Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget Biography

Jean William Fritz Piaget revolutionized how we view cognitive development and learning. Even today, his theory influences education and teaching. He was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland on August 9, 1896. His father, Arthur Piaget, was a historian and archivist who taught medieval literature at the University of Neuchâtel. Piaget often credits his mother for his interest in psychology due to her often neurotic behavior.

From a very young age, Piaget was interested in the natural sciences and even wrote a paper on albino sparrows when he was only 11 years old. He went on to eventually obtain a doctorate from the University of Neuchâtel in zoology. As he continued his studies, he went to Zürich to study with some of the best psychologists of the time including Eugen Bleuler and Carl Jung. In 1923, he married Valentine Châtenay, and together they had three children.

Figure 1: Jean Piaget portrait, commons.wikimedia.com.

His career eventually landed him at a boy's institution called Ecole de la rue de la Grange-aux-Belles working with French psychologist, Alfred Binet. Piaget assisted Binet in developing the first type of intelligence testing. During this time, Piaget began to notice the fundamental differences in how children think versus how adults think. This laid the foundation for some of his most transformative theories.

Jean Piaget Theory

Jean Piaget formulated several theories regarding how children processed the world around them. Jean Piaget's theory of constructivism is one theory that laid the foundation for his theory of cognitive development.

In other words, we're not just born with an understanding of our world. We learn, observe, and imitate to better understand our world. Piaget suggested that each new experience helps children create and/or restructure their schemas.

We all strive to organize and understand the world around us. Through a process called adaptation, Piaget theorized that we reorder our experiences and other sensory information around us to adapt or adjust to our surroundings. This process is an important part of our cognitive development.

Jean Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Before Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development was formalized, many believed that how children think is simply like a miniature adult. But Piaget argued that the thinking of children and adults is fundamentally different. The three main concepts that form the foundation of Piaget's theory of cognitive development are adaptation and equilibration. Assimilation and accommodation are key processes required for adaptation to occur.

Figure 2: Child learning colors through equilibration, Freepik.com.

This cycle of assimilation to accommodation accomplishes equilibrium or balance between your environment and your schema. According to Piaget, equilibration is the process that occurs when children move from one stage of cognitive development to another.

When a child receives new information that goes against their current thinking or schema, they seek to find equilibrium between their thinking and the environment around them. The process goes assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. When a child receives new information that highlights shortcomings in how they think, the process begins again. Equilibration must occur in order for a child to move to the next stage.

Jean Piaget Stages

While every child must engage in equilibration to move to the next stage, not every child moves through the stages at the same rate. Every child is different and the ages set for each stage are only approximate. There are four Jean Piaget stages of cognitive development include the following: the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage. Each stage does not describe a normal level of cognitive functioning but rather the capacity for cognitive functioning. None of the stages can be skipped because each stage essentially lays the groundwork for the next stage.

Sensorimotor Stage

The first stage of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development starts from birth through to around the age of 2. During the sensorimotor stage, children learn and explore their world through their senses as well as their motor skills. This is why many babies explore the world by placing objects in their mouths because the mouth is one of the most sensitive parts of our bodies. It's also why you see babies play with a rattle or a baby mobile hanging from the ceiling. They are learning, connecting, and understanding their new world by observing the cause and effect of their developing motor skills.

As a child gains more experience, their schema begins to shift and they must adapt their thinking in order to engage in equilibration. For example, before age of 8 months, babies lack a cognitive skill called object permanence.

If you were to hide a toy from a very young baby, it is likely they will stop looking for it because to them, the object no longer exists. However, as object permanence begins to develop, they may start to look for an object after it's been hidden, suggesting that on some level they know the object is still there even if they cannot see it.

Figure 3: Peek-a-boo, Freepik.com.

Preoperational Stage

The preoperational stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development spans from around the age of 2 to the age of 7. This stage is can be characterized by the use of pretend play. In other words, children begin to form symbols to represent objects. The development of language is another important characteristic of the preoperational stage. Children go through a constant cycle of adaptation when they are learning a language -- a constant cycle of assimilation and accommodation.

Concrete Operational Stage

The third stage of cognitive development, the concrete operational stage, spans from age of 7 to about age 11. Children at this age begin to think more logically. For example, before this stage, most children struggle with a concept called conservation.

Children who do not yet understand conservation might cry if their friend received the same amount of juice but in a taller cup that appeared to be more. While children at the concrete operational stage display a larger capacity for logical thinking, they still are unable to grasp more theoretical and abstract ways of thinking.

Formal Operational Stage

By the formal operational stage, children are capable of deductive reasoning and abstract thinking. This final stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development spans from around the age of 12 into adulthood. However, not all children and people will achieve this stage. In fact, some never will. Individuals who have never reached this stage might have difficulty solving more abstract mathematical problems.

Jean Piaget Quotes

Piaget's influence reaches through several disciplines, including cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, epistemology, and education. Let's take a look at a few Jean Piaget quotes.

¹ Piaget, J. (1950). The Psychology of Intelligence (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203164730

² Piaget, J. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. (M. Cook, Trans.). W W Norton & Co. https://doi.org/10.1037/11494-000