1. Jean Piaget & Cognitive Psychology
By,
Janelly Perez

2. Who is Jean Piaget? Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896
He began showing an interest in natural science at the age of 11
He identified himself as a genetic epistemologist
“He suggested that children sort the knowledge they acquire through their experiences and interactions into groupings known as schemas. “ (Jean Piaget Biography)
He is best known today for the research he had on cognitive psychology
also known as the stages that children pass through as they are developing (intelligence and formal thought processes)

3. What is Cognitive Psychology?
According to the website article, What is Cognitive Psychology, “Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.”
In other words;
It Is the branch of psychology which studies how people
Think
Perceive
Remember
Learn
How people acquire, process, and store information

5. How is Cognitive Psychology different from others?
Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis
Focuses on internal mental states
Uses scientific research methods to study the mental processes in an individual
Focuses on observable behavior and how people react because of their (behaviorism
Relies on individual perception

6. Cognitive Psychology and Child Development
After Jean Piaget received his doctorate degree he began a career that would have a profound impact on psychology.
He began to have an interest on the cerebral development on children
He believed that children are not less intelligent than adults; they just simply think differently than them
His Theory: Child Development
Which are stages that children go through as they become mentally mature

7. What is Child Development?
Piaget’s theory of Child Development outline the stages of intellectual development going from infancy to adult-hood
It includes the development of
Thought
Judgment
Knowledge
In other words the stages people go through mentally as they are growing up.

8. The Four Stages Of Development

9. Sensorimotor Stage Time period: Birth through ages 18-24 months.
During this stage, infants are only aware of what is in front of them immediately
They focus on
What they see, are doing, and their physical interactions with their surroundings
Constantly experimenting with activities
Shaking or throwing objects
Putting things in their mouth
Learning about their environment through trial and error
Memory development
Crawling, standing, and walking which increase their cognitive development
Language Development
Unable to consider anyone else’s needs, wants or interest

10. Sensorimotor Stage
Piaget’s ideas were centered on the basis of a “schema”
Mental representations/ideas about what things are and how we deal with them
The first schema of an infant had to do with movement
Most of babies behavior is triggered by certain stimuli (in what they are reflexive)
Weeks after birth a baby is able to understand some of the information he is receiving by their instincts then learn to use their muscles to move which are known as “action schemas”

11. Preoperational Stage
Time Period: Toddlerhood (18-24 months) through early childhood (age 7)
Young children are about to think about things through symbols
Language use becomes more mature
Develop memory and imagination allowing them to
Understand difference between past and future
Thinking is based on instincts but not yet logical
Cannot grasp complex concepts such as
Cause and effect
Time
Comparison

12. Preoperational Stage
The article Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development states that they are only able to consider things from their own perspective and believe that everyone shares this view (ego centric)
They often assume that everyone and everything is like them (animism)
For example everything and everyone feels pain and has emotions since they do

13. Concrete Operational Stage
Time period: 7-12 year olds
Demonstrate logical solid reasoning
Become less self-centered
Increasingly aware of external events
Realize that each persons thoughts and feelings are unique
Develop operational thinking
The ability to perform reversible mental actions
Cannot face and deal with a problem that include many variables

14. Formal Operational Stage
Time period: Adolescence through adulthood
Able to logically use symbols related to mental concepts such as
Algebra and science
They are able to think about numerous variables at once
In systematic ways
Formulate a hypothesis
As well as consider possibilities (causes and effects)

16. In Conclusion
Jean Piaget was a very interested man whom was fascinated in how a child develops mentally. He did not believe that baby’s were less intelligent than an adult; he believed they just thought differently. He went on to creating his theory of the four stages of Child Development where he was able to identify the changes and changes as each stage passed by. Mental processes change little by little until it gets to the Formal Operation Stage where people are then able to grasp logical operations, as well as rationalize.

17. WORKS CITED