Running head: ASSIGNMENT 8
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Eight Questions-Jean Piaget
Edith M. Costa
University of Texas at Brownsville
Eight Questions-Jean Piaget
Number One
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Geneva philosopher, writer and composer of the 18th
century. He believed that people develop through various stages and that different forms of
education may be appropriate to each (Doyle & Smith, 2007). Rousseau and Piaget both believed
that children who are allowed to follow their own course of development would develop in a
very optimal way (Watson, 2012).
Number Two
According to Piaget egocentric thinking means the inability of a child to take on another
person’s perspective. Piaget demonstrated this by using a three-dimensional display and asking
children to pick a picture that demonstrated what they were seeing in the display. The children
picked a picture with no difficulty. When they were asked to pick a picture of how someone else
could see this display, most children picked the same picture. This demonstrated that they were
unable to take someone else’s perspective. (Cherry, 2012)
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Number Three
One idea in developing a center for children in the pre-operational stage according to
Piaget’s cognitive developmental stages could include a dress-up center. This center could have
many different costumes such as fireman, policemen, doctor and others, giving the children the
opportunity to role play.
Number Four
Some of the attributes, or descriptors, of this “five to seven year shift” are based on the
knowledge that some neurological changes are occurring along with past experiences dealing
with perspective. They develop the ability of multiple representation in which they can represent
a person or a thing in multiple ways at the same time switching back a forth easily, compare the
representations and coordinate them. They become better in detecting what is true and false.
They develop the ability to deceive much better, to use different strategies to compete, to identify
complex needs of someone else and many other changes. (Watson, 2012)
Number Five
The most significant descriptors of the concrete operational stage are logic and
reversibility. Children in this stage become fairly good in the use of inductive logic. Inductive
logic involves going from specific experiences to a general principal. Reversibility is the most
important development that occurs in this stage. This involves the awareness that actions can be
reversed. Other descriptors are seriation (ability to sort objects), transitivity (ability to recognize
relationships among various things in a serial order), classification (ability to name and identify
(sets of objects according to different characteristics), decentering (taking account different
aspects to solve a problem) and elimination of egocentrisim( ability to see from another’s
perspective).(Cherry, 2012)
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Number Six
Conservation in the concrete stage is defined as what remains the same about an object or
a person while other things change. If you poured the same amount of liquid in two containers of
different size and shape, the liquid would appear to me more on one and less on the other. A
child that is able to identify that it’s the same amount of liquid in both containers, is an example
of conservation. (Watson, 2012)
Number Seven
The concept of kindness was researched by James Youniss, where he asked children to
define what makes a person kind. The preschoolers would define kindness by someone sharing
something that they had plenty of. The children in the concrete stage defined a person being kind
by first identifying a need or a deficiency that would require an act of kindness. An example
would be a blind person trying to cross the street and somebody assisting them. (Watson, 2012)
Number Eight
One way to apply Piaget’s model of cognitive development in elementary is by using a
hands-on approach in lessons. Children at this stage could benefit from a hands-on approach
because they have difficulty with abstract thinking. Using manipulatives (base ten blocks,
counters and others) in a math lesson can help students move from concrete to abstract
operations.
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References
Cherry, K. (2012). Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development. Retrieved July 20,
2012, from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/concreteop.htm
Cherry, K. (2012). Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development. Retrieved July 20, 2012,
from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/preoperational.htm
Doyle, M. E., & Smith, M. K. (2007). Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Nature, Wholeness and
Education. Retrieved July 20, 2012, from http://www.infed.org/thinkers/et-rous.htm
Watson, M. W. (2012). Theories of Human Development. Retrieved July 16, 2012, from
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/tgc/accounts/digitallibrary.aspx
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