Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget(august 9,1980), a professor of psychology at the university of Geneva from 1929 to 1954 was a swiss developmental psychologist who is most well known for organizing cognitive development in to a series of stages. Piaget's theories of psychological development have proved influential. Among others, the philosopher and social theorist Jurgen Habermas has incorporated them into his work, most notabily in the Theory of Communicative Action.

Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a stage theory – a type of theory suggesting that all human beings move through an orderly and predictable series of changes. According to Piaget, children are active thinkers who are constantly trying to construct more accurate or advanced understanding of the world around them. In other words, from this perspective, children construct their knowledge of the world by interacting with it. Children build such knowledge through two basic processes – assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation involves modifying one’s environment so that it fits into one’s already developed ways of thinking and acting. Accommodation involves modifying oneself so as to fit in with existing characteristics of the environment. In general, children will try for equilibration – the tendency of the developing individual to stay “in balance” intellectually, by filling in gaps in knowledge and by restructuring beliefs, when they fail to test out against reality.

The first stage of cognitive development lasts from birth until somewhere between eighteen and twenty-four months. During this period, termed the sensorimotor stage, infants gradually learn that there is a relationship between their actions and the external world.

Sometime between the age of eighteen and twenty-four months, toddlers acquire the ability to form mental images of objects and events. At the same time, language develops to point at which they begin to think in terms of verbal symbols-word. Thinking is limited to immediate sensory experiences and motor behaviours. It is a trial-and error type of thinking. Infants know objects only in terms of their direct action upon the objects. Thus, a nipple is something to be sucked and so forth. The infant functions according to the principle “out of sight, out of mind”. This is because, infants are incapable of mentally constructing symbol or represent the object that is no longer visible.

Piaget's second stage – the preoperational stage – extends from two to seven years. During this stage, children become increasingly capable of symbol formation. E.g. 4 year old child uses cigar box to represent a cart etc. Other symbol systems used by children at this time include language, gesturing, mental imagery and representational drawing. Reasoning in this stage is neither inductive nor deductive, but transductive (from particular to the particular). Egocentrism, inability to take the point of view of another person, will be evident. Pre-operational children assume that others see the world just as they themselves see it. This is not selfishness, but an intellectual limitation.

The third stage – concrete operational stage – extends from seven to twelve years. In this phase, children’s thinking is limited by their reliance on what can observe in tangible. They may understand the abstract concepts such as democracy. Decentration, or the child’s ability to shift his/her attention from one perceptual attribute to another, becomes generalized and applicable during this period. Reversibility, child’s ability to mentally retrace his or her actions or thoughts (think backward), is understood. Conservation, the ability to understand the physical properties remain same so long as noting has been added or taken away, skills develop. Children in this age will be able to appreciate jokes. Concrete operational thinker is able to define a class and list all members (classification ability) of the class. There will be a loss of egocentrism.

The final stage of cognitive development, during which individuals may acquire the capability for deductive or propositional reasoning is called Formal operations. During this period, major features of adult thought make their appearance. The adolescent become capable of several forms of logical thoughts.

All the theories in psychology are subjected to careful scientific testing, but grand theories such as piaget's require especially careful assessment, because they are so sweeping in nature. Piaget’s theory is highly insightful in many ways-but that, like virtually every theory, it should be revised in the light of new evidence.