Jean Piaget
By: Madison Carson
Background
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896. He was the oldest child of Arthur Piaget, professor of medieval literature at the University, and of Rebecca Jackson.. At age 11, while he was a student at Neuchâtel Latin high school, he wrote a short notice on an albino sparrow. This short paper is generally considered as the start of a brilliant scientific career made of over sixty books and several hundred articles. After high school graduation, he studied natural sciences at the University of Neuchâtel where he obtained a Ph.D. In 1921, he became director of studies at the J.-J. Rousseau Institute in Geneva. In 1923 he married his wife Valentine and they had three children named Jacqueline,Lucien, and Laurent. Their intellectual language was studied by piaget. jean piaget was known for his theory of cognitive development in children. this consisted of 4 stages. the first stage is sensorimotor which is ages 0 to 24 months. the second stage is preoperational which are ages 2 to 5 years old and during this they learn long development and role play. the third stage is concrete operational and this is ages 6 to 11 and during this stage the child learns logical thought and environment manipulation. the last and final stage for his theory is formal operational which is ages 12 to 16 and during this stage they learn reasoning. For instance, suppose a 7-10 year old child is asked, "What if there was a hungry dog in the kitchen and Mother dropped a hot dog on the floor. What do you think would happen?" Most children at this age will correctly guess that the dog ate the hotdog, particularly if they have any experience with dogs. Piaget called this type of mental operation a "concrete operation" . Jean Piaget theory has helped us understand children s development by showing us an understanding of how their mind develops and works.
Piaget's Developmental Theory: an Overview (Davidson FIlms, Inc.)