Research Report- Piaget's Theory
RESEARCH REPORT- PIAGET'S THEORY
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to examine the cognitive processes of two participants while carrying out a sorting task, then link these observations to Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Cognitive development as defined by Gale Cengage (2005) is “The construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood”. Jean Piaget, French biologist and psychologist (1896-1980), developed a theory of development based on observations of children. Piaget's theory is made up of four stages of development of how the mind processes new information that is encountered: Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years), Preoperational (appears at around 2), Concrete Operations (appears around 6 or 7) and Formal operations (appears around 11 or 12) (Learning Theories Knowledge base. 2012, April)(See Appendix B). Piaget suggests that children organise their knowledge in schemes- an organised group of similar actions or thoughts, used repeatedly in response to their environment (Mcdevitt and Ormrod, 2010. p195) and that there are many processes that enable the transition from one stage to another. The process operations consists of three processes called assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium. These process operations involve using information from previous schemes or experiences and using them to respond to an event (assimilation), responding to a new event by adapting or modifying an existing scheme (accommodation) and being able to address new events by using existing schemes, balancing both assimilation and accommodation (equilibrium) (Mcdevitt and Ormrod, 2010). Piaget maintains that socially people learn from other human beings and children's cognitive development is aided by communication from peers rather than adults. In social relationships equity allows for real opinions and debates to arise and therefore contributes to cognitive development (S.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to examine the cognitive processes of two participants while carrying out a sorting task, then link these observations to Piaget's stages of cognitive development. Cognitive development as defined by Gale Cengage (2005) is “The construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood”. Jean Piaget, French biologist and psychologist (1896-1980), developed a theory of development based on observations of children. Piaget's theory is made up of four stages of development of how the mind processes new information that is encountered: Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years), Preoperational (appears at around 2), Concrete Operations (appears around 6 or 7) and Formal operations (appears around 11 or 12) (Learning Theories Knowledge base. 2012, April)(See Appendix B). Piaget suggests that children organise their knowledge in schemes- an organised group of similar actions or thoughts, used repeatedly in response to their environment (Mcdevitt and Ormrod, 2010. p195) and that there are many processes that enable the transition from one stage to another. The process operations consists of three processes called assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium. These process operations involve using information from previous schemes or experiences and using them to respond to an event (assimilation), responding to a new event by adapting or modifying an existing scheme (accommodation) and being able to address new events by using existing schemes, balancing both assimilation and accommodation (equilibrium) (Mcdevitt and Ormrod, 2010). Piaget maintains that socially people learn from other human beings and children's cognitive development is aided by communication from peers rather than adults. In social relationships equity allows for real opinions and debates to arise and therefore contributes to cognitive development (S.
Links: Child – Concrete operational In Concrete operations adult like thinking appears but is limited to reasoning about real life situations (Mcdevitt and Ormrod, 2010