The Psychology Book (83 page)

264 JEAN PIAGET

the world around them as they move

IN CONTEXT

through the developmental stages.

He also believed that it is of primary

APPROACH

S
omewhere between his

roots as a precocious young

biologist and his later

fascination with epistemology, Jean

importance to nurture and guide

Genetic epistemology

Piaget carved out his own niche in

children on this journey, giving

BEFORE

a discipline that he called genetic

them the freedom to experiment

epistemology, the study of how

1693
English philosopher

and explore on their own, in a very

intelligence changes as children

John Locke’s
Some Thoughts

individual, trial-and-error manner.

grow. Piaget was not interested in

Concerning Education
suggests

The task of a good teacher is,

comparing levels of intelligence

a child’s mind is a tabula rasa,

therefore, simply to support children

between children of different ages

or blank slate.

on their journey through these

(quantitative cognitive change);

stages, constantly encouraging

1780s
German philosopher

his interests lay in the natural

their creativity and imagination,

Immanuel Kant introduces the

development of mental skills over

because “the goal of education is

concept of the schema and

time (qualitative cognitive change).

to create men and women who are

suggests that morality

Quantitative studies make possible

capable of doing new things.”

develops independently of

numerical comparisons, but Piaget

authority figures through

wanted to explore differences in

Learning is active

interaction with peers.

the types, experience, and qualities

One theme that pervades Piaget’s

of children’s learning, which

theory of intellectual development

AFTER

required “qualitative” research.

is the concept of learning as an

1907
Italian educator

Breaking away from the prevalent

active personal process. From

Dr. Maria Montessori

behaviorist model, which had

infancy through childhood, he

opens the first Montessori

linked child development entirely

says, learning arises from a child’s

school, which encourages

with environmental factors, Piaget

natural desire to sense, explore,

independence and respect for

decided to explore the innate, or

move, and then master. For this

natural developmental stages.

inborn, capacities that he believed

reason Piaget had many misgivings

guide children’s progression

about the notion of standardized

1970s–80s
Many Western

through a series of age-defined

testing, in which children undergo

education systems incorporate

developmental stages.

preformatted tests that have

a more child-centered

Piaget believed that children

“correct” answers to provide

approach to learning.

are active and autonomous learners,

quantitative measures of

using their senses to interact with

intelligence. While working on

A child’s cognitive processes are

Children move through
four stages

fundamentally different
from

of development
autonomously and

those of an adult.

independently.

Teachers must
provide tasks

The goal of education is to

that are appropriate to the child’s stage

create men and women who are

of development, and
nurture

capable of doing new things.

independent thinking and creativity.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 265

See also:
Alfred Binet 50–53 ■ Jerome Bruner 164–65 ■ Lev Vygotsky 270 ■ Erik Erikson 272–73 ■ Françoise Dolto 279

■ Lawrence Kohlberg 292–93 ■ Jerome Kagan 339

standardizing intelligence tests

for Alfred Binet in the early 1920s,

he became interested less in a

child’s ability to produce correct

answers than in what those

answers actually were. Their

Education, for most

explanations revealed that

people, means trying to lead

children’s assumptions about how

the child to resemble the

the world works are very different

typical adult of his society.

to those of adults, leading Piaget to

Jean Piaget

believe that children not only think

differently to adults, but also that

children of different ages have

different methods of thinking.

The evolving mind

Since the 17th century, the

Children are not mini adults
who

idea that a child is effectively

simply do not yet know as much as

a miniature adult had held sway.

adults; rather, they see the world

Empiricist philosophers of the time

differently and interact with it in

had suggested that a child’s brain

a wholly distinct way.

works exactly like an adult’s, but has

fewer associations. Another group of

impersonal list of questions, this

reaching for a toy. So Piaget

thinkers, the psychological nativists,

flexible method allowed the child’s

concluded that action, rather than

claimed that certain concepts—

answers to determine the

social interaction, is the source

such as the ideas of time, space,

subsequent question. By following

of thought at this stage.

and number—are innate, or “hard-

the child’s line of thought, Piaget

This discovery formed part of

wired” into the brain, so babies

believed he could better understand

his theory that every child passes

are born with an ability to make

the processes underlying it. His

through various stages of cognitive

use of them. Piaget’s suggestion

rejection of a notion of quantitative

development, and that these stages

that children’s mental processes—

or measurable intelligence led to

are different in quality and are

from infancy to adolescence—are

some groundbreaking theories of

hierarchical. A child only moves

fundamentally different to an adult’s

childhood cognitive development.

on to the next stage upon genuine

was a radical and controversial

completion of the current stage. In

departure from this view.

Developing the intellect

studies and observations, Piaget

Piaget himself claimed that it

Piaget initially believed that social

determined that all children pass

is vitally important to understand

factors, such as language and

through the stages in the same

the formation and evolution of

contact with family members and

sequence, without skipping any or

intelligence during childhood,

peers, impacted most on children’s

regressing to previous ones. This is

because this is the only way we

intellectual development. However,

not a process that can be rushed,

can reach a full understanding of

while studying infants, he realized

and although children generally

human knowledge. His use of

that for them language is less

tend to go through the same stage

psychotherapeutic interviewing

important and their own activity is

at roughly the same age, each

techniques to ask children to

paramount. In the first few days of

individual child has his or her

explain their answers was inspired,

life, babies have limited bodily

own pace of development.

and it became an important tool

movements—mainly crying and

The four stages defined by

in all his research. Rather than

sucking—though they quickly

Piaget represent levels in the

adhering to a pre-determined and

begin to add new actions, such as

development of intelligence ❯❯

266 JEAN PIAGET

The Four Stages of Development

?

1
At the
sensorimotor

2
Children begin

3
During the
concrete

4
Verbal reasoning and

stage, babies learn about

to arrange objects

operational
stage, children

hypothetical thinking

the world through touch

logically during the

learn that quantities can

develop in the
formal

and their other senses.

pre-operational
stage.

take different forms.

operational
stage.

and, as such, they provide a list of

government.” Intelligent behavior,

begin to develop and use internal

the “schemas” that children make

according to Piaget, is comprised of

images, symbols, and language.

use of at that particular moment in

a growing collection of schemas.

This constitutes the second, or

their development. A schema is a

pre-operational, stage when a

representation in the mind of a set

Four stages of development

child is primarily interested in

of ideas, perceptions, and actions

Piaget’s first stage is called the

how things look or appear. They

that provide a mental structure

sensorimotor stage, and this spans

will demonstrate skills such as

to help us organize our past

the first two years of a child’s life.

arranging objects in a logical order

experiences, and prepare us for

During this period, infants learn

(according to height, for example),

future experiences. During infancy

about the world primarily through

or comparing two objects (such as

and early childhood, a schema can

their senses (sensori-) and through

blocks) through shared attributes,

be as simple as “things I can eat.”

physical action or movement

focusing on one perceptual quality

However, as children grow, their

(motor). Children at this stage are

(such as size or color) at a time.

schemas become more complex,