Cognitive Development

Piaget & My Project

My Project in Comparison to Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget significantly contributed to the studies of cognitive development. His work has been built upon as well as disproved, but either way, his work has led the psychology field to grow in immense measures. Piaget’s theory for stages of cognitive development stands out as one of his greatest contributions. He studied children from their birth into their adulthood and concluded that they progressed in the following stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. (Siegler, Judy, & Eisenberg, 2003)

My project is not supported by Piaget’s theory directly, but instead it mirrors the stages of progression.

Jean Piaget : August 9, 1896 - September 16, 1980

Piaget's Theory

Sensorimotor Stage

- Birth to 2 years

- Intelligence expressed through sensory and motor abilities

Preoperational Stage

- 2 years to 7 years

- Represent experiences in language, mental images, and symbolic thought

Concrete Operational Stage

- 7 years to 12 years

- Reason logically about concrete objects and events

Formal Operational Stage

- 12 years and beyond

- Think about abstractions and hypothetical situations

(all stages from Siegler et.al., 2003)

My Project

get it? moootor abilities?? shake what your parents gave you!!

6 years old

- Six years old was able to recognize symbols

- stated very short obvious descriptions.

8 years old

- applied social knowledge

- elaborated and relied on prior experiences

- more emotional

10 years old

- very descripitve

- abstract thinking

- noticed little detail

- role taking and attained perspectives of others

12 years old

- Described pictures

- hesitant...but uses prior knowledge

- attempts to put self in others role & perspective

- draws conclusions

The participants in my projects fall into the stages that Piaget's theory discribes; however, a couple characteristics go beyond or do not meet Piaget's criteria.

Developmental Psychology PY241

Dr.Harris

TF: Dr.Cara Diyanni
Spring 2006

Vy Vy Vu