Free Essays on Piaget

Outline and critically evaluate piagets theory of cognitive development children. Jean Piaget’s (1896 - 1980) theory of cognitive development was One of the most important contributions that Piaget made, it established the fact that the cognitive development in children are not simply immature versions of that of an adult, but that they have their very own rules. Having a great influence on the studies of young children and also upon education. Cognitive is referred to as â€Å"the mental function of retaining information about a stimuli, events, images ideas etc after the original stimuli is no longer present† (Reber, 1995 p446) this is exactly what Piaget set to find out in his study in infants. In this essay I am going to describe Piagets theory in each of the four stages giving evidence for his research and also critically evaluate it. Piaget states (Gross P642) that children development is caused through biological â€Å"mental functions† development through interaction with the environment and events which occur during stages in childhood. The Childs develops schemas in order to organise experiences and to cope with new ones. This is because according to Piaget(Gross P642) we all have a biological drive to obtain balance and reasoning(equilibration) Schemas are mental organisations which represent our view of the world each unique to the specific person. An infant is born firstly with a set of schemas which then develop into ‘reflexes’. These schemas are then adapted and replaced with contracted schemas which change to adapt to there environment. For example a young infant is born with the innate biological drive off sucking a bottle to survive this is then adapted to sucking a thumb or a dummy. The infant adapts continuously in to different ways, through Assimilation (change environment to a dapt to schema) or through accommodation(change schema to adapt to environment). Piagets theory consist of four stages, an infant ... Free Essays on Piaget Free Essays on Piaget Comparison and Contrasts of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky This essay will seek to compare and contrast Jean Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development of children. Information for this essay has been derived from the classroom text and also various internet resources that will be cited at the conclusion of the essay. Jean Piaget’s and Lev Vygotsky’s are two theorist who studied childhood development in the early 1900’s Although the two never met, their theories have many commonalities, but yet also have several differences. Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories are widely-known and still practiced today. There are three themes that Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories share: challenge, readiness, and in the importance of social interaction. The best example of challenge is exemplified in Vygotsky’s concept of the zone of proximal development. ZPD can be defined as the range of tasks one cannot yet perform independently, but can perform with assistance and guidance of others. Challenge appears more discretely in Piaget’s theory, but is still present. Piaget’s theory states that children develop more sophisticated knowledge and thought processes only when they encountered phenomena they cannot completely understand. This creates what Piaget refers to as disequilibrium, a sort of mental discomfort. This prompts the child to attempt to make sense of what they have observed by replacing, reorganizing, and better integrating their schemes. This is called accommodation. Readiness is another theme that appears in both theories. Growing children are not cognitively ready for all experiences. According to Piaget, children can accommodate to new objects and events only when they can also assimilate them into their existing schemes. Thus meaning there must be an overlap of "new" and "old". Piaget also argued that children cannot learn from an experience until they have begun the trans... Free Essays on Piaget Outline and critically evaluate piagets theory of cognitive development children. Jean Piaget’s (1896 - 1980) theory of cognitive development was One of the most important contributions that Piaget made, it established the fact that the cognitive development in children are not simply immature versions of that of an adult, but that they have their very own rules. Having a great influence on the studies of young children and also upon education. Cognitive is referred to as â€Å"the mental function of retaining information about a stimuli, events, images ideas etc after the original stimuli is no longer present† (Reber, 1995 p446) this is exactly what Piaget set to find out in his study in infants. In this essay I am going to describe Piagets theory in each of the four stages giving evidence for his research and also critically evaluate it. Piaget states (Gross P642) that children development is caused through biological â€Å"mental functions† development through interaction with the environment and events which occur during stages in childhood. The Childs develops schemas in order to organise experiences and to cope with new ones. This is because according to Piaget(Gross P642) we all have a biological drive to obtain balance and reasoning(equilibration) Schemas are mental organisations which represent our view of the world each unique to the specific person. An infant is born firstly with a set of schemas which then develop into ‘reflexes’. These schemas are then adapted and replaced with contracted schemas which change to adapt to there environment. For example a young infant is born with the innate biological drive off sucking a bottle to survive this is then adapted to sucking a thumb or a dummy. The infant adapts continuously in to different ways, through Assimilation (change environment to a dapt to schema) or through accommodation(change schema to adapt to environment). Piagets theory consist of four stages, an infant ...