Developmental Psychology and Theories
Developmental Psychologist and Theories
Piaget's cognitive theory of development
Jean Piaget developed the theory of cognitive development, which suggests there are four key stages through which children advance as their minds develop. The theory focuses largely on an understanding of the nature of knowledge and intelligence, and how they acquire and use it. Piaget lays the claim that cognitive development is key to human development and that language skills depend on cognitive development Fiore, 2011, p. 35.
This essay focuses on Piaget's theory of cognitive development and presents an explanation of the four stages of development in this theory.
The first stage of development is the sensorimotor stage, which happens from birth to about 24-month's age. During this period, the child begins to know the world around them and their sensations. It is in this period that as suggested by Rathus, 2011, p. 17(Piaget (1983, p. 152)
, assimilation is the process whereby children begin to see the environment and process new information using old or pre-existing information. For example when a child sucks their thumb for the first time and gain pleasure from this action, they may intentionally decide to do it again for the pleasure. Accommodation, on the other hand, occurs "when children alter pre-existing information in order to understand new information," Piaget and Inhelder (1973, p. 31)
, infants learn the existence of the objects in life and that they continue to exist even when they are out of view, a phenomenon referred to as object permanence. They also learn to, "differentiate objects from people and they often realize that their actions have consequences." They learn this through the processes of assimilation and accommodation. According to )
. A quintessential example of this is when a child may use different sounds to try to get the attention of the caregiver and from the reaction of the caregiver, they know which sound is more effective.
The second stage is the preoperational stage at the ages of 2 to 7 years where the child thinks symbolically and begins to use pictures and words to express themselves. At this point, Piaget & Inhelder, 1973, p. 38(
. At this stage,...
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