Piaget's First Stage Of Cognitive Development example essay topic

Cognitive Development According to Piaget Cognitive development is defined as gradual orderly changes by which mental processes become more complex and sophisticated, or the scientific study of how human beings develop in certain orderly stages as they get older. The actual study of cognition refers to the process of knowing; it is the study of all mental activities related to acquiring, storing, and using knowledge (Microsoft, 2001, p. 3). How we as humans develop cognitively has been thoroughly observed and researched by Jean Piaget. He was a cognitivist: he believed that our environment stimulates us to learn on our own (make our own intelligence). Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who had a major impact on educational theory in the early 20th century. He called himself a "cognitive biologist".

He was considered a boy genius, publishing his first paper at the age of ten. By the age of fifteen, he had written and published more than twenty articles. He received his doctorate in biology at the age of twenty-two from the University of Neuchatel (Microsoft, 2001, p. 5). When Piaget became interested in cognitive development, he started studies and did research and writing on his theories of cognitive development. Piaget wrote extensively on the development of thought and language patterns in children. He examined children's conceptions of numbers, space, logic, geometry, physical reality, and moral judgment (Microsoft, 2001, p. 1).

Piaget was one of the first child psychologists who worked one-on-one with children instead of with a group study. During the one-on-one time he spent with the children, Piaget noticed that at different ages, specifically as they got older, children were able to learn more and understand more complex concepts. This is when he came up with his four stages of cognitive development. He said that we, even as adults, attain intelligence at different levels. He referred to this as hierarchical fashion and said that learning is adaptation (assimilation and association) with structure.

What we learn is either combined with previously learned material or that we adjust to the new material (Woolfolk, 2001). Piaget's first stage of cognitive development is called the Sensory Stage. It lasts from birth to approximately two years old (Woolfolk, 2001). Here, children have no object permanence (out of sight, out of mind). Everything that is learned here is through the five senses and children don't not see the world separate from himself.

Within the Sensory Stage, there are six sub-stages. The first sub-stage is from birth to one month, known as the reflex stage. When something enters their hand or touches their feet, they attempt to grasp it. Also, when something is placed on their lips, they try to suck on the object thinking it is food. Next is from one to four months, primary circular reaction. Now children begin to follow objects with their eyes, they have some coordinated movements (everything they hold, they put in their mouth), and they start repeated motions (kicking).

Next is from four to six months, secondary circular reaction. This is when children start to coordinate their eyes with their hands, they now have foresight, and they start to act for results (behavior = attention). They start to experiment; they connect events in the places they occur (bath in the bathtub, changing on the changing table). Also in this stage they develop object permanence. The fourth sub-stage is from six to twelve months, known as the coordination of secondary schema. They now have deliberate plans of exploration (know where they want to go and what they want to do when they get there).

They can also play simple games, like taking objects out of a box and putting them back in. The next sub-stage is from twelve to eighteen months and is called the tertiary circular reaction stage. Children LOVE experimentation in this stage. They begin to walk and get into everything.

Also in this stage they get fixed on sequence. For example when eating, they may take a bite and then take a drink, bite, drink, bite, drink... etc. The final sub-stage is from eighteen to twenty-four months and is called mental combinations. This is when they start to pretend.

They now have symbolic play where they imitate mom, dad, brother or sister, babysitter, etc. They can now remember the past and certain isolated events. Piaget's second stage of cognitive development is the Pre operational Stage and is from age two to six or seven years (Woolfolk, 2001). This is the stage where children really start to use symbolic representation.

There are only two sub-stages here, but they last for longer amounts of times with more learning occurring in each. The first sub-stage is from two to three or four years and is called the pre conceptual phase. At this stage children start to judge from their own experiences. However, the world still revolves around them; if they want it, it will happen (or so they think).

They also think that others have access to their thoughts. Therefore, when children of this age start to talk about random ideas or people they know, they don't give specifics because they think others know exactly what or who they are talking about. In this stage, children are very egocentric. More than forty percent of the time, they talk about themselves. Their imagination in this stage is very active.

They talk to inanimate objects (their toys, a rock, a stick, etc. ). This is when they start to mix play with reality. They are afraid of monsters and fictional bad guys from their favorite cartoon show.

They take violence very personally in this stage. For example, if someone on T.V. gets hurt, they want to help that person. Also in this stage they really start to imitate people that are close to them. They might have a toy lawn mower and mow the lawn with dad, or have a play kitchen set and cook dinner with mom. The second sub-stage is from three or four to seven years old and is called the intuitive phase. In this stage they can think forward, but cannot reverse that thinking (add, but not subtract).

When children are around three or four, they move into their first relational phase. In this phase, children start to play next to each other. They actually interact and play with other children at about five to six years old. Here are some dialogue examples to help differentiate between the two. Next to each other: Mary: I like my dolly. Susie: My new teddy bear is fuzzy.

Mary: She has long hair and a pretty dress. Susie: I like to sleep with him during nap time. Mary: My dolly has blue eyes like me. Susie: My teddy bear's name is Coco. With each other: Erica: I have a new jump rope! Nicole: COOL!

When did you get it? Erica: Yesterday, want to try it? Nicole: Sure! Thanks! Erica: WOW!

You are good at jump roping! Those examples show how children learn to play with each other, not egocentrically next to each other. Also, in this sub-stage children start to base their knowledge on their own previous experiences. Piaget's third stage of cognitive development is the Concrete Operational Stage, from age seven to eleven or twelve years old (Woolfolk, 2001).

Children learn that there are rules and they should follow them. They start to learn to classify. Whether it is by color, shape or size, or from smallest to biggest, or tallest to shortest, they know how to place things together. They use it everyday in all that they do.

They start to use trial and error, they start to develop the concept to conserve. This is also when reverse thinking starts to take place. Piaget's fourth and final stage is the Formal Operations Stage. It takes place from about the age of twelve and continues through adulthood (Woolfolk, 2001). Children in this stage start to hypothesize.

They begin to think more scientifically with abstract thinking, along with logical thinking and ratios. They are capable of visualizing "what if" scenarios. Also, they start to develop concerns about social issues and identity (Woolfolk, 2001, p. 31). Piaget taught us that children are not little adults as they had been formerly thought of. He also taught us that children need hands on learning and at different ages, we should expect different things from them.

New material that we teach children should mix with old material so that they get a clear understanding of what they are learning. However, the new material that they are learning shouldn't be too close to the old material, or nothing new will be formed. Piaget also taught us that interaction with others is good for development, and it helps us to learn in different ways by being with others. Piaget set the stage for others in his field to learn and discover even more about the development of a child into an adult. Piaget asserted that human intelligence develops in stages, each of which enhances a person's understanding of the world in a new and more complex way. Children, he taught us, by continually interacting with their environment, keep adding and reshaping their conceptions of the world (Microsoft, 2001, p. 1).

This he taught us through his theories of cognitive development.