Piaget's Theory

Piaget Theory is that the mind uses Cognitive processes such as schemas to develop the mind (Cognitive Development).  There are two processes that are responsible for how children use and adopt their schemas, assimilation(an act in which individuals incorporate new knowledge into existing knowledge) and accommodation (an act in which individuals adjust to new information) Piaget also Believed that cognitive development happened in a sequence stages which are age-related. His four stages are called The Sensorimotor Stage, Preoperational Stage, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational Stage.  The Sensorimotor Stage Birth to 2 years of age the infants get an understanding of the worlds around them by sense of touch sight and hearing.  This includes a baby hearing a noise and turning to find what made that noise or discovering that different objects have different textures.The Preoperational stage age 2 to 7 is when the child expands there use of language and increase in symbolic thought. They are learning how thing are put together such as building simple puzzles or playing with Lego.  The next stage is the concrete operational Stage last from about 7 to 11 years of age. In this stage the child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different categories such as comparing sizes, knowing that cookies are made from adding different ingredients together. Piaget`s last stage is called the Formal operational stage and emerges between 11 to 15 years of age. This stage individuals move beyond reasoning about only concrete experiences and think in more abstract ,idealistic and logical ways.   This includes being able to reason through different possible choices and outcomes.

Although Piaget`s does understand what the basic learning skills of children in those stages his theory does have some flaws.  His theory does not take into account that children all learn at a different pace some are quicker learners and developers, what one child is able to do when they are 1 another child may not be able to do until they are 3.  In other cases a child can excel, where most children are doing a certain task at the age of 14 this child is only 10 and is understanding at the same level. Piaget also didn`t take it to account that culture and education play a role in how a child`s mind develops. The way children are brought up in a culture can have a large affect on how they develop. Depending on the teacher a child has can also play a role in how the child develops if they have a teacher that can help student to achieve higher standards then normal they would reach the next stage in Piaget`s theory before they were suppose to.

While Piaget`s theory is right that at certain ages in children`s life their minds is learning and developing. I Believe that Piaget`s Theory is only that a guideline as to where a child mind development should be because each child leans and develops differently based on family,and culture and that fact that no two children are the same