THEORIES OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT | Cognitive Theory – Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget - a Swiss philosopher and psychologist who dedicated his life work to observing and interacting with children to determine how their thinking process differed from adults - his work established several new areas of science including cognitive theory, developmental psychology and genetic epistemology - influenced generations of educators to apply his constructivist learning concepts which focus on the child’s ability to continually create and test new knowledge - has significant contrast to more traditional pedagogic theory of childhood learning that viewed children as empty vessels who needed educators to fill them with knowledge Jean Will Fritz Piaget
Cognitive Theory - explains how thought processes are structured, how they develop, and their influence on behaviour
August 9, 1896 – September 16, 1980
- structuring of thought process occurs through the development of schema (mental images or cognitive structures) - thought processes develop through: assimilation – process of encountering new information that is recognized
within an existing schema accommodation – process of developing new mental images or patterns if
information cannot be linked to existing schema
equilibrium or mental balance – if child is able to assimilate or accommodate adequately to new knowledge
disequilibrium – inadequacy to facilitate learning
constant interaction intellectual development development = between environmental
genetically determined +
attributes
influences
emphasis: emphasis : How a child learns and adapts what is learned from the adult world.
FOUR STAGES OF PIAGET’S THEORY : o o
Sensorimotor Preoperational Preconceptual Intuitive thought Concrete operational Formal operational
o o
development of cognitive images or structures influence the child’s behaviour child must successfully achieve goals of each stage before moving onto the next Piaget’s idea of “stage” is not descriptive but theoretical (it does not refer to some overt
behaviour but to a constellation of processes underlying a particular behaviour)
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development STAGE
PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT
DESCRIPTION
Sensorimotor | Infant Neonatal reflex
(Birth – 2 yr) 1 month
Behavior entirely reflexive.
Primary circular reaction
1 – 4 mo
Spends much time looking at objects and separating self from them. Beginning intention of behavior is present (infant brings thumb to mouth for a purpose: to suck it). Enjoyable activity for this period: a rattle or tape of pa rent’s voice.
Secondary circular reaction
4 – 8 mo
Learns to initiate, recognize, and repeat pleasurable experiences from environment. Memory traces are present; anticipates familiar events (a parent coming near him will pick him up). Good toy for this period: mirror; good game: peek-a-boo.
Coordination of secondary reactions
8 – 12 mo
Infant can plan activities to attain specific goals. Perceives that others can cause activity and that activities of own body are separate from activity of objects. Can search for and retrieve toy that disappears from view. Recognize shapes and sizes of familiar objects.
Because of increased sense of separateness, infant experiences separation anxiety when primary caregiver leaves. Good toy for this period: nesting toys (i.e., colored boxes) Tertiary circular reaction
12 – 18 mo
Child is able to experiment to discover new properties of objects and events. Capable of space perception and time perception as well as permanence. Objects outside self are understood as causes of actions. Good game for this period: throw and retrieve.
Invention of new means through mental combinations
18 – 24 mo
Preoperational | Toddler
(2 – 7 yr)
Transitional phase to the preoperational thought period. Uses memory and imitation to act. Can solve basic problems, foresee manoeuvres that will succeed or fail. Good toys for this period: those with several uses, such as blocks, colored plastic rings. Thought becomes more symbolic; can arrive at answers mentally instead of through physical attempt. Comprehends simple abstractions but thinking is basically concrete and literal. Child is egocentric (unable to see the viewpoint of another). Displays static thinking (inability to remember what he or she started to talk about so that at the end of another sentence the child is talking about another topic). Concept of time is now, and concept of distance is only as far as he or she can see. Centering or focusing on a single aspect of an object causes distorted reasoning. No awareness of reversibility (for every action there is an opposite action) is present. Unable to state cause –effect
Preconceptual | Toddler
2 – 4 yr
Intuitive thought | Preschooler
4 – 7 yr
Concrete operational
7 – 11 years
Formal operations
11 years and older
relationships, categories, or abstractions. Good toy for this period: items that require imagination, such as modelling clay. Includes systematic reasoning. Uses memory to learn broad concepts (fruit) and subgroups of concepts (apples, oranges). Classifications involve sorting objects according to attributes such as color; seriation, in which objects are ordered according to increasing or decreasing measures such as weight; multiplication, in which objects are simultaneously classified and seriated using weight. Child is aware of reversibility, an opposite operation or continuation of reasoning back to a starting point (follows a route through a maze and then reverses steps). Understands conservation, sees constancy despite transformation (mass or quantity remains the same even if it changes shape or position). Good activity for this period: collecting and classifying natural objects such as native plants, seashells, etc. Expose child to other viewpoints by asking questions such as, “How do you think you’d feel if you were a nurse and had to tell a boy to stay in bed?” Can solve hypothetical problems with scientific reasoning; understands causality and can deal with the past, present, and future. Adult or mature thought. Good activity for this period: “talk time” to sort through attitudes and opinions.
Stage 1: Sensorimotor period (birth to 2 years old)
Stage 2: Preoperational period (2 to 7 years old)
Practical intelligence Instrumentality – infant learns about environment through senses in a trial-and-error fashion Decentering – infant begins to recognize the difference between self and others in the environment Object permanence – ability to recognize that an object or person is in a given area or continues to exist even outside of infant’s field of vision Schemata – methods of assimilating and accommodating looking schema hearing schema sucking schema
aspect of emotional state is constantly changing; able to focus on only one emotion at a time later on this period: unconditional acceptance of authority begins to develop
Toddler (2 – 4 yrs) Preconceptual phase Prelogical reasoning Symbolic thought – use of verbal and mental symbols to represent persons, objects, and actions that may or may not be present Preschooler (4 – 7 yrs) Intuitive thought phase Centering – looking at object and see only one of its characteristics lack of conservation (ability to discern truth, even though physical properties change) and reversibility (ability to retrace steps) role fantasy or “magical thinking” Egocentrism – seeing things from his or her own point-of-view; inability to comprehend ideas of others if they differ from his or her own
Stage 3: Concrete operations period (7 to 11 years old)
more logical thinking as concepts of moral judgment, numbers, and spatial relationships are developed can discover concrete solutions to everyday problems recognize cause –and–effect relationships ability to sort objects and place them in some order recognizes thoughts about the past and present, but not about the future able to understand conservation – principle that an object is able to change shape but retain the same volume conservation of numbers – learned @ age 7 conservation of quantity – learned @ age 7 –8 conservation of weight – learned @ age 9 conservation of volume – learned @ age 11 able to acknowledge viewpoints of others and app reciate feelings such as friendship, truthfulness, and integrity
Stage 4: Formal operations period (11 years old and older)
adolescence is the time when cognition achieves its final form develop systematic ways to think about and solve problems able to think in abstract (explaining metaphors) or hypothetical terms (“what if” statements) thinking in terms of future and solving or debating problems in a logical manner able to reason, form conclusions, plan for future, think abstractly, and build ideals
Cognitive development represents human’s constant attempts to adapt to and make sense
of their environment Associated with particular age spans but vary among individuals Each period is also made up of distinctive structures Important for educators Major influence on those who followed in the study of human development
Criticism of Piaget’s Theory
small sample of study (his own children) relevance of theory technological advancements
References: Foundations for Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing, pp. 89-90
Kozier & Erb’s Fundamentals of Nursing, pp. 356-357 Maternal and Child Health Nursing: Care of the Childbearing & Childrearing Family, pp.
Prepared & Reported by: Padulla, Kristine Joy C. BSN III-1
Submitted to: Prof. Razel Julia S. Uba, RN
