Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in the year 1896. He would go on to become one of the most influential philosopher and psychologist of the twentieth century. He achieved worldwide renown for his theories of child development and for his work on genetic epistemology. This essay will confine itself to an overview of his theory of cognitive development in children, which continues to hold its cornerstone position among discoveries in the field of psychology. But, it would be simplistic to classify Piaget as a theorist and philosopher who deals in mere abstractions. Rather, Piaget exhibited genuine humane concern to children, which manifested in his taking the role of Director of the International Bureau of Education in the year 1934. Through the rest of his illustrious life, he continued to emphasize the value of quality education to children. In the final assessment, Piaget would be remembered a philanthropist and an educationist as much a psychologist (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget).
In the theory of cognitive development, Piaget classified the schemes children employ to comprehend the world around them into four main stages, which are closely correlated with the age of the child. The caretakers of the child play an important role in recognizing these subtle improvements in a child’s mental development. For instance, parents/guardians admiring remark at the small intellectual accomplishments of a growing baby. It could be the first few steps taken in walk or a first syllable uttered; the caretakers notice and celebrate these landmark events in the cognitive evolution of the child for two intuitive reason – firstly, to encourage the child to continue in its path of mental development and secondly, to assure themselves that the child is on the right path to intellectual maturity. When these changes in child behavior are scientifically analyzed, we come to realize the veracity of Jean Piaget’s four-stage theory of development (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget).
Body:
A brief explanation of the four stages follows:
1. Sensorimotor stage (between age 0 and 2)
This stage represents the first two years of the baby’s life. During this period
“the infant learns to coordinate the visual and tactile information she receives from the world around her with her emerging motor skills. For example, the infant learns that by moving her eyes she can see a different part of her world and monitor how her arms or legs are interacting with various objects. Throughout these first two years of life the infant becomes increasingly aware of the world outside of herself and develops her ability to act on it” (www.social.jrank.org).
2. Preoperational stage (between age 2 and 7)
During this stage of cognitive development (which occurs after two years and lasts till about six or seven years of age), children are said to exhibit “ego-centrism”, meaning that the child has difficulty in viewing its environment from any other perspective other than theirs own. Piaget demonstrated this phenomenon through a classic experiment. A group of children were asked to participate in Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder’s three mountain task. The activity involved children viewing “a three-dimensional display of three mountains from a particular perspective. Each mountain was slightly different in shape and had a small distinguishing reference object on top (e.g., a church steeple). The child was asked to select a two-dimensional picture that represented what another person would see from a different vantage point”. As expected by Piaget, the children failed in recognizing the possibility of other perspectives. To the contrary, they always chose the view of the mountains as was witnessed by their own eyes (www.social.jrank.org).
3. Concrete operational stage (between age 7 and 11)
This stage of development sets in toward the seventh year of the child and lasts till he/she is about eleven. During this period, children display greater intellectual capability and are able to complete challenging cognitive tasks. They also show distinct improvement in their conversation skills. The successful attainment of this stage of mental development is illustrated by the following experiment. In a task that requires preservation of liquid, milk from a short, broad container is poured into another empty container which is taller and also thinner. Even though the containers are differently shaped, the liquid contained in them is exactly the same, although it may appear not to be so for the naked eye. A child who can understand this reality is said to have successfully completed this penultimate stage in his/her cognitive development (www.social.jrank.org).
4. Formal operational stage (age 11 and above)
In this final stage of development, children show greater flexibility in their cognitive functions and are able to solve abstract analytical problems with the application of logic. In this phase, which sets in after twelve years of age, young adolescents develop social consciousness as well, and show greater interest in such topics as morality and ethics (www.social.jrank.org).
Conclusion:
It is important to remember that while the theory remains a general guideline for healthy child development it is not rigid. For example, while the time at which the child attains a particular characteristic might vary, the order of the four stages never does. Another merit attached to the theory is the fact that it is universally applicable across different cultures, races and ethnic groups, presenting a strong case against race or ethnicity based discrimination prevalent in many societies. While there is no doubt about the invaluable contribution made to the field of social sciences by Jean Piaget’s theory of development, it had attracted its fair share of criticism as well. For example, during the 1970s, fellow psychologists raised doubts over the exact onset of the four stages. While they all agreed that the stages happen in the stated order, they were unsure whether “cognitive development occurs in stages, as Piaget’s theory suggests, or whether it is a continuous process. Specifically, many researchers believe that Piaget underestimated the timing of some of children’s abilities and that sometimes children understand a concept before they are able to demonstrate their understanding of it” (www.social.jrank.org)
Works Cited:
http://social.jrank.org/pages/145/Cognitive-Development.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget