The Cognitive Developmental Theory of Jean Piaget
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development was concerned with children, focused on development and proposed stages of development. He viewed children as discovering or constructing, thus obtaining knowledge through their own individual activity.
The basic components of Piaget’s cognitive theory are:
1. Stages of development
2. Schemes
3. Adaptation that allows transition from one development stage to another
The stages of development are (Eggen & Kauchek, 2010, p.37):
1. Sensorimotor – 0-2 years – object permanance
2. Preoperational- 2-7 years - egocentism
3. Concrete operational – 7-11 years - conservation
4. Formal operational – 11 years + - abstract reasoning
In the Sensorimotor stage, children experience their world through movement and the senses. Children develop object permanence which is an understanding that objects can exist even if they cannot see or touch it. During this stage children develop the ability to imitate, an important skill that allows them to learn by observing others (Eggan & Kauchek, 2010, p. 38).
In the Preoperational stage, children are egocentric. They believe that other people view the world as they do. They cannot view the world from other people’s perspective.
In the Concrete operational stage, children think logically about concrete objects and understand conservatism. Conservatism refers to the idea that the amount of some substance stays the same regardless of its shape or the number of pieces into which it has been divided (Eggan & Kauchek, 2010, p.38). Piaget believed that children learnt best at this stage by hands on learning.
In the Formal operational stage, children are able to think abstractly, systemically and hypothetically. Secondary school is geared towards formal operational thinking.
Each of these stages represents a qualitative change in the child’s thinking. Piaget (Fig. 3) believed these stages to be culturally invariant. He also proposed that once a child moves on to the next stage, regression to the previous stage is not possible and that almost all children will reach the last stage. Piaget believed that as part of their cognitive development, children also developed schemes. According to Eggen and Kauchek (2010, p. 35) schemes are mental operations that represent a person’s constructed understanding of the world.
The basic components of Piaget’s cognitive theory are:
1. Stages of development
2. Schemes
3. Adaptation that allows transition from one development stage to another
The stages of development are (Eggen & Kauchek, 2010, p.37):
1. Sensorimotor – 0-2 years – object permanance
2. Preoperational- 2-7 years - egocentism
3. Concrete operational – 7-11 years - conservation
4. Formal operational – 11 years + - abstract reasoning
In the Sensorimotor stage, children experience their world through movement and the senses. Children develop object permanence which is an understanding that objects can exist even if they cannot see or touch it. During this stage children develop the ability to imitate, an important skill that allows them to learn by observing others (Eggan & Kauchek, 2010, p. 38).
In the Preoperational stage, children are egocentric. They believe that other people view the world as they do. They cannot view the world from other people’s perspective.
In the Concrete operational stage, children think logically about concrete objects and understand conservatism. Conservatism refers to the idea that the amount of some substance stays the same regardless of its shape or the number of pieces into which it has been divided (Eggan & Kauchek, 2010, p.38). Piaget believed that children learnt best at this stage by hands on learning.
In the Formal operational stage, children are able to think abstractly, systemically and hypothetically. Secondary school is geared towards formal operational thinking.
Each of these stages represents a qualitative change in the child’s thinking. Piaget (Fig. 3) believed these stages to be culturally invariant. He also proposed that once a child moves on to the next stage, regression to the previous stage is not possible and that almost all children will reach the last stage. Piaget believed that as part of their cognitive development, children also developed schemes. According to Eggen and Kauchek (2010, p. 35) schemes are mental operations that represent a person’s constructed understanding of the world.
Fig. 4 Assimilation and Accommodation stages
Adaptation occurs when these schemes are changed or altered through what Piaget called assimilation and accommodation (Fig.4). Assimilation occurs when children and adolescents incorporate an experience into an existing scheme. Accommodation, according to Piaget occurs when children and adolescents encounter something reasonably similar to what they already know and they modify this to create a new scheme in response to their experience.
When assimilation and accommodation have occurred, equilibrium will be reached. Piaget described equilibration as a cognitive state in which people are able to explain new experiences by using existing understanding. If new experiences can be explained, they remain at equilibration. If the new experiences cannot be explained, equilibration is disrupted and the person is motivated to re-establish it. When equilibration is regained, development has occurred (Eggen & Kauchek, 2010, p.34).
Contemporary Applications
Piaget’s cognitive development theory is used today in discovery learning. Piaget believed that assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, not a passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered (McLeod, 2009). During discovery learning, teachers provide activities that promote exploration and discovery. Teachers introduce experiences that challenge a student’s way of viewing the world which in turn allows the child to understand new schemes.
Both Vygotsky and Piaget provided educators with theories on cognitive development but I would apply the theories of Vygotsky more often in my classroom. The principles of scaffolding can be applied to most subjects and I find that social interaction is most important to the processes of learning.
Fig. 3 Jean Piaget