Piaget's Theory Of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Angela Oswalt, MSW, edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D.
Jean Piaget is perhaps one of the most well-known and influential child development specialists. His work was first published during the 1920's, but his theory of cognitive development continues to influence contemporary researchers and clinicians. Piaget's identified five characteristic indicators of adolescent cognitive development and named them as follows: 1) formal operations, 2) hypothetico-deductive reasoning, 3) propositional thought, 4) the imaginary audience, and 5) the personal fable. A more detailed explanation of Piaget's theory can be found in the Child & Adolescent Overview article . Here we limit the discussion to portions of his theory directly related to cognitive development in adolescents.
Formal operations …show more content…
Piaget used the term "mental operations" to describe the mental ability to imagine a hypothetical situation and to be able to determine a likely outcome, without needing to actually observe or enact the scenario.
This is commonly called a "What if--?" scenario. For instance, suppose a 7-10 year old child is asked, "What if there was a hungry dog in the kitchen and Mother dropped a hotdog on the floor. What do you think would happen?" Most children at this age will correctly guess that the dog ate the hotdog, particularly if they have any experience with dogs. Piaget called this type of mental operation a "concrete operation" because the mental operation represents a tangible, concrete circumstance that the child can easily imagine since it is anchored to things that can be seen and touched in the real world: It is
concrete.
According to Piaget, the adolescent years are remarkable because youth move beyond the limitations of concrete mental operations and develop the ability to think in a more abstract manner. Piaget used the term "formal operations" to describe this new ability. Formal operations refer to the ability to perform mental operations with abstract, intangible concepts such as "justice" or "poverty" and to be able to estimate or describe the effect of these intangible concepts. Therefore, youth can now represent in their mind circumstances, or events that they have never seen, nor personally experienced. For instance, a youth who has reached the stage of formal operations can imagine and accurately describe what it may have been like to be a poor, black resident of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and can imagine and describe how victims may have felt about the inadequate and disparate rescue efforts. This youth will be able to use the abstract concepts of injustice and poverty to imagine and describe these events.
Piaget's research found that youth entered the stage of formal operations at approximately 11 years of age on average; however, there is a great deal of individual variation with respect to normal development. Children's cognitive development can be affected by many factors such as family culture; the quantity and quality of formal schooling or training; various medical conditions; and emotional or physical trauma. If parents have concerns about their children's lack of developmental progress, they will want to discuss these concerns with their children's health care provider, and other professionals such as teachers, guidance counselors, and school administrators. If these professionals believe there is cause for concern, they may refer the child for psychological testing for further assessment. More information about psychological assessments for children can be found here.
Angela Oswalt, MSW, edited by C. E. Zupanick, Psy.D.
Jean Piaget is perhaps one of the most well-known and influential child development specialists. His work was first published during the 1920's, but his theory of cognitive development continues to influence contemporary researchers and clinicians. Piaget's identified five characteristic indicators of adolescent cognitive development and named them as follows: 1) formal operations, 2) hypothetico-deductive reasoning, 3) propositional thought, 4) the imaginary audience, and 5) the personal fable. A more detailed explanation of Piaget's theory can be found in the Child & Adolescent Overview article . Here we limit the discussion to portions of his theory directly related to cognitive development in adolescents.
Formal operations …show more content…
Piaget used the term "mental operations" to describe the mental ability to imagine a hypothetical situation and to be able to determine a likely outcome, without needing to actually observe or enact the scenario.
This is commonly called a "What if--?" scenario. For instance, suppose a 7-10 year old child is asked, "What if there was a hungry dog in the kitchen and Mother dropped a hotdog on the floor. What do you think would happen?" Most children at this age will correctly guess that the dog ate the hotdog, particularly if they have any experience with dogs. Piaget called this type of mental operation a "concrete operation" because the mental operation represents a tangible, concrete circumstance that the child can easily imagine since it is anchored to things that can be seen and touched in the real world: It is
concrete.
According to Piaget, the adolescent years are remarkable because youth move beyond the limitations of concrete mental operations and develop the ability to think in a more abstract manner. Piaget used the term "formal operations" to describe this new ability. Formal operations refer to the ability to perform mental operations with abstract, intangible concepts such as "justice" or "poverty" and to be able to estimate or describe the effect of these intangible concepts. Therefore, youth can now represent in their mind circumstances, or events that they have never seen, nor personally experienced. For instance, a youth who has reached the stage of formal operations can imagine and accurately describe what it may have been like to be a poor, black resident of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and can imagine and describe how victims may have felt about the inadequate and disparate rescue efforts. This youth will be able to use the abstract concepts of injustice and poverty to imagine and describe these events.
Piaget's research found that youth entered the stage of formal operations at approximately 11 years of age on average; however, there is a great deal of individual variation with respect to normal development. Children's cognitive development can be affected by many factors such as family culture; the quantity and quality of formal schooling or training; various medical conditions; and emotional or physical trauma. If parents have concerns about their children's lack of developmental progress, they will want to discuss these concerns with their children's health care provider, and other professionals such as teachers, guidance counselors, and school administrators. If these professionals believe there is cause for concern, they may refer the child for psychological testing for further assessment. More information about psychological assessments for children can be found here.