While there is no general theory of cognitive development, the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is credited with developing some of the seminal ideas about how we mature on a cognitive level. Cognitive theory concerns itself with the way children and adolescents process information. The manner in which we learn is truly procedural in nature, and it is dictated by the physiological state of the brain.
Learning and cognition have their origins as a basic survival tool. In order to thrive, animals must have a good understanding of their environments and adapt to new challenges accordingly. However, a baby not born with its brain's potential fully realized. It takes most of childhood to develop it and Piaget conjectured that cognitive development occurs in stages. As these stages progress, the child's thought processes become more and more sophisticated.
We should first step back and understand how information is processed. According to Piaget's model, adaptation occurs when people encounter a previously unknown stimulus. This can be done in two ways: by assimilating the information into existing schema, or accommodating the information into a new schema.
Cognitive Development
As an example, let's imagine that a young child is told that an animal that has four legs and barks is a dog. On a camping trip, the child sees a wolf and it begins barking. This child (correctly) concludes that a wolf is a type of dog. This would be an example of assimilation.
On the other hand, imagine the child is watching television and draws the (incorrect) conclusion that any animal with four legs and fur is a dog. At a relative's house, he sees a cat and exclaims "Mom, look at the dog!" The mom explains to the child that not all furry, four-legged animals are dogs-this is a cat. The child accommodates this new information and learns that dogs and cats are different types of animals.
With an understanding of how information is processed, we can now explore the cognitive stages of Piaget's model. The sensorimotor stage occurs from birth until age two (Papaj, 2006). In addition to having an inexperienced and underdeveloped brain, toddlers lack the language skills necessary for self-reflection. Their ability to interact with the outer world and evaluate it is limited to experiencing it via the five major senses. This is why infants are often seen placing things in their mouths.
Following the sensorimotor stage is the preoperational stage that occurs until about the seventh year of childhood. This stage marks the beginning of rational thought. No longer is the child limited to experiencing the world via the senses. While the child can now make judgments about his or her environment, this takes an egocentric view. In other words, a child in this stage can not judge an object from another's viewpoint; in fact, a child will not even be aware that other people may have differing opinions. On the other hand, the child has gotten significantly better at evaluating objects. Given a group of items, the child can now arrange them by shape, size, and color.
From about ages seven to eleven, children are in the concrete operational stage. By these ages, children have grown accustomed to using symbols to represent objects; language and mathematical skills have progressed significantly. In addition, thought has become less egocentric. A child in this stage is quite comfortable seeing things from another's viewpoint. Children in this stage can also evaluate objects using more than one criterion at once. For example, a child can estimate how old someone is by studying multiple cues such as firmness of skin, height, and hair. In earlier stages, the child would use a single, unreliable cue such as height to estimate (Papaj, 2006).
The previous stages culminate with the final stage, formal operational. This stage takes place from about age eleven onwards. Beginning at this stage, children can think not only in concrete, tangible terms, but also in the abstract and hypothetical. Deductive reasoning is now possible, and children can use existing knowledge to form hypotheses about new experiences.
It's worth noting, however, that this stage is not always easy to reach. Epstein (2006) asserts that two-thirds of adults lack the critical thinking skills illustrative of the formal operational stage. That is to say, two out of every three adults in the United States does not develop beyond the concrete operational stage. I would posit that this is a serious problem in a society where we expect adults to understand the major political, environmental, and economical issues we face. A greater effort must be made to teach these skills in schools.
With an understanding of Piaget's model, we can now look at a theory by one of his contemporaries. Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist that formulated the social development theory of learning. This theory states that development is shaped by a child's social interactions; physiology alone cannot account for cognitive development. This concept was referred to as the Zone of Proximal Development. Whereas Piaget believed that cognitive development took place mainly in childhood, Vygotsky believed that development is a continuous process. He believed it extended into one's adult life and continued until death, and is too complex to be compartmentalized into stages (Driscoll, 1994; Hausfather, 1996).
The Zone of Proximal Development is worth examining further. This concept is made apparent when a child is taught by someone with a greater skill level. A gap exists between the child's skill and the teacher's skill. As the child learns, this gap narrows and thus it can be argued that learning is a social process. Vygotsky reasoned that the skills, such as language, that developed in the preoperational stage only served to bridge the gap between the sensorimotor stage and higher rational thought. Viewed another way, Vygotsky believed that rational thought could not take place without language.
It's quite possible both Piaget's model and Vygotsky's model have merit. In fact, I don't even consider the models to be incompatible; perhaps Vygotsky simply misunderstood Piaget's intentions of creating an age-based model. The different stages of Piaget's cognitive development theory merely served as guidelines in understanding the way children develop. In addition, the notion that learning is a social process is self-evident-otherwise we could lock a child in a room for ten years and have her come out understanding multiplication and the proper use of analogies. Of course learning is a social process; to suggest otherwise is absurd-at least in the case of children. Finally, I don't believe Piaget thought that development ends during adolescence. The mere fact universities exist would suggest otherwise. Rather, Piaget believed that a properly socialized child would have all the tools necessary to use higher-level thinking by adolescence. From that point, it is up to the child to decide whether honing his or her skills is a worthwhile endeavor.
Now let's briefly explore the manner in which elementary schoolteachers can apply Piaget's theory. Kindergarten and first grade teachers have the responsibility of introducing children to numbers and letters. In this preoperational stage, children learn to read and do basic arithmetic. Perhaps more importantly, children begin the socialization process in earnest, away from parents and family members. The desired result of this socialization process is for children to lose their egocentric view of the world and begin displaying empathy.
In second to about fifth grade, children are in the concrete operational stage. Teachers of these children should provide students with numerous examples and demonstrations when introducing new material. Concepts that involve classification are best introduced during this stage-a good example would be taxonomy, which involves explaining the distinct characteristics of different types of animals.
In middle school and high school, students are in the formal operational stage and are now prepared for more abstract thought. Science becomes a much more important part of the curriculum at this stage, and students are expected to interpret and analyze much more complex ideas.
Applications of Vygotsky's ideas are a bit more nebulous, much like his model itself. Teachers of all grades should strive to improve their students' language skills, as all learning will be dependent upon a child's ability to communicate. Activities should be challenging and social in nature. In the later years of childhood, group work should be emphasized to allow reinforcement of ideas amongst peers; this smaller gap in proficiency may lead to more incremental learning.This may be easier for some students who find the material difficult.
The ability to think critically is the desired result of walking children through these stages of learning. Critical thought is perhaps the single most important thing a school can do for its students to prepare them for life as an adult. This would suggest that factual information is of secondary importance-the real duty is in teaching students to communicate and analyze information effectively.
Cognitive Development
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REFERENCES:
Bhattacharya, K. & Han, S. (2001). Piaget and cognitive development. Retrieved June 21, 2007, from Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Web site: [http://www.coe.uga.edu/epltt/piaget.htm].
Papaj, L. (2006). Jean Piaget's stage theory. Retrieved June 21, 2007, from Evolution, Learning and Culture Web site: [http://evolution.massey.ac.nz/].
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