Piaget Theories

Piaget, a Swiss psychologist who died in 1980, developed a theory of how children learn

Piaget found that children's intelligence develops in patterns

He identified 4 periods of development

4 Periods of Development

The Sensorimotor PeriodThe Preoperational PeriodThe Concrete Operational PeriodThe Formal Operational Period

Sensorimoter Period

Birth – Age 2Egocentric (thinking only about ones self)10 months – Object Permanence

Things still exist even though they cannot be seen

Pre-operational Period

Two – Seven years oldThink about things in terms of their own

activities or what they perceive at the moment

Pretending and using imaginationImaginary friend

Concrete Operation Period

Seven – Eleven YearsCan think logically, but still learn from

direct experiencesComprehend that operation can be

reversed

Formal Operation Period

Eleven to AdulthoodAbstract ThinkingSymbolic thinking – words and numbers

represent ideas

Applying Piaget Ideas

Math Concept of ThreeSymbolic Thinking:

The teacher gives verbal direction:says “she has three pencils – take

away two pencils”

Concrete Thinking: Hold up three pencils to represent the

concept of three

Piaget Assignment

Read chapter 10 (pages 292-303)In writing, summarize Piagets Theory:

Name the 4 periods and identify the ages each

Explain what type of learning is going on at this stage

Give an example that illustrate of the learning that takes place during this stage