Albert Einstein (on Piaget's theory)
"So simple that only a genius could have thought of it."
Overview
Piaget’s theory offers a comprehensive look at the way intelligence grows and develops over a series of four different stages. The four stages are the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. These stages are meant to occur chronologically, starting from when the child is only able to procure knowledge through sensory experiences or the manipulation of objects, and ending when they are capable of hypothetical thinking, having the ability to understand abstract concepts through deductive reasoning. The developmental nature of the stages means that each new stage brings forth a more sophisticated way of thinking. It’s part of a process, only progressing with stimuli from the environment combined with biological maturation. It’s important to note that although no stage can be skipped, it’s possible for a child to not reach all 4 stages. It’s also important to note that the rate in which children progress intellectually differs from individual to individual. Lastly, this intellectual development is not just a quantitative process, it’s also a qualitative one. A child at their preoperational stage will not only know more than one at their sensorimotor stage, there’s also a fundamental change in how they form their conclusions. (Mcleod)
Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development.
The Different Stages
Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational; An In-Depth Look
The Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years Old)
Characteristics:
The baby relies solely on their senses and actions (sucking, looking, listening, grasping, etc.) to learn about the world.
They develop object permanence, learning that things can still exist even if they can not be seen. Before achieving this, babies only think of what’s in their eyesight at the time.
They develop a sense of self-recognition, realizing that their actions have real life tangible results.
They develop other cognitive abilities such as deferred imitation or representation play.
Behavioral Examples:
For a young baby, when things are out of sight, they are out of mind. They could drop a toy and not make a fuss because in their point-of-view the thing does not exist any longer. Then, suddenly, at 8-9 months, they drop the same toy, and make a fuss about it. They remember that the object exists even though it’s out of sight. This is object permanence. - Adapted from Carol Garhart Mooney’s “Theories of Childhood”
This is also the stage in which children start to develop separation anxiety. They might cry when their parents drop them off at child care, or when their favorite babysitter is replaced. The baby understands that when they can’t see the person, that means the person is somewhere else, so they try to bring them back by crying. - Adapted from Carol Garhart Mooney’s “Theories of Childhood”
Through their interaction with their surroundings, the baby is constantly making new discoveries regarding the world around them, catapulting their cognitive development. Physically, children learn how to do actions such as crawling and walking, developing their motor skills. This is also the stage where they can start developing their linguistic skills by listening to the people around them. It’s called the ‘sensorimotor’ stage as it relies on both the baby’s sense and their motor abilities in order to reach cognitive development, building awareness of themselves and their surroundings. (Cherry)
Preoperational Stage (2-7 Years Old)
Characteristics:
Children start to think symbolically, using words and visual images to represent objects. Language starts to develop.
Centration: They have the tendency to focus on only one aspect of a situation at a time.
Egocentrism: They are still unable to see from a different perspective, assuming that everyone sees, hears, or feels the same as they do. Because of that, their thoughts and the things they communicate are egocentric.
They are still unable to think in reverse.
They use their experiences to gather information and would then use that information to overgeneralize.
At this stage, children are starting to use language, learning how to think symbolically, but they are still unable to use cognitive operations. According to Piaget, this means that they are still unable to use logic or transform, or combine and separate ideas. Words are taken literally. The child develops cognitively through their experiences and the way they adapt to the world, leading them one step closer towards the next stage. Since they form ideas based on their experiences, it’s more effective to let them form their own conclusions than to tell them what to think. During the end of this stage, the child should be able to represent events and objects in their mind, becoming increasingly adept at symbolic thinking, evidenced by the tendency of young children to ‘play pretend’. (Cherry)
Conversational Example:
“TEACHER: I’ve brought in many beautiful things for our blue display. We have blue paint at the easel, and I’ve put “Rhapsody in Blue” in the CD player since we are having Blue Day!
CHILD 1: My mom’s car is blue.
CHILD 2: My mom’s car is broken.
CHILD 3: My TV is broken.
TEACHER (TO CHILD 1): Your mom’s car is blue?
CHILD 1: I saw lions on TV.” - Carol Garhart Mooney, “Theories of Childhood”
Behavioral Examples:
If a child sees a dog bark when it passes a cat, the child may think that cats are the reason dogs bark. Even if this is inaccurate, the child will believe this happily until they experience something that disproves this for themselves (e.g the dog barks at nothing). Only then will they question their reasoning.
Using a broom to pretend to play horse.
"A researcher takes a lump of clay, dividing it into two equal pieces. He then offers it to a child, asking them which one they want to play with. One piece of clay is rolled into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape. Since the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece even though the two pieces are exactly the same size." - Kendra Cherry on the 4 Stages of Cognitive Development
Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 Years Old)
Characteristics:
Children are able to mentally reverse things.
They understand the concept of conservation. For example, the volume of a short, wide cup can be equal to a tall, skinny one.
The egocentrism of the child decreases as they begin to think about other people’s feelings.
They begin to think logically about concrete events.
They begin to develop their inductive reasoning skills.
This is a major turning point in the development of a child’s cognitive skills, as this is the stage they begin logical or operational thinking. They can work things out mentally, and understand the concept of conservation.
The stage is called concrete because children can think logically much more successfully if they can manipulate real (concrete) materials or pictures of them. They still slightly struggle with abstract concepts and imagining hypothetical problems.
Behavioral Examples:
Can retrace their way back home
No longer count on their fingers because they can mentally visualize it
They begin to classify things more specifically. What was once just a doggie, is now a labrador or a chihuahua.
They know that their father is the son of their grandfather. (Mooney)
Formal Operational Stage (11+ Years Old)
Characteristics:
Develops the ability to formulate abstract theories and hypotheses, free from physical / perceptual constraints.
Can conceptualize hypothetical problems whose solution is up for interpretation.
Begins to develop theoretical reasoning, thinking about things such as morals, ethics, politics, or philosophy.
Can use deductive reasoning.
This is the final stage of cognitive development theory, in which the child is able to think abstractly, systematically plan, and use deductive reasoning in hypothetical situations. Piaget believed that once this stage was reached, people could tackle questions with heavier connotations, such as, “is it wrong to steal food for your starving family?”.
Behavioral Examples:
Children from different age groups are asked to balance a scale by adding weights to each end. To do so, the children need to realize that there are two things to be considered: how heavy the weight is, and the distance of it from the center. Older kids who have developed formal operational cognitive skills are able to use this logic to formulate a hypothesis to balance the scale as needed. (Cherry)
Cognitive Constructivism
Assimilation & Accommodation
Piaget viewed adaptation as an important factor for intellectual growth. Adaptation occurs through assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration.
Assimilation is using pre-existing cognitive schemas in response to new stimuli; using previously learned responses in unfamiliar situations.
On the other hand, accommodation is to revise pre-existing cognitive schemas to incorporate new information, which usually occurs when a new situation does not correlate to the existing schema (knowledge). Piaget believes that these two concepts are needed for a person to adapt, one should not occur without the other. There should be a balance between the application of previous knowledge and adjusting schemas to account for new knowledge.
For example, primary teachers should always start by teaching the children how to add single numbers (assimilation), before moving on to two-digit numbers (accommodation). This balance between assimilation and accommodation is achieved through equilibration, which helps children make connections between different concepts. Piaget believes that motivation is the result of assimilation; when a schema grows in response to new stimuli, the individual is subsequently motivated to accommodate, showing the importance of keeping a student challenged, but not to the point that they are unable to assimilate. (Orr)
The Piagetian Approach
On Education
The Content vs. Context Conundrum
When learning, the ultimate goal is to gain knowledge and to remember it. A majority of the content provided in school is declarative knowledge, an abstract explanation of something experienced or discovered by another. Students learning this abstraction more often than not did not have firsthand experience in the construction of said knowledge nor are they putting it into practice within a context applicable to them. The learning of content without personal context brings problems relating to student motivation; they’re just not interested. Schools separate content and context, knowing and doing.
Piaget’s cognitive theory puts emphasis on the importance of environment; the acquisition of knowledge by constructing it for one’s self instead of merely acquiring it as instructed. Knowledge should be transferred and built upon, not dumped. Cognitive development is situated, and knowledge is gained through activity. Without a solid understanding of the context surrounding the content, the knowledge being acquired wouldn’t be organized within a solid framework. It would not be easy to retrieve unless the student understands the context in which it was constructed. Abstract content should not be taught in an abstract way. (Demetrio, Andreas, et al. 279)