"Classical Piagetian theory is outdated and no longer useful."Critically evaluate this statement in relation to life-span development.

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Developmental Psychology Essay

Submitted to: Conor McGuckin

Submitted by: Ruth Lennon

Student No.: 1061022

“Classical Piagetian theory is outdated and no longer useful.”

Critically evaluate this statement in relation to life-span development.

Life-span development is the scientific study that seeks to understand the ways in which all people change and how they do not change from conception to death.  Until recently developmental psychology focused mainly on childhood and adolescence but, as a greater understanding of adult “crises” arose, developmental psychology has “enlarged to encompass the entire lifespan.” (Bee & Boyd, 2003).  One of the most influential theorists in the realm of development was Swiss born psychologist Jean Piaget.  Piaget specifically studied the cognitive development of children and adolescents.  Unfortunately Piaget failed to recognise that development continued past adolescence and right the way through an individual’s entire life.  It is because of this omission that many criticise and question the validity of Piaget’s theories.

Classical Piagetian theory is a theory of cognitive development centred on adaptation, accommodation and assimilation.  Unlike Locke’s proposal of the “tabula rasa”, Piaget believed that a child’s mind is not a blank slate.  “On the contrary, the child has a host of ideas about the physical and natural world, but these ideas differ from those of adults.”  (Santrock, 2002).  Piaget used his theory on adaptation, the ideas that children took learned knowledge and applied it to a new situation and that they modified existing schemas to include or exclude this new information, to formulate his four infamous stages of cognitive development.  He proposed that all children progress through these four age related stages in their cognitive development and that progress through these stages is in a fixed order.  “Each successive stage builds on, and is derivative of, the previous one when more adaptive cognitive abilities are added to what has previously been achieved.  Transition from one stage to the next entails a fundamental reorganisation of how the child interprets the world and while the order of stages does not change some children reach a particular stage earlier, or later, than others.”  (Mussen, Conger, Kagan & Huston, 1984).

Piaget’s four proposed stages of cognitive development begin with the sensori-motor period from birth to 2 years old.  Between the ages of 2 and six children are thought to be in the pre-operational period.  The third period children pass through is the concrete operational stage from 6 to 12 years old and finally the formal operations period form 12 year old through to adulthood.  Piaget proposed that in the primary stage, the sensori-motor period, children combine motor tasks with co-ordination of new information to develop a way of learning and thinking.  It is also said that within this stage the infant learns the notion of object permanence.  In the pre-operational stage the child learns to focus on symbolism, an ability to think in ideas, and use words to express those ideas.  Piaget felt that children in this second stage were limited by egocentrism, the notion that they could only see things from their own point of view.  Piaget used his experiment with the “mountains and a doll” to illustrate this point.  “Piaget also observed that at this stage children are incapable of understanding conservation so that they do not understand the concept that the form may change but that the quantity may stay the same.”  (Mussen et al, 1984).  In the third stage, the period of concrete operations, the child can think logically and quantitatively but is unable to deal with complex operations or abstract thinking.  Children can now grasp the skill of conservation and can now engage in mental operations that are both flexible and reversible.  In the final stage, the formal operations stage, Piaget theorised that the child can now begin to reason as they are gathering intellectual capabilities that are allowing them to manipulate ideas about hypothetical situations.

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Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has come under many criticisms from different theorists.  We must take into account that Piaget wrote this theory in 1930 when Psychology as a discipline was only taking off.  It would be absurd to presume that unrefined theories from 80 years ago could hold to be totally true in the present day, taking into account the many technological and social advances that have been made.  

Many theorists have further researched the concepts that underlie each of Piaget’s four stages.  There is evidence to support his concepts but a considerable amount of evidence ...

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