Monday, July 14, 2014
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Introduction
Developmental
psychology is a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and
social changes throughout the lifespan. The main aim of this assignment is to
create a blog for one of the human development theory. Therefore, in this
particular page, I would be focusing on the theory of cognitive development by
Jean Piaget. It would be consisting of sub topics related to the title including a
discussion about the cognitive development theory with its detailed aspects and
the relationship between the different development stages and learning. It
would also be focusing on the application of the theory to the
classroom/teaching. Then, there will
be a conclusion with a brief summary of the sub-topics that were presented.
To end with, there will be a reference list along with all
the materials that were used for completion of this assignment.
To do this assignment, I used reference from various sources to prove my
explanation towards each topic.
Piaget’s Theory Of Cognitive Development
Jean
Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most dominant researchers in the area of
developmental psychology throughout the 20th century. He was a child psychologist
who was interested in cognitive development which is concerned with the
development of a person's intelligence. He was also the first psychologist to
make a systematic study of cognitive development (Piaget, 1936). Piaget’s
studies included a theory of cognitive development, in depth findings about
cognition in children, and a series of resourceful experiments to disclose
different intellectual skills
According
to Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental
processes resulting from biological maturation and experience from the
environment (McLeod, 2012). He believed that
children will create an understanding of the world around them, and will then
experience differences between what they already know and what they learn in
their environment.
The
theory of cognitive development by Piaget mainly focuses on the development of
the children rather than all the learners. Piaget identified that children
developed through a sequence of four main stages of cognitive development which
were clearly observable through changes in how they understand the world around
themMajor Aspects Of The Cognitive Development Theory
In
order to understand the theory of cognitive development by Piaget in detail, it
is important to know about the major aspects of the theory. The major aspects
to this theory included schemas, adaptation processes that enable the
transition from one stage to another and the stages of cognitive
development.
In Piaget’s view, children understand the world around them and experience the differences as a result of adaptation to the world thorough two process described as assimilation and accommodation which happens throughout the person’s life as the person adapts to the environment (Piaget, 1952; Wadsworth, 2004).
Assimilation is described as the process of using and existing schema to deal with a new object or a situation while accommodation involves changing of existing schemas with the knowledge of new information to deal with a new object or situation. Through both these adaptation process, new schemas might be developed as it happens simultaneously.
Schema is the basic constructing block of intelligent behaviour which include both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing that help us to interpret and understand the world (Piaget & Cook, 1952). When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium. Equilibration helps to explain how children are able to move from one stage of the cognitive development into the next.
Piaget
studied children from
infancy to adolescence about how they learnt and thought. He believed that the
children from all over the world undergo the same sequence of development
despite their cultural differences (Piaget & Cook, 1952). The four stages
of cognitive development identified by Piaget include sensorimotor stage,
preoperational stage, concrete operational stage and the formal operational
stage.
Relationship Between The Cognitive Development Stages & Learning
Piaget believed that learning is a process
through which the cognitive development occurs in a series of interaction
between the individual and the environment when there is a balance between the
process of accommodation and assimilation (Piaget, 1936). According to him,
learning differs from child to child depending on their stages of cognitive
development.
1-Sensorimotor Stage: birth - 2 years
The sensorimotor stage is the first stage
of the cognitive development. At this stage, children builds an understanding
of their world by using the movement senses to explore the physical actions
they perform (Piaget & Cook, 1952). During this stage, children depend on
their ability to see, touch, feel, suck and other senses to learn things about
themselves and the environment. Therefore, the learning style of the child in
this stage is dominated by accommodative processes (Piaget, 1936).
One of the important finding during the
latter part of the sensorimotor stage is the concept of object permanence
(Piaget, 1936). Children are not aware of the fact that an object continues to
exist even when it is not in view in the beginning of the sensorimotor stage.
However, older infants search for the object when it is covered, realizing that
the object continues to exist.
Play the video below to watch an
experiment about object permanence conducted on some infants.
2-Preoperational Stage: 2 - 7 years
In
the preoperational stage, children are able to represent objects by images and
words. At this stage, children are capable of forming stable concepts even
though they are not able to perform them. Also, the children are not able to
think logically and their thinking is egocentric at this stage making it
difficult for them to accept others perspective (Piaget & Cook, 1952).
On
the other hand, children in the preoperational stage do not understand that the
properties of objects are conserved and that just because something looks
different it has not changed (Dasen, 1994). Children do not understand abstract
concepts like amounts, speed, or weight in this stage.
Play the video below to watch an experiment about conservation conducted on some children.
3- Concrete Operational Stage: 7 - 11 years
Children
in the concrete operational stage can think logically about objects and concrete
events unlike the preoperational stage. At this stage, children are able
to categorise objects into sets according to the features they represent
(Piaget & Cook, 1952). Therefore, learning is directed by the logic of
classes and relations in the concrete operational stage. Also, they are able to
take other people’s point of view and take into account more than one
perspective at the same time during this stage (Dasen, 1994).
Moreover,
concrete operational children understands that although the appearance of
something changes, the thing itself does not. In other words, they understand
that when water is poured into a different shaped glass, the quantity of liquid
remains the same, even though its appearance has changed. The children at this
stage starts to understand reversibility and the learning style of the children
in this stage is more assimilative (Piaget, 1936). 
Play
the video below to watch an experiment about reversibility conducted on a child
of concrete operational stage.
4- Formal Operational Stage: 12 years and above
The
formal operational stage is the last stage of the cognitive development. At
this stage, children begin to think logically about abstract concepts in a more
systematic way out of the concrete experiences (Piaget & Cook, 1952). Children
at this stage are able to express hypotheses and systematically test them to
arrive at an answer to a problem (Piaget, 1936).
One
of the important finding of the formal operational stage is their ability to
reason contrary to fact. That is, if they are given a statement and asked to
use it as the basis of an argument they are capable to complete the task.
Moreover, this is stage where children become anxious about trust, love,
relationships, career, and the future.
Application Of The Theory To The Classroom/Teaching
In
light of Piaget’s theory in the classroom, teachers can develop a better
understanding of the students’ thinking by arranging their teaching strategies according
to the students’ cognitive level. Some of the major implications from the
cognitive development theory include focusing on the process of children's
thinking rather than the product, recognising the child’s role of active
involvement in learning activities and accepting individual differences in the
stages of different developmental stages as they progress (Slavin, 2005).
Additionally,
while applying the cognitive development theory in the teaching, it is
important for teachers to act as facilitators of learning and provide a variety
of experiences for students so that it gives the opportunity for them to
explore and experiment, while encouraging new understandings (Wood, 2008).
Furthermore,
some of the general suggestions while applying the cognitive development theory
in the classroom include teaching using visual aids, using examples that
students are already aware to explain complex ideas, giving opportunities for
children to classify & group information, use outlines & hierarchies to
facilitate assimilation of new information with prior knowledge and presenting
problems that require logical analytical thinking to students (Lefrancois, 2006).
Conclusion
While
incorporating the theory of cognitive development in classroom or teaching, one
of the most important things a teacher should take into consideration is to
identify how cognitively developed the children are and improve their learning
experience through guided activities, open activities, individual and peer
activities. Also, teachers should listen to the children’s stories or talks,
visualize their drawings by asking them, identify their ideas about different
conservations and think meaningfully about every single thing they do.
Moreover,
children should not be taught certain concepts until they have reached the
appropriate stage cognitive development. The teacher should become aware of how
well the learners learn, process and remember the information presented to them
so that suitable tasks can be set. If teachers are more conscious about these
aspects they can cater more effective lessons and create a positive learning
environment for the learners.
Works Cited
- Cherry, K. (2013). Piaget's
Stages of Cognitive Development. Retrieved October 06, 2013, from
About.com: http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/a/keyconcepts.htm
- Dasen, P. (1994). Culture
and cognitive development from a Piagetian perspective. In W .J. Lonner
& R.S. Malpass (Eds.), Psychology and Culture. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
- Lefrancois, G.R.
(2006). Theories of Human Learning. Belmont, CA: Thomson
Higher Education.
- McLeod, S. A. (2009). Jean Piaget | Cognitive
Theory - Simply Psychology. Retrieved fromhttp://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html
- Piaget, J. (1936). Origins of intelligence in
the child. London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Piaget, J., & Cook,
M. T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children.
- Slavin, R.E. (2005). Educational
psychology: theory and practice. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
- Wadsworth, B. J. (2004). Piaget's theory of
cognitive and affective development: Foundations of constructivism.
Longman Publishing.
- Wood, K.C. (2008).
Piaget's Stages. Retrieved April 25, 2009, from Department of Educational
Psychology and Instrutional Technology, University of Georgia Web site:
http://projects.coe.uga.edu/eplt
/index.php?title=Piaget%27s_Stages#Educational_Implications
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