Introduction
The Theory of Cognitive Development by Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist, suggests that children's intelligence undergoes changes as they grow. Cognitive development in children is not only related to acquiring knowledge, children need to build or develop a mental model of their surrounding world (Miller, 2011). His work is regarded as the cornerstone in the field of developmental psychology. In this article, we examine the implications his work has for the intellectual development of children in classrooms.
In the 1920s, Piaget was working at the Binet Institute and his main responsibility was to translate questions written in English intelligence tests into French. He became interested to find out why children gave incorrect answers to the questions needing logical thinking (Meadows, 2019).
Task
In this task, children are asked to compare the length of two identical objects. Pick two long, stick-like items that are (ideally) exactly the same in length, width, color, thickness, and other properties so you can control for the variable of length. Two chopsticks are perfect, but pens or pencils can also work. Line them up in front of the child like this:
Then ask—while pointing very clearly—“is this stick longer, is this stick longer, or are they the same?” and wait for the child’s response. If they tell you one of them is longer, ask why they think so. If they say they’re the same—the more likely answer—agree and move on. Slide one stick over so they look like this:
And ask the same question as before. If the child has mastered conservation of length, they’ll be able to say that the sticks are still the same length. Ask them how they know! If they haven’t, they are likely to say that the one you moved is now longer.
Always be sure to ask clarifying questions each step of the way—you’ll learn so much about the way children process information when they’re able to explain their thinking.
Process
According to Piaget there are two processes at work in cognitive development: assimilation and accommodation. Cognitive growth is the result of the constant interweaving of assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when we modify or change new information to fit into our schemas (what we already know).
Evaluation
A failure to recognise that cognitive ability arises at different ages. In the majority of cases, Piaget has underestimated a child's capabilities, as findings have shown cognitive development to occur earlier. Research has been carried out to support this line of thinking. For example, object permanence has been seen in babies as young as 3 ½ months whereas Piaget thought it developed in sub-stage 4 of the Sensorimotor Stage. Also found, was the ability to grasp the 'physical world' (ie: objects exist even when they are out of sight) in the first few months of a babies life, even though a baby lacks the motor coordination to discover these properties through their own action (Maclean, 2001).
Piaget may have underestimated these capacities due to lack of experimental techniques that are present today. Another issue is the type of test methods Piaget used. It has been suggested that Piaget gave individuals tasks to complete that they had little knowledge about or were unfamiliar with in every-day situations. It has been shown that when familiar with a task topic, individuals will think more logically and abstractly. This is illustrated by the fact that 40–60% (Berk, 2001) of university students who sat Piaget's formal operations problems failed. While obviously intelligent (as they had been accepted into university), a large majority of them managed to fail. This emphasises the point that individuals are more likely to think abstractly in situations where they have had experience.
Not every one develops in a stepwise fashion as Piaget proposed. Instead, individuals are at different levels depending on the task, the child's biological maturation and the individual's experience. It has been suggested that the strict stage definition needs to be loosened and altered to concepts that develop over an extended time period which depends on experience and brain Piaget failed to realise that infants do not construct all aspects of experience through motor activity, instead some processes may be programmed in the brain from the beginning of life and others may be constructed from perceptual learning.
Piaget overestimated a child's egocentrism and animis
Piaget claimed for his theory to be universal, however this has been debated as it was discovered that not every-one reaches the concrete and formal operational stages. While Piaget thought brain maturation and experience of the external world should lead universally to concrete operations research has shown otherwise. Research claims that reaching the concrete stage has more to do with culture and school practices. Some people start school at a late age, while in some countries poverty results in a lack of education which is important in teaching logical thinking (Maclean, 2001
Despite issues being raised on the accuracy of some aspects of Piaget's theory, there is no doubting the influence he has had on the way human development is viewed today. He has had a major impact on education through suggesting the importance of discovery learning, showing sensitivity to a child's readiness to learn, and being accepting of individual differences in perceptio n.).m.
Conclusion
Researchers have made amazing contribution to the school of psychology. One of these was Jean Piaget and his theoryon cognitive development. Jean Piaget, the Swiss biologist, philosopher, psychologist, and educationist, is regarded as one of the most important child development researchers of modern times.Moreover, he was interested in knowledge and how children come to know their world. This was the one of main reason why he proposed this theory.
At the most general level, Piaget's theory was focused on the development of the intelligence due to the children adaptation to the environment. Moreover, Piaget identified three basic developmental process of the child. They are assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. Assimilation refers to children interpret incoming information to make it understandable within their exist mental structure. Where, accommodation is referred to the way in which children current understanding changes repose to new experiences or information. And equilibrium is three step process, where, first children failure to assimilate new information on the other hand, mental structure accommodates the new information in a way that creates a more advanced equilibrium.
Moreover, Piaget's general depiction includes four major stage. The first stage is sensorimotor stage. This stage is occurred between birth to the 2 years. The second stage is Preoperational stage, which is between 2 to 7 years. Third stage is Concrete operational stage is between 7 to 11 years. And the last stage of Piaget's cognitive development theory is formal operational theory, which is between 12 years and above.
However, Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a valuable and helpful guide to teacher in order to use in classrooms .Using this theory in a classroom, teachers and students can get benefit in several ways. Such as this theory helps teacher to assess the current level of the students and guild them in order to gain the new information. As well as, with the help of this theory teachers will be aware to create an effective lesson plans with cratering different level of students.