Jean Piaget By: Christina Toso

Jean Piaget biography August September (84 years old) Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Died in Geneva, Switzerland Education: Neuchâtel Latin High School, University of Neuchâtel, University of Zürich, Sorbonne Indentified four stages of mental development, called Schema (Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology)

Jean Piaget Bio. Cont. In his psychological studies, the tests measure child intelligence and draw connections between a child’s age and the nature of their errors. He changed the study to allow students to explain their answer

Jean Piaget Bio. cont. Developed cognitive theory and developmental psychology (new fields of scientific study) His summery of scientific knowledge: "The current state of knowledge is a moment in history, changing just as rapidly as the state of knowledge in the past has ever changed and, in many instances, more rapidly."

Schema 1. Sensorimotor stage- involves learning through motor actions, 0-2 years old 2. Preoperation stage- develop intelligence by using their natural intuition, 3-7 years old 3. Concrete operational stage- develop cognitively through the use of logic that is based on the concrete evidence, 8-11 years old 4. Formal operations- forming the ability to think abstractly, years old

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development cont. Children are active and motivated learners: children are naturally curious about their world and actively seek out information that can help them interpret and understand it Children organize what they learn from their experiences: they pull their experiences together into an integrated view of how the world operates

Cognitive Development cont. Children adapt to their environment through the process of assimilation and accommodation: interpret each new event within the context of their existing knowledge (assimilation) but at the same time modify their knowledge as a result of the new event (accommodation)

Cognitive Development cont. Interaction with the physical environment is critical for cognitive development: by exploring the world around them, children learn the nature of the world and continue to revise their schemes Interaction with other people is equally critical: by talking and exchanging ideas with other people, they realize that people see things differently and that the world is not one perfect world.

Cognitive Development cont. The process of equilibration promotes increasingly complex forms of thought: put kids in a situation that is not equal and have them try to figure it out. This process leads to gradual increase complex level of thought and knowledge Children think in qualitatively different ways at different age levels: any one of the four stages can change over the course of childhood and adolescence.

How teachers use cognitive development TQ TQ

Ways that Cognitive development is used today in schools Anchored Instruction: help children learn by having critical situations Microwords: computer-based environment Symbol Pads: word-processors, drawing programs, index cards; manipulations of symbols and language

Example of Piagets’ testing

Resources get.htm#Stages get.htm#Stages theories/jean-piaget/stages-of-cognitive- development/formal-operational/ theories/jean-piaget/stages-of-cognitive- development/formal-operational/ Child Development and Education by: McDevitt and Ormrod; pages Becoming a Teacher by: Parkay; pages