Piaget

JEAN PIAGET: Developmental Psychologist

Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896 and died in 1980. As a young scholar, he graduated as a Doctorate of Biology at the age 22. Over his several years of research, he studied children for five decades. His most celebrated work is the stages of cognitive development.
 * Background**

The first stage in cognitive development theory is the Sensorimotor stage. This stage ranges from birth to two years. In this stage, the child learns about the self and the environment through their senses and reflexes. This awareness of self and environment is acquired through both observation and experience. The second stage of development is the Peroperational stage, which ranges from two years to seven years. At this point, the child begins to use language to communicate. Also characteristic of this stage is an egocentric perspective of the world (e.g. the child thinks the sun rises because they opened their eyes) and development of a fantasy world. The third stage is the concrete operational stage, which occurs between the ages of seven and twelve years. At this stage, the child loses the egocentric perspective and develops logical, concrete thinking. The final stage of development begins at age twelve. The child progresses from concrete thinking, to abstract thinking, where they are able to hypothesize and deduce based on non-concrete information.
 * Stages of cognitive development**

Piaget's stages of development are widely studied in the education field. However, over the years, the concrete age brackets by which he identified each stage are no longer so rigid. Currently, the ages are general guidelines for development, where it is understood that actual development may be accelerated or delayed based on organic or environmental factors. Therefore, educators and support staff must be careful when diagnosing students with mental retardation or other disabilities.
 * Comments & criticisms**Age range for each stage is an estimate, actual development may be accelerated or delayed

His research is also criticized for lacking scientific credibility based on his research methodology. Specifically, he defines development as based on Western cultures; there were no control groups; the sample sizes were small; and he did not conduct a statistical analysis.

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 * References**

Glogster poster on Jean Piaget