Piaget theory of cognitive development

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Piaget work has received world wide acclaim and recognition , as well as having a positive impact in areas such as education and social curricula. Though he had made an impact on understanding of the  child cognitive development , his theory of cognitive development has suffered a great deal of critics that it neglects the social nature of human development.(Hook, Watts and Cockroft ,2002).So the following essay will discuss on whether this critic is valid or not based on detail discussion of Piaget theory. The theory of Vygotsky shall also be discussed to prove that indeed social factors play a role .      

Piaget theory of cognitive development neglects the influence of social factors on child cognitive development.(Hook et al ,2002)As stated by Hook et al (2002,p.190)in agreement with critics like “Piaget theory gave insufficient attention to the ways in which children social interaction with their sibling or parents may influence their cognitive development” .Justification of this critic is provided by the fact that Piaget (1952)saw  children as lone scientist who sought to understand and build knowledge of their external world through interaction with the world .According to Piaget as stated in Siegel &Brainerd(1978)cognitive development depend on two factors , internal maturation and external maturation .That is children are incapable of learning some tasks until they reached a certain age When considering cognitive development , Piaget focuses on the mental processes that occur, rather than on the actual measure of the cognitive development.

Clearly justification to this critic of insufficient has been provided by the fact that Piaget sees children as the lone scientists who sought to understand and build knowledge of their external world their interaction with it (Hook et al ,2002).According to Piaget (1960)children actively construct their own cognitive world , he also stated that information is not just poured into children minds from the environment .Clearly  this critic of insufficient attention to social factors  was justified .According to Piaget (1952)as stated in Hook et al (2002p180)”much of what child learns begin by accident –The child accidentally performs some action , perceives it , like it and then repeats the action assimilating it into her or his existing schemes . The above quotation provides evidence that Piaget theory neglected social factors that plays a role on cognitive development of the child. Piaget devised four stages of development spanning from birth to adolescence. The stages progress in an invariant sequence, a child moves systematically through stages and advancement into the next stage depends on the mastery of the proceeding one (1952) The succession of stages involves the movement through that four stages. According to Piaget (1952) Children must move through these stages during their childhood. These include Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concreteoperational, and Formal operational. Stage movement is an important factor of Piaget's definition of cognitive development, because Piaget (1960) states that there are a specific set of criteria that must be met and mastered at each stage. In order to move from the first stage to the next, the child must master that specific set of criteria. (Siegel & Brainerd,1978)

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One may argue that Piaget uses biological approach, or biological adaption to discuss the cognitive development of the child.   This includes our reflexes which occur when certain stimuli trigger an instinctive response. Piaget theory explains how child cognitive  develops through an intellectual regulatory process geared by adaption to the environment.(Siegel & Brainerd,1978). During this on going relationship with the environment the child exhibits certain organisations based upon assimilation, the taking in process of experience, accepting new encounters and fitting them into existing schemes, and accommodation , the reaction of the individual who encounters new experiences that are not ...

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