Piaget believed that children's spontaneous comments provided valuable clues to understanding their thinking. He was not interested in a right or wrong answer, but rather what forms of logic and reasoning the child used Singer, After many years of observation, Piaget concluded that intellectual development is the result of the interaction of hereditary and environmental factors.
As the child develops and constantly interacts with the world around him, knowledge is invented and reinvented. His theory of intellectual development is strongly grounded in the biological sciences.
He saw cognitive growth as an extension of biological growth and as being governed by the same laws and principles London, He argued that intellectual development controlled every other aspect of development - emotional, social, and moral. Piaget may be best known for his stages of cognitive development. Piaget discovered that children think and reason differently at different periods in their lives. He believed that everyone passed through an invariant sequence of four qualitatively distinct stages.
Invariant means that a person cannot skip stages or reorder them. Although every normal child passes through the stages in exactly the same order, there is some variability in the ages at which children attain each stage. The four stages are: sensorimotor - birth to 2 years; preoperational - 2 years to 7 years; concrete operational - 7 years to 11 years; and formal operational abstract thinking - 11 years and up.
Each stage has major cognitive tasks which must be accomplished. In the sensorimotor stage, the mental structures are mainly concerned with the mastery of concrete objects. The mastery of symbols takes place in the preoperational stage, when children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and develop language as a tool for thinking.
In the concrete stage, children learn mastery of classes, relations, and numbers and how to reason. The stages are: Sensori-motor birth to 2 years : understandings of the world are limited to visual and tactile interaction with the world. Imitation provides a foundation for thinking in visual images. Pre-operational 2 to 4 years : thinking involves visual images about sensorimotor actions and experiences, and symbolic thought. Thought is focused on the particular without abstracting general principles, and relies on perception and intuition.
At the operational stage of thought, children understand notions of reversibility subtraction can cancel addition, a clay ball can be transformed into a sausage and back again and associativity an ability to identify several ways to pursue an objective, such as a range of ways to solve 25 x Formal operational to years : abstract and decontextualised reasoning using verbal propositions, premises, ideas and concepts is possible without access to concrete objects. Students can hypothesise, problem-solve, note relations between ideas and things, hold a number of ideas in mind, and develop and relate concepts.
What empirical evidence is there for this theory in practice? Active learning Piaget thought that independent exploration and discovery were important at all stages of cognitive development in enabling students to lead their own learning in line with their current developmental understandings.
Cognitive Development 24, — Moore, A. London: Croom Helm. Download this resource as a PDF. A social justice approach to education. The origins of and some of the key approaches associated with social justice in education. Did you find this article useful? If you enjoyed this content, please consider making a charitable donation. Terms of use Privacy policy. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.
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These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Necessary Necessary. For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and then give a child the choice between two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is rolled into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape.
Since the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece even though the two pieces are exactly the same size. While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point in development, they become much more adept at using logic.
While thinking becomes much more logical during the concrete operational state, it can also be very rigid. Kids at this point in development tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts. During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas.
The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key hallmark of the formal operational stage of cognitive development. The ability to systematically plan for the future and reason about hypothetical situations are also critical abilities that emerge during this stage. It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development as a quantitative process; that is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older.
Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as they gradually process through these four stages. To better understand some of the things that happen during cognitive development, it is important first to examine a few of the important ideas and concepts introduced by Piaget.
The following are some of the factors that influence how children learn and grow:. A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world. In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge.
For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters an enormous dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include these new observations.
The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences and information slightly to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is a case of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema. Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation.
Accommodation involves modifying existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration.
As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge assimilation and changing behavior to account for new knowledge accommodation.
Equilibration helps explain how children can move from one stage of thought to the next. One of the most important elements to remember of Piaget's theory is that it takes the view that creating knowledge and intelligence is an inherently active process. Knowing reality means constructing systems of transformations that correspond, more or less adequately, to reality.
Piaget's theory of cognitive development helped add to our understanding of children's intellectual growth. She keeps this up for quite a while even returning to the smallest holes. When I return the first pencil to Jacqueline, she puts it in the hole correctly at once.
When I hand it to her upside down, she turns it over even before making an attempt, thus revealing that she is very capable of understanding the conditions for putting it in.
On the other hand, when I hold out the second pencil correctly directed the point down, she also puts it in by the point. But if I offer it to her upside down, she does not turn it over and recommences wishing to put it in by the unsharpened end. This behavior pattern remained absolutely constant during thirty attempts, that is to say, Jacqueline never turned the second pencil over whereas she always directed the first one correctly.
At about the thirtieth attempt, Jacqueline suddenly changes methods. She turns the second pencil over as she does the first and no longer tries a single time to put it in by the wrong end. If the series of these new attempts is compared with the first series, one has the impression of a sudden understanding, as of an idea which arises and which, when it has suddenly appeared, definitively imposes itself. In other words, the second pencil has suddenly been assimilated to the first.
The primitive schema connecting the two pencils by contrast has dissociated itself and the pencil which one did not turn over has been assimilated to the particular schema of the pencil that one had to turn over. This kind of a process is consequently again capable of making us understand the mechanism of invention. In nutrition education, nurses introduce children to food groups and have children use these foods in games so children will have assimilated the food groups.
To do this:. To do this, the food pyramid that has been shown to children is divided into parts. Children are asked what food they have in their hands and to which food group it belongs. Then, children can put that food in the appropriate place in the food pyramid. For example, they can be asked to put a puzzle piece from the fruit group in the fruit group of the pyramid. Children see foods in the food pyramid and begin to increase their knowledge about foods.
In addition, food models that belong to each group of food are shown, distributed and asked to which group they belong.
It helps children assimilate their education, organize food information themselves and use autonomy. Here children have fun and see the picture closely which will help to transfer it into the long-term memory and increase food recall. Children color the food pictures in whatever color they want. It should be kept in mind that children should show interest in education and should be willing to participate so that they can make assimilation.
Therefore, it is important for Piaget's theory to be used in education. The educator plays a key role in it. According to Piaget, the educator should provide guidance in class, arrange the classroom environment in accordance with the child's development and make it interesting, to enable children to play an active role in their own education, draw children's attention and increase their motivation 9.
In fact, Piaget noted that when a schema was formed, it was spontaneously assimilated and adapted. Thus, children are motivated. This learning does not require any special reward, it occurs spontaneously 8. By forming new schemata or changing the characteristics and scope of existing behavioral schemata, children accommodate to newly acquired information. In other words, assimilation results in the revelation of new ideas and different behaviors that are not consistent with the previously formed behavior 6,13, Nurses will replace children's existing schemata with newly learned foods that were drawn and new food information and will see them accommodate to the new situation.
Nurses can ask children to glue food pictures that they painted on the appropriate place on the food pyramid. Thus, children recognize that foods can be different things. Nurses can help children accommodate by gluing the pictures in the right places. As a result of assimilation and accommodation, children will adapt to the new nutrition concepts with experience and adaptation. For example, fruits such as mango and avocado, which Turkish people are not familiar with, are not readily obtainable or cheap.
For these reasons, accommodation will not occur. As a result of the interaction between assimilation and accommodation, the process of equilibrium occurs. Newly formed equilibrium is not static, but dynamic. Since the environment is constantly changing and there are things to be learned, the equilibrium is continuously disturbed and reformed.
Otherwise, learning and development cannot not occur 10,12, The term equilibrium also explains the development of intelligence 6. Suction schema in infants exemplifies the understanding of Piaget's concepts. Babies make use of suction schema for many objects. They suck their bottles, thumbs, pacifiers, ears of toy bears and toy birds made of plastic.
Some of these objects, such as bottles, thumbs and pacifiers, are more appropriate for the schema of the objects that could be sucked and babies' reaction to these objects may involve assimilation rather than adaptation.
Thus, the schema of the objects that could be sucked remains unchanged and babies associate or assimilate new objects with this schema. At last, the child achieves accommodation. During the course of adaptation to the new schema, the child will hit or kick the bird, which will mobilize the bird, and try to have fun. According to Piaget, each new thing disturbs the equilibrium for the child and the equilibrium is reformed through assimilation and adaptation. Thus, based on the process of discovering and understanding, behaviors are reorganized.
As a consequence, attempts to know and understand the world in order to survive will cause formation of new schemata, achieve assimilation and adaptation and, in turn, organize the things learned For the equilibrium process, nurses can have children cut up paper and tape it together to make a fruit calendar.
In this way children will be more willing as a result of the activity that they did. Nurses can ask children to draw pictures of the fruit that they ate for one week on the calendar. The objective of this hands-on activity is to encourage children to learn through their own experiences. As a result, children develop new positive schemata related to fruit. In addition, at the end of the education, nurses can ask children to draw foods. They can be compared with the pictures drawn at the beginning of the education.
Nurses will realize that children have new information about food and have changed their existing schemata with more healthy food schemata they have just learned. When children learn to differentiate fruit from vegetables, they are thought to acquire more beneficial information compared with what they already know. They have learned more objects that are right to eat. In this way they find equilibrium by counteraction of disequilibrium with assimilation and accommodation.
Nutrition education and relevant activities drawing, playing reading, discussion, hands-on activities together with information that children already have will help to form desirable nutrition concepts. Children add new knowledge to their previous knowledge through new activities and new learning experiences 9. Acquiring a new nutrition concept takes place through the combination of the processes of assimilation, adaptation and equilibrium.
Nutrition education helps children increase what they know about nutrition and change their behavior. New schemata acquired by children indicate effectiveness of education.
In conclusion, nurses should give children nutrition education based on Piaget's theory at an early age so that it will have a lasting effect on their eating behavior. Piaget determined that the factors affecting cognitive development were maturation, experience, and social transmission.
When offering nutrition education, nurses should keep in mind that maturation, culture and experience affect the cognitive development of children. Maturation : cognitive development occurs with maturation. As a result of maturation, physical development, language development and intellectual development occur. Maturation refers to experiences gained as a result of the things that happen to an organism as well as biological development.
Accordingly, the child interacts with the environment during the learning process and self-development. According to Piaget, maturation is associated with physical growth. Intelligence has a genetic component in the course of growth and development. Piaget noted that, like the learning ability, human intelligence and language is a result of maturation.
Maturation is most marked in babies and young children since they grow rapidly. Although maturation is important for development, it is not the only factor. There are cultural, physical and social factors which cause considerable differences in the levels of mental development 9,11, Experience : experience is forming relationships directly with objects. According to Piaget, forming relationships with objects helps to gain two types of experience, namely, physical and logical and mathematical.
In the physical experience, children learn physical characteristics of objects. While seeking for the answer to the questions beginning with "why", children start causal explanations. The latter enables the child to access to knowledge through an internal organization of their actions.
In the logical and mathematical experiences, children can perform elementary inferences to classify spatial configurations and set up correspondences. Children develop as a result of interacting with experiences and their environment. Without classification, children cannot learn the color of objects and create knowledge. For example, children should see fruit and corresponding symbols at the same time so that they can associate fruit and the symbols representing fruit and should put them in the group of fruit or edible food 5,10,13,14, Social transmission : social transmission includes all that children learn from their mothers, fathers, friends, teachers, books and magazines.
It is the culture of the society in which the individual lives. All societies have certain features typical of themselves and the cognitive development of all individuals has universal features. An example of learning with social transmission is information about nutrition learned from the family and television.
When children hear a word which they are not familiar with or which is inconsistent with their prior knowledge, they move away from their prior equilibrium. Soon they start to seek higher-order equilibrium. Even though social transmission is necessary and important, it is not sufficient on its own.
For social adaptation, first of all, language development is required 8,13, It is important for nurses who will give nutrition education to assess a child's maturation process. In fact, if a child's physical and language development is not adequate, interaction with the environment will be inadequate and the educational method that is used will not be effective.
Nurses who know the results of children's interactions with experience and their environment assess past experience before giving nutrition education and increase children's interactions with the environment. In addition, nurses need to know what children have learned through social transmission.
Nutrition education should be based on evaluations of families' food culture and children's nutritional habits. Equilibration : It is the term which combines three factors mentioned before: maturation, experience, social transmission.
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