Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

By Christine Girouxhttp://www.google.com/search?hl=en&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS397US397&q=piaget&ion=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=617&wrapid=tlif133462090889810&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=7rKMT9K4HqTn0QHB3-D3CQ

Piaget’s four stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational Formal operational

How it is related to two articles How the stages are related to the movie Life as a

house. How the stages are related to personal

experiences.

Introduction

Sensorimotor (Birth – 2 years) Infants construct an understanding of the world by

coordination of their sensory experiences. The child is learning about themselves and their

environment through motor and reflex actions. Example… experience hearing, seeing, sucking,

reaching and touching Children are able to realize that things continue to exist

even when no longer present to the sense. Example: Hiding an object under a pillow or blanket to see if the baby finds the object.

First stage of Cognitive Development

(Santrock, 2009)

Preoperational (2-7 years) Children learn to use and to represent objects by images,

words and drawings. They are able to form stable concepts as well as mental

reasoning. Children want to know the answers to all sorts of

questions (ask “why” questions) Children are able to classify objects by a single feature

such as grouping all red blocks together. Children have difficulty taking the viewpoint of others.

Second stage of Cognitive Development

(Santrock, 2011)

Concrete operational Stage (7-11years)

logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning but only in concrete situations.

Concrete operations allow the child to coordinate several characteristics rather than focus on a single property of an object.

Children now can do mentally what they could only do physically.

During this stage children can also classify objects according to different features and can place them in order such as size.

Third stage of Cognitive Development

(Santrock, 2011)

Formal operational stage (11-Adulthood)

During this stage individuals think in a more abstract and logical way and no longer need concrete objects to make rational judgments.

Individuals can now solve problems and reach conclusions.

Fourth stage of Cognitive Development

Personal Example: Choosing what college to attend after high school and what college would be the best fit for my major. (Santrock, 2011)

George finds out he has cancer and slowly reconnects with his son Sam over the summer. He also builds his dream house.

Sam changes drastically towards the end of the movie and helps builds his fathers house with him. When he inherits the house he decides to give the property to a disabled woman living in a trailer park, rather than occupying it himself or selling it for profit

Examples From The Movie Life as a house

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&cp=9&gs_id=6&xhr=t&q=life+as+a+house&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ADSA_enUS397US397&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1366&bih=617&ion=1&wrapid=tljp133461993623806&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=Hq-MT--AEML30gGS1ZTICQ

Applying Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Mathematics Instruction

Author: Bobby Ojose

This article describes stages of cognitive development in each of the four stages of development with an emphasis on their importance to mathematical development.

Sensorimotor stage ~ counting preoperational stage ~ Problem solving with items such as blocks. Can do simple adding but cannot do the reverse. concrete operation Stage ~ weight or volume ~ability to order objects by length Formal stage ~ evaluating logical arguments ~ Concepts to real-life situations

Article Example 1

Homework and the freedom to think (free play is a better form of homework)

sensorimotor stage - children are exploring without parent instruction and are in the free play stage. Preoperational stage- children are getting so much homework and little free play. Parents are helping with homework and this results in the child not learning. Concrete operational stage- the child promotes the development of rational thought by free play. Formal stage- Abstract and hypothetical reasoning – Philosophical discussion

Article Example 2

Using Piaget's stages to help better understand how my nephew thinks.

Using Piaget’s stages at work with my students. Help plan group and individual activities around their ability.

Personal Example

Conclusion

SensorimotorPreoperational Concrete operational Formal operational

Good for teachers to understand how students learn and think by understanding Piaget’s stages.

Ojose, Bobby. "Applying Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development to Mathematics Instruction." Applying Piaget's Theory (2005): 5. Print.

Life As A house. Dir. Irwin Winkler. 2001

Crain W. Homework and the Freedom to Think. Encounter [serial online]. Winter2007 2007;20(4):14-19. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed April 16, 2012.

Santrock, John. Educational Psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies,Inc, 2011. Print.

Works Cited