We think of early childhood as not
only a period of amazing physical growth, but how it is also a time of
remarkable mental development. Cognitive abilities that are associated with
memory, reasoning, problem-solving and thinking continue to emerge throughout
childhood. When it comes to childhood cognitive development, it would be near impossible
to avoid mentioning the work of psychologist Jean Piaget.
After receiving his doctoral degree
at age 22, Jean Piaget began a career that would have a profound impact on both
psychology and education. Through his work with Alfred Binet, Piaget developed
an interest in the intellectual development of children. Based upon his
observations, he concluded that children are not less intelligent than adults,
they simply think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery
"so simple only a genius could have thought of it."Piaget created a
theory of cognitive development that described the basic stages that children
go through as they mentally mature. He believed that children are like
"little scientists," actively trying to make sense of the world
rather than simply soaking up information passively.
One of the key concepts in Piaget's
theory is the use of schemas. According to Piaget, schemas are cognitive
frameworks or concepts that help people organize and interpret information. As
experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to or
completely change previously existing schemas. For example, a young girl may
have a schema about a type of animal, such as a cat. According to her schema, cats
are furry and have four legs. When she first encounters a dog, she might
initially believe that the animal is a cat. Once the she learns that this is
actually a dog, she will revise her schema for cats and create a new category
for dogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment