Piaget’s Developmental-Cognitive of Learning, Essay Example

Introduction

Piaget’s model, which is known as the cognitive development model has often been cited as one of the most comprehensive theories when it comes to explaining human intelligence in terms of its nature and progress. In this particular model, Piaget approaches human intelligence from the perspective of knowledge emphasizing more specifically on its nature. According to Dick and Müller (2017), this theory has proven reliable because it considers the gradual process through which humans attain unto knowledge, construct, and deploy it in practical situations.  Scholars have been more interested in determining why Piaget was interested in developing the theory (Tanner, 2016). Whereas some have suggested that he was driven by the usual psychologist’s curiosity, others hold the opinion that he must have been driven by a much more powerful instinct. On the same note, Cohen (2017) believes that in designing the theory Piaget was mainly intrigued after having observed that while solving problems children exhibited different levels of inclinations to mistakes. Such a point of view would also suggest that Piaget developed the theory after observing that children, unlike adults who are prone to knowledge limitations, just act differently because they think differently.  These observations would explain why he came up with several key concepts to help explore the gradual process encompassing human intelligence (Nickerson, Perkins & Smith, 2014). This essay intends to explore key concepts embodied in Developmental-Cognitive of Learning as presented by Piaget and as well explore the phases of his stage theory attaching examples in the context of each case.

Key Concepts

Assimilation

According to Piaget, assimilation simply means that when faced with the need to adapt humans react by taking new information and experiences so that they can integrate the two and incorporate them into their existing ideas. Thus, assimilation is often viewed in terms of its subjective nature. In an attempt to explain why Piaget chose such a perspective on this particular concept, Burman (2016) opines that people have an innate tendency to modify their experiences and acquired information in a way that makes their interpretations align to their pre-existing beliefs. Consequently, assimilation, as presented by Piaget, plays an irreplaceable role in determining the way in which people interpret their immediate environment (O’donnell & King, 2014).  For instance, when going through childhood assimilation can be understood by considering the manner in which children are consistently integrating information together with new experiences to form a new understanding of their world. However, integration always takes place within the context of existing knowledge. On the other hand, it is important to note that the process continues long after childhood. According to Demetriou, Shayer, and Efklides (2016), as people come across new things they eventually interpret their experiences in a way that causes them to make minor and major adjustments to existing ideologies. However, assimilation is more relevant when I come to children. As Burman (2016) explains, this is because the only way that a child can make sense of the world around is by applying knowledge that has already been gathered. From such a perspective, assimilation encompasses fitting reality and aligning it to present experiences to form a specific cognitive pattern and structure.

Accommodation

In explaining accommodation as a process, Piaget begins by describing the schema concept. According to his description, schemas are connotative of organized knowledge patterns (Nickerson, Perkins & Smith, 2014). This implies that people’s minds have been wired to organize acquired information into schemas so that they can be able to create a proper understanding of their world. Having obtained such a perspective, Piaget goes ahead to explain accommodation in terms of events that unfold in the human mid in cases where encounters with new experiences and, or acquisition of new information cause an individual to modify his/her existing schemas (Tanner, 2016). More importantly, accommodation may cause an individual to alter existing schema in a way that helps accommodate newly attained information instead of making new information compatible with an existing schema.

It is, however, important to note that accommodation should always function in tandem for the learning process to be effective and complete (O’donnell & King, 2014). For example, assuming that an individual has a neighbor that has a child who is polite and one day he witnesses the child throwing stones at his house, it will seem that the child is becoming rude. Having known the child, the individual will not have expected such kind of behavior from the child. Assimilation will come into play and the individual will likely dismiss the rude behavior because he/she might have learned such behavior from others. This means that the owner of the house is not revising his/her opinion about the neighbor’s child but is rather adding any new information. Eventually, the owner will dismiss the offense since the child is still polite but will have come to terms with the child’s mischievous personality. In light of the accommodation principle, the owner of the house may decide to revise his/her opinion concerning the child eventually forming a new ideology. In light of this example, assimilation maintains the schema intact whereas accommodation breaks the status quo (Nickerson, Perkins & Smith, 2014).

Equilibration

Piaget explains equilibration as a principle that encompasses cognitive balancing when new knowledge comes into perspective and an individual had already acquired old knowledge and experience (O’donnell & King, 2014). As such, assimilation must first take place to precede equilibration. Further, Cohen (2017) observes that Piaget’s idea of equilibration has been useful in explaining childhood development because it shows how assimilation occurs to bring into alignment new information in light of current mental schemas as well as information accommodation that leads to adaptations in an individual’s thinking modalities. For example, a child that is used to fish cooked in his/her home can visit a neighbor and be served the same meal. However, this time the child hates the fishmeal. According to Piaget, initially, the child begins by assimilating the new knowledge from a perspective of equilibration. This means that reflecting back to the tasty fishmeal’s he/she harbors a feeling that all fishmeals must be tasty and delicious. As equilibration takes a toll, the child will taste the food repeatedly but will still find it displeasing. As such, equilibration can be understood as a state that is marked by cognitive conflict as well as stress (Tanner, 2016). Eventually, the child comes to a point of attempting to deal with dis-equilibration and eventually arrives at the conclusion that not all fishmeal are tasty and delicious.

Play

Conventionally, children’s playing was viewed as merely an activity that leaves them satisfied and tired. However, Piaget provided new insights into this childhood activity arguing that ‘play’ represents an orderly learning process (Nickerson, Perkins & Smith, 2014). This implies that play is a crucial part of cognitive development that involves coded learning languages. However, it requires proper environmental stimuli to stimulate experiences that will foster child maturity. More importantly, he embeds the concepts of assimilation and accommodation to present the notion that play incorporates activities and observations that affect childhood schemas (Tanner, 2016). Consequently, as children develop and play each playing activity creates particular schemata based not only on the experiences but also on the knowledge acquired. Children, therefore, store these as the basis for reference then assimilate and accommodate other experiences and pieces of information that they acquire during their play activities as they continue to mature.

Imitation

According to Piaget, imitation connotes an advanced behavior by children that involves them observing and replicating the behaviors of others. This would explain why this particular concept has become so relevant in expounding on socialization and observational learning (Demetriou, Shayer & Efklides, 2016).  For children, imitation always begins with their aptitude in recognizing that the actions of another person correspond to movements that they can copy using the same body parts. Despite the usefulness of this concept, numerous scholars have questioned the age at which children can begin to learn by imitation (O’donnell & King, 2014). Nonetheless, it is undeniable that the best way in which children learn is by copying what they witness adults doing.

The Stages

Sensorimotor Phase

This stage takes place between birth and 2 years (Nickerson, Perkins and Smith, 2014). According to Piaget, the phase is marked by several development-related changes. These are highlighted below.

• Infants acquisition of knowledge concerning the world from movements and sensations (O’donnell & King, 2014).
• Learning about their environment by relying on basic functionalities like grasping, listening, and sucking (Tanner, 2016).
• Infants realize that the existence of things is not entirely based on the fact that they can be seen.
• A realization that their actions play a role in determining the course of events.

As Dick and Müller (2017) observe, Piaget was right in asserting that this stage is marked by dramatic growth since children are consistently discovering new things and experiences. An example of how the stage takes place in the real world is whereby children often suck their thumbs accidentally but later repeat the action intentionally because they find it pleasurable.

Pre-Operational Stage

This stage is marked by the surfacing of new levels of psychological functionalities and takes place as children end their second year (Nickerson, Perkins and Smith, 2014). More importantly, the phase kicks off when children are starting to speak at age 2 and may go on for around five years. The characteristics highlighted below form major landmarks at this stage.

• Symbolic thinking as children learns the use of words and images (Cohen, 2017).
• Egocentrism develops as the children struggle to adopt other people’s perspectives.
• As they become better in using the language they think from concrete perspectives (O’donnell & King, 2014).

It is also important to note that during this phase children have issues in comprehending the place of constancy. For instance, when teaching pre-school an instructor can divide a clay lump into pieces that are equal in size.  Before giving one of the children the opportunity to choose one for playing, the instructor makes them into different shapes. Assuming that one of the pieces is flat and the other is ball-like, a child that is undergoing this stage is likely to go for the one that is flat just because it seems to be bigger.

Concrete Operational Phase

This particular phase takes place between the ages of 7 and 11 (Burman, 2016). The landmark features of this stage are highlighted below.

• Children begin to exhibit logical thinking capabilities when it comes to concrete events (O’donnell & King, 2014).
• They come to terms with conservation.
• Their thinking patterns begin to depict better organization levels and still exhibit concreteness (O’donnell & King, 2014).
• They begin to apply inductive logic in that they can reason from particular pieces of information to generate general and concrete conclusions.

For example, an instructor teaching in pre-school gives one of his/her apprentice’s two glasses. One of these glasses is taller than the other glass. Then the instructor takes another glass and pours water into it. After this, the instructor pours the same amount of water into the two glasses that are different in height. If the child is at this phase, he/she will be able to tell that the two glasses contain the same amount of water.

Formal Operational Stage

This stage takes place as children enter age 12 (Tanner, 2016) and are marked by the following features.

• The young adult can now think in abstract terms and reason more concretely when it comes to hypothetical issues.
• Individuals can now deploy deductive logic more efficiently (Tanner, 2016).
• They begin to take matter concerning morality and politics more seriously (Demetriou, Shayer & Efklides, 2016).

A good example of this phase is a parent that presents a young daughter with the alternative that if she goes out with her boyfriend and comes home past midnight she will be grounded for one week. Assuming that the young woman is above 11 years, she will most likely opt to go out and come back before the stipulated time or not go out at all. This is because she can now make proper and logical judgments.

Conclusion

This essay explored key concepts embodied in Developmental-Cognitive of Learning as presented by Piaget and as well discussed the phases of his stage theory attaching examples in the context of each. One of the major discoveries is that the processes as described do not take place without assimilation and accommodation. This is because each of the stages as described by Piaget can be understood in terms of acquisition and interpretation of new knowledge and experiences. Further, as children move on to maturity their interpretation and use of attained knowledge become more logical and abstract. One thing is very clear-, by the time they are past 11 years, children should be able to engage in deductive reasoning.

References

Burman, E. (2016). Deconstructing developmental psychology. Routledge.

Cohen, D. (2017). How the child’s mind develops. Routledge.

Demetriou, A., Shayer, M., & Efklides, A. (2016). Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development: Implications and applications for education. Routledge.

Dick, A. S., & Müller, U. (Eds.). (2017). Advancing developmental science: Philosophy, theory, and method. Taylor & Francis.

Nickerson, R. S., Perkins, D. N., & Smith, E. E. (2014). The teaching of thinking. Routledge.

O’donnell, A. M., & King, A. (2014). Cognitive perspectives on peer learning. Routledge.

Tanner, D. (2016). Jean Piaget’s Debt to John Dewey. AASA Journal of Scholarship & Practice, 13(1).