Cognitive Development

Overview

Constructivism is the term for Piaget’s theory that views development as a process of continuous adaptation throughout life. According to constructivism, people create meaning via their interactions with one another and their environments. New information is acquired from each interaction, which the person arranges into a mental model known as a schema. Therefore, adaptation refers to the manner in which thinking and acting are combined to move through and live in the outside world. Assimilation and accommodation are two complementary processes that must be balanced in order for adaptation to occur. The process by which a person absorbs new information is known as assimilation. Accommodation occurs when someone is required to modify one of their prior schemas due to the acquisition of new information. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development has four stages that an individual will go through throughout their life.

  • Sensorimotor

    • ages 0-2

    • The types of thought are motor schemas, sensory info, and imitation.

    • The learned skills are object permeance and language.

    • The types of play are sensorimotor play, functional play, and constructive play.

  • Preoperations

    • ages 2-7

    • The types of thought are egocentrism, symbolic, representation, and animalistic thought.

    • The learned skills are conservation, reversibility, classification, and decentration.

    • They types of play are symbolic play and make-believe play.

  • Concrete Operations

    • ages 7-11

    • The types of thought are concrete and logical.

    • The learned skills are conservation, operations, centration, and hierarchical classification.

    • They tend to play games with rules.

  • Formal Operations

    • ages 11 & up (if ever)

    • The type of thought is abstract thought.

    • The learned skills are hypothetico-deductive reasoning and critical thinking.

    • They tend to create social relationships.

Relating Cognitive Development

Make-believe play is a prevalent type of play in the preoperations thought stage. I used to love playing house and teacher when I was in this stage. I once was given old teaching materials from one of my teachers who no longer wanted or needed them anymore. I was so excited about this because I could play teacher with real teaching materials. When I played teacher with my friends, I was usually the teacher and not the student. I had a lot of fun giving out assignments and pretending to grade them. When I played house, all of my friends were involved. We would even assign certain tasks and responsibilities to each other. Usually, I would “cook” in the kitchen” or “take care” of the children. Playing in this way had allowed me to act out and develop my preexisting schemas of teacher and mother. Furthermore, pretend play enhanced my language and cognitive abilities while teaching me important social skills.

Cognitive Development in My Future Career

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is essential in understanding the thought processes of children, which will then help individuals better assist children in learning. A 5-year-old, for instance, needs aid in language, social, and cognitive abilities that will help prepare them for kindergarten. But at this age, children need a healthy mix of structured learning and pretend play, as well as constructive play. It is my job to make sure that children are learning but in ways that make sense for them at their age. As someone who wants to work with children, it is crucial to teach them the fundamental concepts like colors, shapes, numbers, ect. and then provide play that help reinforce these concepts. In the future, I will cater to the children and adjust to their needs for what is appropriate for them.

Winsor, D.L., Murrell, V.S., & Magun-Jackson, S. (Eds.) (2017). Lifespan Development: An Educational Psychology Perspective (4th ed.).