Piaget - 1
Cognitive Development: JEAN Piaget
Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
www.OPDT-Johnson.com
This is an excerpt from my book: Education Psychology: Theories of Learning and
Human Development (2014). National Science Press: www.nsspress.com by Andrew P.
Johnson
Mini-Lectures: Piaget
Piaget 1: Introduction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQJJrA4H1Gw
Piaget 2: Brain Based Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlU28eLbR0
Piaget 3: Examples of Stage Theories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzRvsydwEiI
Piaget 4: Piaget’s Cognitive Stages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP0eqIYXekw
Piaget 5: Basics of Piaget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q6Zd87enpQ
Piaget 6: Classroom Applications
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzRYA9cFMaQ
Piaget 7: Montessori
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BmlDYKzNOA
Piaget 8.a: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez2ECMpArVA
Piaget 8.b: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWcTzGA-VAw
DEVELOPMENT AND STAGE THEORIES
Chapters 3 and 4 examine theories related to human development. Development in this
context refers to the natural changes that take place in humans over time. There’re various kinds
of development; however each is characterized by an orderly progression to increasingly higher
levels of complexity. Woolfolk (2007) describes three important points about development:
1. Development occurs in a predictable order. For example, all humans learn to
wiggle, then crawl, then walk, and finally to run. This is the order. You can’t master running if
you haven’t masters walking. In the same way, we learn to talk by first making babbling sounds
and getting responses, then using one-word utterances, then incomplete sentences (dog run), and
finally we begin using complete sentences and start the progression toward mature speech.
© Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.
, Piaget - 2
2. Development occurs at different rates. Humans are not trains that start at the same
time and reach designated places at prescribed times. We develop different traits at different
times. Some children learn to talk earlier and some later. Some children learn to walk earlier
and some later. Humans are not standardized products.
3. Development occurs gradually over time. Children don’t wake up one day with the
ability to speak, read, or ride a bike. The ability to do these things happens slowly and
incrementally and they are dependent on many small changes.
Stage theories describe development as occurring in distinctly different phases. That is,
each new stage is different than the previous one. Advancement to a higher stage is based on the
completion of tasks at a lower stage. The stage theories described in this chapter address the
areas of cognitive development. Chapter 4 examines social or personal development and
Chapter 5 focuses on moral development. Each of the theories has a number of detractors;
however, three important reminders about theories: First, they are a way of connecting a set of
data dots or explaining facts. Second, no theory is ever complete or all encompassing. And
third, because each human being is unique, theories related to human beings should be used to
understand behavior, not to predict behavior.
PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget’s (1896-1980) theory of children’s cognitive development
has had tremendous impact on the field of education. Before Piaget, people thought children’s
brains functioned much the same as adults. They just needed to be filled with raw knowledge and
experience in order to function in an adult manner. Piaget rejected this, saying that our brains and
mental functioning develops through a series of universal stages. We think in distinctly different
ways at each stage.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
According to Piaget, changes in thinking are a result of developmental processes that
occur naturally as our brains develop. All children, he said, go through four stages:
Sensorimotor stage (birth to approximately age two). Children’s early cognitive
development is largely controlled by their senses and their ability to move – hence the label
sensorimotor. An important cognitive milestone at this stage is object permanence, that is, the
realization that something not immediately available to one’s senses, still exists. Children
gradually develop the ability to form mental representations of sensory objects (mother’s face,
doll, pet dog) that they can carry in their developing memory and can access as needed. This new
cognitive function is known as representational thinking. As this ability grows, children begin to
realize that if you put a doll behind your back it still exists. Likewise, Children’s ability to move
and thereby to view the world from different perspectives enhances their cognitive development.
The greater their ability to move, the greater their ability to see the world from different
© Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.
Cognitive Development: JEAN Piaget
Andrew P. Johnson, Ph.D.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
www.OPDT-Johnson.com
This is an excerpt from my book: Education Psychology: Theories of Learning and
Human Development (2014). National Science Press: www.nsspress.com by Andrew P.
Johnson
Mini-Lectures: Piaget
Piaget 1: Introduction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQJJrA4H1Gw
Piaget 2: Brain Based Learning
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJlU28eLbR0
Piaget 3: Examples of Stage Theories
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzRvsydwEiI
Piaget 4: Piaget’s Cognitive Stages
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP0eqIYXekw
Piaget 5: Basics of Piaget
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q6Zd87enpQ
Piaget 6: Classroom Applications
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzRYA9cFMaQ
Piaget 7: Montessori
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BmlDYKzNOA
Piaget 8.a: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez2ECMpArVA
Piaget 8.b: Developmentally Appropriate Practice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWcTzGA-VAw
DEVELOPMENT AND STAGE THEORIES
Chapters 3 and 4 examine theories related to human development. Development in this
context refers to the natural changes that take place in humans over time. There’re various kinds
of development; however each is characterized by an orderly progression to increasingly higher
levels of complexity. Woolfolk (2007) describes three important points about development:
1. Development occurs in a predictable order. For example, all humans learn to
wiggle, then crawl, then walk, and finally to run. This is the order. You can’t master running if
you haven’t masters walking. In the same way, we learn to talk by first making babbling sounds
and getting responses, then using one-word utterances, then incomplete sentences (dog run), and
finally we begin using complete sentences and start the progression toward mature speech.
© Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.
, Piaget - 2
2. Development occurs at different rates. Humans are not trains that start at the same
time and reach designated places at prescribed times. We develop different traits at different
times. Some children learn to talk earlier and some later. Some children learn to walk earlier
and some later. Humans are not standardized products.
3. Development occurs gradually over time. Children don’t wake up one day with the
ability to speak, read, or ride a bike. The ability to do these things happens slowly and
incrementally and they are dependent on many small changes.
Stage theories describe development as occurring in distinctly different phases. That is,
each new stage is different than the previous one. Advancement to a higher stage is based on the
completion of tasks at a lower stage. The stage theories described in this chapter address the
areas of cognitive development. Chapter 4 examines social or personal development and
Chapter 5 focuses on moral development. Each of the theories has a number of detractors;
however, three important reminders about theories: First, they are a way of connecting a set of
data dots or explaining facts. Second, no theory is ever complete or all encompassing. And
third, because each human being is unique, theories related to human beings should be used to
understand behavior, not to predict behavior.
PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Swiss Psychologist Jean Piaget’s (1896-1980) theory of children’s cognitive development
has had tremendous impact on the field of education. Before Piaget, people thought children’s
brains functioned much the same as adults. They just needed to be filled with raw knowledge and
experience in order to function in an adult manner. Piaget rejected this, saying that our brains and
mental functioning develops through a series of universal stages. We think in distinctly different
ways at each stage.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
According to Piaget, changes in thinking are a result of developmental processes that
occur naturally as our brains develop. All children, he said, go through four stages:
Sensorimotor stage (birth to approximately age two). Children’s early cognitive
development is largely controlled by their senses and their ability to move – hence the label
sensorimotor. An important cognitive milestone at this stage is object permanence, that is, the
realization that something not immediately available to one’s senses, still exists. Children
gradually develop the ability to form mental representations of sensory objects (mother’s face,
doll, pet dog) that they can carry in their developing memory and can access as needed. This new
cognitive function is known as representational thinking. As this ability grows, children begin to
realize that if you put a doll behind your back it still exists. Likewise, Children’s ability to move
and thereby to view the world from different perspectives enhances their cognitive development.
The greater their ability to move, the greater their ability to see the world from different
© Andrew Johnson, Ph.D.
