Jean Piaget's Development

Essay Topic: Jean Piaget proposed a step-wise sequence of mental development during childhood. Provide an overview of Piaget’s core ideas, discussing the evidence for and against these ideas.

Introduction:

Piaget is most commonly recognised for his work in forming a theory explaining how children’s thinking evolves to become more complex with age (Passer & Smith, 2012). For more than fifty years, Piaget researched the area of child thought processes, proposing a step-wise sequence of child mental development involving four distinct stages (Passer & Smith, 2012, p. 422). According to Passer and Smith (2012), a core belief of Piaget’s was that “cognitive development results from an interaction of the brain’s biological maturation and personal experiences” (p. 422). Piaget’s research has since received considerable attention and debate as to its validity. Many assessments of his work detail a greater level of criticism than praise; this criticism presumably being in place to support recent scientific discoveries and assist in the evolution of particular elements of his theories to what is regarded as relevant today (Flavell, 1996). Despite those who doubt his work, many sympathetic theorists (labelled neo-Piagetians) have opted to adopt and

Acknowledged by Muuss (1967) was the fact that age norms described within stages are approximations, and how such ideas could provide guidance and insight into a child’s learning limitations and abilities. Evidence to suggest that this knowledge can help to address limitations in child cognitive development exists (Ojemann & Pritchett, 1963; as cited in Muuss, 1967). Even so, these proposals are not noticeably grounded by concrete