Jean Piaget
Kelsey Hampsey, Kaytlyn Crain, Jailin Newman
Researcher’s Name/ Info
•Born August 9th 1896 in Neuchatel, Switzerland
•Died September 17th 1980
•Published his first paper at the age of 10
•Married Valentine Chatenay, who he met at the University of Geneva. She was a
student there, then later became a co-worker
•He has 3 kids, around 1925 his first daughter was born, his second daughter born in
1927, and then his son was born in 1931
•At the age of 22 he had his Ph.d
Researcher’s Name/ Info
•In autumn of 1919 he went to paris where he spent 2 years at the Sorbonne,
he attended courses in pathological psychology where he learned to interview
mental patients
•Around this time Piaget started to investigate the way children reason, for
about 2 years he analyzed the verbal reasoning of normal children. He
presented them with a variety of questions and he was exposing them to task
that involved simple concrete concrete relations of cause and effect. After
that he realized what he wanted to study. He wanted to work in the field of
inductive and experimental psychology
•In 1925 he took the chair of philosophy at the university of Neuchatel, he
taught psychology, philosophy, science, and sociology.
Area of Research
•Piaget was an influential experimenter and theorist that studied the field of
developmental psychology.
• He wanted to identify stages of mental development- identified schema
•Establish new fields of scientific study and theories- including cognitive
theory and developmental psychology
Process of Research
●
In 1920 he worked with Theodore Simon at the Alfred Binet Lab in Paris
and evaluated the results of standard reasoning test
●
After looking at the test, Piaget decided to revise the the test and allow
children to explain the logic of their “incorrect” answers to observe how
the children thought
Process of Research
●
To identify the 4 stages of mental development, called schema, he
primarily studied biological influence on how we come to know and
understand things, and the developmental stages we move through as we
acquire this ability.
●
He also study cognitive development which is information processing,
intelligence, reasoning, language development, and memory.
Age of Children Researched
•Piaget theory involved four stages of mental development, he called this “schema”
The 1st stage is called the “Sensorimotor stage”
•In this stage children ages 0-2 learned through motor actions
The second stage is called the “Preoperational stage”
•In this stage children ages 3-7 develop intelligence by using their natural intuition
The 3rd stage is called the “Concrete operational”
•In this stage children ages 8-11 develop cognitively through the use of logic based
on evidence
The 4th stage is called the “Formal operation”
•In this stage children ages 12-15 start forming the ability to think abstractly
Research Findings
●
Piaget’s central thesis included…
1.) Children develop self- centric theories about their environment,
and about objects or persons in that environment, as they grow.
2.) Children base these theories on their own personal experiences
interacting with persons and objects in their environment.
Research Findings
3.) That the child used "schemas" to master and gain information about the
environment.
●
●
A schema is the basic building block of intelligent
behaviour, a form of organizing information that a person
uses to interpret the things he or she sees, hears, smells,
and touches.
We use schemas to understand and respond to respond to
situations.
4.) That the sophistication of a child's cognitive structures increased
as the child grew and developed, as did the child's "schemas".
Research Findings
●
Piaget looked at the Genesis of intelligent conduct, ideas of objective
constancy, and casualty.
He noted symbolic behaviors such as imitation and play.
●
He believed a child cannot learn unless they are constantly interacting
with their environment, making mistakes and then learning from them.
●
Discovered from his own children that between the ages of 6 months and
10 months they did not possess the notion of constancy and permanency
of an object disappearing from view.
Research Findings
●
Piaget also believed that we adapted in two ways.
(1)
Assimilation occurs when children incorporate new
information into their existing knowledge.
(2)
Accommodation occurs when children adjust their
knowledge to fit new information and experiences.
Similar Studies that Followed
●
●
Piaget vs. Vgotsky
Piaget proved that children think differently than adults.
○ He thought that social interaction lead to the schemas.
○ Social interaction and watching others helps a child to know “right
and wrong.”
●
Vgotsky studied the relationship of cognitive development and social
interaction.
●
Both researchers believed that the social environment was the structure
for a child.
Group thoughts #1
●
We believe his findings are accurate because children do not think like
adults. Children must watch their caregivers and parents to learn how to
do the important things like talking and walking. We do believe that the
four stages are accurate because the human brain develops at its own
rate.
Group thoughts #2
●
If we were to conduct this experiment today, we would select a group of
varying ages of children and present them with various situations and
observe how the younger children reacted to the situation compared to
the older children.
Works Cited
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"Jean Piaget." Jean Piaget. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.
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"Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development." Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development. N.
p., n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2015
Piaget, J. (1973). Main Trends in Psychology. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Presnell, Faith. "Jean Piaget." Psychology History. N.p., May 1999. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.
Singer, D.G. & Revenson, T.A. (1997). A Piaget Primer: How a Child Thinks (Revised Edition).
Santrock, John W. Children. New York, NY: McGraw - Hill, 2007. Print.
Madison, Connecticut: International Universities Press Inc.
"Vygotsky | Simply Psychology." Vygotsky | Simply Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Sept. 2015.