INTRODUCTION Born in Neuchatel, Switzerland Was the eldest child, and as such was precocious (bright for his age) Strong interest in seashells, initially

He married Valentine Chatenay in 1923 and together they had 2 daughters followed by 1 son

BACKGROUND He was a child prodigy who published his first article in a refereed journal at the age of 11. Jean Piaget ( ) was one of the 20th centuries most influential researchers in the area of developmental psychology.

BACKGROUND Piaget originally trained in the areas of biology and philosophy and considered himself a “genetic epistimologist.” He was mainly interested in the biological influences on “how we come to know.” He studied his own 3 children

BACKGROUND While working in Binet’s test lab in Paris, Piaget became interested in how children think. He noticed that young children's answers were qualitatively different than older children. This suggested to him that the younger children were not less knowledgeable but, instead, answered the questions differently than their older peers because they thought differently.

Piaget Introduction6 Before Piaget… belief that child’s mental ‘machinery’ same as an adults, just lacking exposure to the world a passive model of education (filling up empty vessels)

Piaget Introduction7 “Cognitive Aliens” Piaget’s idea… the child is profoundly different from adults in its thinking

Piaget Introduction8 PIAGET’S THEORY Child’s intellect develops in steps/stages (like evolutionary theory in biology) Child must pass through each stage in order Each stage depends on the one before to develop

Piaget’s main 4 stages SENSORI-MOTOR (age 0-2) PRE-OPERATIONAL (2-7) CONCRETE OPERATIONAL (7-11) FORMAL OPERATIONAL (12+)

Process of Cognitive Development As a biologist, Piaget was interested in how an organism adapts to its environment (Piaget described this ability as intelligence.) Behavior is controlled through mental organizations called schemes that the individual uses to represent the world and designate action.

Process of Cognitive Development Piaget described two processes used by the individual in its attempt to adapt: assimilation accomodation. Both of these processes are used thoughout life as the person increasingly adapts to the environment in a more complex manner.

Process of Cognitive Development Assimilation The process of using or transforming the environment so that it can be placed in preexisting cognitive structures.

Process of Cognitive Development Assimilation Example: an infant uses a sucking schema that was developed by sucking on a small bottle when attempting to suck on a larger bottle.

Process of Cognitive Development Accomodation The process of changing cognitive structures in order to accept something from the environment.

Process of Cognitive Development Accomodation Example: the infant modifies a sucking schema developed by sucking on a pacifier to one that would be successful for sucking on a bottle.

According to Piaget: Assimilation + Accommodation = Learning