Hailey Mendez

Jean Piaget Education 201

“What we see changes what we

know. What we know changes
what we see.”
― Jean Piaget
Who is Jean Piaget?

- Born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896

- After high school he earned his PHD in

natural sciences and developed an interest in
psychoanalysis.

- Hired to create an English intelligence tests.

-Promoted his research is studying when

concepts such as justice, time, and quantity University of Neuchâtel
emerge at what age. The school where Jean Piaget
obtained his P.H.D.
Note: Before Piaget, psychology believed that
children were simply less intelligent than
adults.

- Jean Piaget is an eminent developmental

psychologist.
 Why His Theories Stand Out

▪ The focus is on children.

▪ He focuses on WHEN we learn.
▪ There are specific stages.
▪ He believes that children have an ongoing
reorganization process that is changes by biological
maturation and environmental experiences which gets
us to the next “level”.
Jean Piaget with his wife
and three children. ▪ Children learn by connecting what they already know to
what is happening around them.
▪ The goal of the theory?

Jean Piaget and his

daughters
 Theory Overview

▪ Schemas
▪ Adaptation Process: accommodation and assimilation
▪ Stages: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational
▪ Super-Power Cauli-Flower
 Schema
The building blocks of knowledge and intelligence

▪ Can be thought of as units! Vocab To Know

▪ Increased number and complexity Schema: A cohesive, repeatable action

of our schemata bring us to a
state of equilibrium.
▪ A schema can also be looked at as
a "script".
sequence possessing component actions
that are tightly interconnected and
governed by a core meaning.
Schemata: The plural form of schema.

▪ Childrens schemata are less Equilibrium: the balance between what is

complex but vital to maturing. known (the current schemata) and what
is currently being experienced (the
incoming information and new
knowledge).
 Intellectual growth is constantly adjusting and reshaping itself.

The Adaptation Process

Assimilation: trying to deal with a new circumstance through an

existing schema.

Accommodation: The existing schema is being reshaped or a

new schema is being developed.
 Stages of Cognitive Development

▪ Stages occur in order

Formal
▪ Children pass through each Operational
stage
Concrete
▪ Visible changes from one stage Operational
to the next
Preoperational
▪ Stages occur as building blocks
Sensorimotor
Sensorimotor

- This stage occurs from birth to

age two.

- Infants understand the world

through their senses.

- Object Permanence: knowing

an object still exist even when
you can't see it.
 Preoperational

Symbolic Function (ages 2-4)

Children begin to use language to externalize their thoughts and feelings. Their ability to begin using
language is proof that the child can represent language through symbols. During this stage children are
still egocentric therefore during speech, children talk to represent their ideas instead of trying to
communicate. Thus children will participate in parallel play because they are absorbed in their own
private thinking and imagination.

Intuitive Thought (ages4-7)

Children grow curious and what to know how things work and why. At this stage, children begin to
think less symbolically and more intuitively. They begin to organize objects into groups, yet these
groups and commonalities are not consistent.

Symbolic Play
Children represent the world in which they know through symbolic play. Piaget uses the term
animism to describe a child's belief that inanimate objects have human feelings and thoughts. Up to age
4 or 5 children believe that most, if not everything, is alive and by 5 to 7 they believe that only objects
that move have human intentions.
Concrete Operational (ages 7-12)
▪ - Children begin to manage and solve concrete problems and are becoming more flexible in
their thoughts and ideas.

▪ Reversibility: being able to reverse the order of relationships.

▪ Decentering: The child becomes able to consider situations from other points of view.

▪ Conservation: The original amount/volume of an object stays the same even if it take a
different form.

▪ Classification: the ability to sort objects or situations according to any characteristic, such as
size, color, shape, or type.

▪ Seriation: The ability to mentally arrange objects based on quantifiable characteristic.

▪ Transitivity: The ability to recognize relationships in a logical order

 Formal Operational (12-adulthood)
In this stage...
▪ Students are able to
think hypothetically and can
answer "What if" questions.
▪ Can manipulate problems in
their head.
▪ Are able to solve math
equations with variables.
It's important to note that... Jean Piaget Quiz
 Each child goes through the stages in Take this short
this order only.
quiz to test what
 The speed at which they do so is you have learned
determined by biological maturation today.
and how they interact with their
environment.
 You cannot skip a stage.
 In Paget's original description of the
stages he did not include age, he only
indicated the average age for each
stage which is included up above.
Work Cited

Marcin, Ashley. "Piaget Stages of Development: What Are They and How Are
They Used?" Healthline. Healthline Media, 29 Mar. 2018. Web. 12 Nov. 2020.

"Piaget." Liberty University - Course Apps. Psychology 210. Web. 12 Nov. 2020.

"Picture Perfect Playgrounds, Inc." Play Encyclopedia. Web. 12 Nov. 2020.

"Sensorimotor Stage." Web. 12 Nov. 2020.

Smith, Les. "About JPS 2017." The Jean Piaget Society. Aug. 2017. Web. 12 Nov. 2020.