Brittany Portwood. Educ 2130. Dalton State College. March

Brittany Portwood EDUC 2130 Dalton State College March 23, 2017 Introduction Psychology is full of theories that explain why we think the way we think. Of those theories, is the popular Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Jean Piaget introduced a variety of ideas and concepts to the world of psychology describing logical thinking in children and adolescents. To fully comprehend just how valuable his theories are today, it is important to explore the life of Jean Piaget, his educational background, and the stages of cognitive development and how the stages impact the classroom. This will give a further analysis and explanation of how Piaget has helped to shape our viewpoints as teachers today. Biographical Background of (Jean†¦show more content†¦By studying the cognitive development of children and adolescents, Piaget identified four major stages of mental growth which are sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete, and formal operational. He believed that all children pass through these phases to advance to the next level of cognitive development and in each stage children demonstrate new intellectual abilities and increasingly complex understanding of the world (Zhou Brown, 2015). He also believes that no stages can be skipped and that the intellectual development always follows the sequence. The first stage of Piaget’s cognitive development is sensorimotor, which begins at birth and last until eighteen months to two years of age. This stage is the use of motor activity without the use of symbols, so when it comes to this stage is based on physical interactions and experiences and knowledge is very limited. Infants cannot predict reactions and therefore must constantly experiment and learn through trial and error (Zhou Brown, 2015). A good example of this would include shaking a rattle or putting objects in the mouth. As infants become more mobile their ability to develop cognitively increases and early language development begins. Object performance also occurs at seven to nine months, demonstrating that memory is developing. The next stage is the pre-operational stage, which usually occurs during the period of twenty-four