fsing collaborati*e, as &ell as indi*idual acti*ities !so children can learn +rom each other%.
o 8e*ising situations that present use+ul problems, and create dise,uilibrium in the child.
o -*aluate the le*el o+ the child9s de*elopment, so suitable tas0s can be set.
%valation of Piaget's Theory
Support
6he in+luence o+ Piaget2s ideas in de*elopmental psychology has been enormous. /e
changed ho& people *ie&ed the child2s &orld and their methods o+ studying children. /e
&as an inspiration to many &ho came a+ter and too0 up his ideas. Piaget9s ideas ha*e
generated a huge amount o+ research &hich has increased our understanding o+ cogniti*e
de*elopment.
/is ideas ha*e been o+ practical use in understanding and communicating &ith children,
particularly in the +ield o+ education !re4 8isco*ery Learning%.
Criticisms
3re the stages realI Jygots0y and 'runer &ould rather not tal0 about stages at all,
pre+erring to see de*elopment as continuous. Others ha*e ,ueried the age ranges o+ the
stages. Some studies ha*e sho&n that progress to the +ormal operational stage is not
guaranteed. For e5ample, Geating !19B9% reported that =0$#0K o+ college students +ail at
+ormal operation tas0s, and 8asen !199=% states that only one$third o+ adults e*er reach
the +ormal operational stage.
'ecause Piaget concentrated on the uni*ersal stages o+ cogniti*e de*elopment and
biological maturation, he +ailed to consider the e++ect that the social setting and culture
may ha*e on cogniti*e de*elopment !re4 Jygots0y, 19B"%.
Piaget2s methods !obser*ation and clinical inter*ie&s% are more open to biased
interpretation than other methods. 'ecause Piaget conducted the obser*ations alone the
data collected are based on his o&n sub)ecti*e interpretation o+ e*ents. (t &ould ha*e
been more reliable i+ Piaget conducted the obser*ations &ith another researcher and
compared the results a+ter&ards to chec0 i+ they are similar.
3s se*eral studies ha*e sho&n Piaget underestimated the abilities o+ children because his
tests &ere sometimes con+using or di++icult to understand !e.g. Martin /ughes, 19B:%.
6he concept o+ schema is incompatible &ith the theories o+ 'runer !19##% and Jygots0y
!19B"%. 'eha*iorism &ould also re+ute Piaget2s schema theory because is cannot be
directly obser*ed as it is an internal process. 6here+ore, they &ould claim it cannot be
ob)ecti*ely measured.
Piaget carried out his studies &ith a hand+ul o+ participants !i.e. small sample si7e% > and
in the early studies he generally used his o&n children !+rom S&it7erland%. 6his sample is
biased, and accordingly the results o+ these studies cannot be generali7ed to children +rom
di++erent cultures.
APA Style Ee+erences
'runer, . S. !19##%. Toward a theory o instruction! Cambridge, Mass.4 'el0app Press.
Central 3d*isory Council +or -ducation !19#B%. "hildren and their #rimary $chools (%The
#lowden Re&ort%), London4 /MSO.
8asen, P. !199=%. Culture and cogniti*e de*elopment +rom a Piagetian perspecti*e. (n < ..
Lonner A E.S. Malpass !-ds.%, #sycholo'y and "ulture. 'oston4 3llyn and 'acon.
/ughes , M. !19B:%. ('ocentrism in &reschool children. Fnpublished doctoral dissertation.
-dinburgh Fni*ersity.
Geating, 8. !19B9%. 3dolescent thin0ing. (n . 3delson !-d.%, )andbook o adolescent
&sycholo'y, pp. 211$2=#. Ce& Lor04 <iley.
Piaget, . !1912%. The moral *ud'ment o the child. London4 Eoutledge A Gegan Paul.
Piaget, . !191#%. +ri'ins o intelli'ence in the child! London4 Eoutledge A Gegan Paul.
Piaget, . !19=:%. #lay, dreams and imitation in childhood. London4 /einemann.
Piaget, . !19:B%. "onstruction o reality in the child! London4 Eoutledge A Gegan Paul.
Piaget, . !19:"%. 6he gro&th o+ logical thin0ing +rom childhood to adolescence. A-", .0, 12.
Piaget, ., A Coo0, M. 6. !19:2%. 6he origins o+ intelligence in children.
Siegler, E. S., 8eLoache, . S., A -isenberg, C. !2001%. )ow children de/elo&. Macmillan.
Jygots0y, L. S. !19B"%. -ind in society0 The de/elo&ment o hi'her &sycholo'ical &rocesses.
Cambridge, M34 /ar*ard Fni*ersity Press.
<ads&orth, '. . !200=%. #ia'et%s theory o co'niti/e and aecti/e de/elo&ment0 1oundations o
constructi/ism. Longman Publishing.
/o& to cite this article4
McLeod, S. 3. !2009%. ean Piaget. Eetrie*ed +rom
http4MM&&&.simplypsychology.orgMpiaget.html
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Follo& Ot&itter
Further (n+ormation
Sensorimotor Stage
Preoperational Stage
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational Stage
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Listen to a ''C radio broadcast about the three mountains study.
Listen to a M(6 Lecture4 /o& 8o Children 6hin0I
Cogniti*e 8e*elopment !'oo0 Chapter%
Piaget4 Cogniti*e 8e*elopment !Fndergraduate Cotes%
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3rticle Content
(ntroduction
Schemas
3ssimilation A 3ccommodation
Stages o+ 8e*elopment
-ducational (mplications
Critical -*aluation
Ee+erences
Eelated 3rticles
Sensorimotor Stage
Preoperational Stage
Concrete Operational Stage
Formal Operational Stage
Jygots0y
'runer

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