Analysis Of Jean Piaget's Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a psychologist who developed a theory that was completely unlike any other psychologists at that time. His idea, called Cognitive Development, stated that the actual chronological age of an adolescent is not as important as the age they experience things, or the experiential age. Cognitive is defined as “the ability to reason, make judgments, and learn” (Gorman & Anwar, 2014). Piaget goes on to describe the importance of coping with the ever-changing environment as an integral part of intelligence, and the next level of developmental stage cannot be obtained until one completes the current stage. Piaget’s Developmental Theory involves four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operations.

Before that, children were thought to have less intellectual abilities than adults. This theory models the steps children move through in thought and logical thinking, how their learning differs from adult learning, and the importance of mastering one stage before moving on to the next. The way that children grow and develop their viewpoint of life depends on their ability to form a baseline of knowledge, then question and cognitively think through how an experience differs. Piaget did not state that just because a child is a certain age, that they must be entering a specific stage. However, based on his clinical observations, most children at the designated age can perform given tasks and thoughts. Additionally, Piaget believes that these stages of development must be gone through in the same order and no stage can be skipped. However, some individuals never progress to the final stages, and demonstrate immature reasoning and inability to think of the

Our school system is set up that every child in this grade level is expected to know these things, and there is not much room for children developing at their own rate. The home life of children varies greatly, and development would be delayed if a preschool child did not have access to blocks, books, or a safe environment to have imaginative play. Some parents and adults have not progressed on the later stage of cognitive development, so it would be difficult for them to teach their children how to think logically and utilize abstract thought. Finally, the American culture of today spends less time at home with their children because of the busy, fast-paced lifestyle. Much of learning that children undergo in these important years of cognitive growth occurs through challenging ideas and thoughts, thinking from the perspective of someone else, and using imagination and play to grow. This type of higher development is difficult to achieve without quality time and conversations with parents, and adolescents in America today do not get as much of that as in generations