Jean Piaget's Theory

Jean Piaget.

Cognitive theorist (thinking, reasoning, and remembering)

Piaget states there are two processes for which information can become incorporated into a person's schema,which is the framework of beliefs and how each person thinks.

1. Assimilation.
This is the first process at which new information fits perfectly into what we know without challenge.
2. Accommodation.
This is the second process where new information does not fit, your schema will have to rearrange things to accommodate it.
To me the second process is more meaningful, it allows our schema's to branch out and grow as new information becomes available. This transformation allows people to pick apart every detail, whether we agree with one thing and disagree with the other, we manage to expand our minds as new branches and connections are made to what we know and what is new. If new information fits perfectly into what people think of the world, how is it able to stand out, it is information that we may never really think about again because we agree with it. One piece of new information can change everything we think we know, and in turn become new people. The world was never really flat, that is just what people knew to be true, to find out that it was round must have changed what they thought of alot of ideas.

Piaget's Four Stages of Development.

Another Idea of Piaget's was that all development happens in four distinct stages, that it is a progression from a lower (simpler) understanding to a higher more complex level of understanding.

1. The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth-2 yrs), at this point children understand the world by feeling, hearing, and moving through it. The world is only part of what they themselves have experienced, their is nothing outside of themselves.
2. The Preoperational Stage (2-7 yrs), at this point the child is beginning to use Symbolic thought- to use signs and symbols and being able to relate them to physical objects, to be able to think through the use of language. Also the child begins to make predictions of the world. At this point in development it has two limitations Egocentrism and Animism. Egocentrism- is the inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and someone else's perspective. So in other words not being able to realize that although they are happy you are not. Animism- belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action. Like the swing doesn't like me it pushed me off. (Educational Psychology P41)
3. The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 yrs), at this stage the child is now able to preform conservation. Which is being able to distinguish that even though two portions may look different they can be the same, and example would be cutting a pie in three pieces vs cutting it into four pieces although one pies has more cuts the total amount is the same. A child who is at this stage can reason through the problem, and use logic, but has a limitation being that it must be tied down to physical object. They can also classify objects into categories. This is also the stage where a child can preform Seriation, and Transitivity. Seriation- a concrete operation that is being able to place objects into a series, such as varying lengths of sticks. Transitivity- the ability to transfer information and make decisions based on deductive reasoning.
4. The Formal Operational Stage (11-15 yrs) at this stage a child can now preform abstract reasoning, they can now preform Hypothetical-Deductive reasoning which is asking what could happen if they did this, they make hunches to reach conculsions. They also develop another form of egosentrism meaning everyone is as interested in me as I am. This really resonates with me because I am living with my step-sisters who think the world revolves around themselves, that even though you might just be minding your own business you are ruining there life.

A video I found showing Piaget's Conservation.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtLEWVu815o again I didn't create the video. My sources are my Education Psychology Class with Robert Christopher Nellis and Educational Psychology Textbook.