There are many theorists who have given theories on child

development. The theories are grouped as below

Child

Development Theories

Psycho-Analytic Theories

Sigmund - Freud

Cognition Based Theories

Jean Piaget Lev Vygotsky Bruner

Behaviour Based Theories

B.F. Skinner J.B Watson Ivan Pavlov

Social Development

Based Theories

Albert Bandura Lev Vygotsky

In this slide we will just cover Piaget’s theory

Jean piaget studied lot of children. He believed that children were not

less intelligent than Adults but there way of thinking was different

from adults

Piaget’s theory has three main components

Schemas: Building Blocks of Knowledge

Adaptation process which enables the transition from one state to

another. The adaption process included equilibrium, assimilation

and accommodation

Four Stages of development

Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete Operational

Formal Operational

According to piaget schema’s are the units of knowledge which help us to understand the world. Various schema’s are linked to one another

For example a child see a four legged animal with a tail and come to know that it is a horse. The schema for horse would be formed

Four legged animal

with tail and 5 ft in

height is horse

Later the child see a cow and calls it a horse as per his existing schema. But the parents tell that it is not a horse but a cow. The child will modify the existing schema for horse and make new schema for a cow

Four legged animal

with tail and 5 ft in

height and specific

shape of a horse is

horse

Four legged animal

with tail and 5 ft in

height and specific

shape of a cow is a cow

Schema for Horse

Schema for Cow Modified Schema for Horse

Later the child see a small horse and calls it a dog. But parents correct

him that is a small horse. Child will modify his existing schema for

horse

Four legged animal with tail and 5 ft in

height and shape specific to horse is

horse. The horse can be small which is

also four legged and shape similar to

horse

Modified Schema for Horse

So with experience existing schemas are modified and new schemas are formed

Sometimes persons see new things but they are not ready to change their schemas. In other words they will not accept new information. We call such people as old-fashioned people or biased to one set of information.

Children have schema right from time they are born. For example

a new born child would have a sucking schema. Whenever we

touch anything like a nipple or finger to child’s lips the child

starts to suck that thing

Similarly child has grasping schema. Whenever we touch anything

to palm of child’s hand the child grasps that thing

In general there are schemas in the mind right from the birth.

These schemas are very simple at the start but they keep on

becoming complex as we mature and interact with the

environment

The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is called assimilation

For example you have a schema that cars from Maruti are very good. You bought a new car but it started giving problem after one month. The company replaced the car and gave you a new car

If you use the process of assimilation then you might think that its was just one off case of manufacturing defect. The company is good since they replaced your car

Similarly if a child thinks that a four legged animal, 5ft in height and having a tail is a horse. Later the child see a cow and thinks that it is also a horse. This is also assimilation

In both cases you are not changing your opinion about the company or the horse. It is in line with your existing schema. This is an example of assimilation

The process of taking in new information and altering our schemas to interpret the information is called Accommodation

For example in case of Maruti Car, the replaced car also starts giving problem. One of your friend also bough a Maruti car and is facing the same problem. This would lead to disequilibrium in your mind. Now your opinion might change and you would think that Cars from Maruti are not good. This would result in altering of the existing schema resulting in accommodation

Similarly if a child thinks that a four legged animal, 5ft in height and having a tail is a horse. Cow is also a horse to a child. But parents of the child tell the child that cow is not a horse. This would lead to alteration of schema in the child’s mind.

In both cases you are changing your opinion about the company or the horse. It is not in line with your existing schema. This is an example of accommodation

Post accommodation the mind would again be in equilibrium.

There are Four Stages of development

Sensorimotor

Preoperational

Concrete Operational

Formal Operational

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years)

In this stage child learns mainly by their senses such as taste, smell etc.

He also learns by his motor movements such as creeping and walking

Child in this stage is completely egocentric where he has no view of the world other than his own view

Child achieve object permanence by the end of this stage. Object permanence means that the thing exists even if we do not see them. E.g. If we show a toy to a five month old child he gets existed but if toy is hidden the child soon forgets that the toy existed. This means for a five month old child object permanence does not exist. On the other hand, if we same is done with 1.5 year child he looks for the toy even after it is hidden. For a 1.5 years old child object exists even if it us hidden. Hence, object permanence exists for a 1.5 year child.

This stage is from 2-7 Years. During this stage children cannot use logic and Combine separate idea

Some Key Features of this stage are

Egocentrism: The child is egocentric at the start of this stage. Child assumes that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as the child does. By the end of this stage child becomes less egocentric and they also start playing with other children and share their toys

Language Development: Child also leans to speak language during this stage

Symbolic Representation: Child learns symbolic representation during this stage. They can use anything to represent something else. For example they can use a broom to represent it as a horse

Pretend Play: Children pretend to be doctors, policemen, teachers while playing. They tent to be pretend someone else which they are not

Animism: Children believe that all objects that all objects such as toys and teddy bears have human feelings and intentions

Artificialism: Children believe that certain things in environment are manufactured by the people. For example clouds in the sky

Two more aspects which are important during this stage are conservation and Centration

Centration means that child can focus on only one aspect at a point during this stage. For example, if you arrange two rows of 5 blocks such that one row has more space between the blocks and is longer. But if you ask children which row as more blocks then a child would answer that longer row has more blocks. This is because child cannot concentrate on two aspects (length and number) at the same time

Conservation is the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes. Child does not understand conservation at this stage. For example if the same amount of liquid from a big container is put into a long and narrow glass then child would think that longer glass has more liquid

This stage is from 7-11 years and marks the

beginning of logical or operational thought but the

child can apply logic only to physical objects

Child learns to apply the principle of conservation,

seriation , reversibility and decentring

Conservation:- Child learns that something stays

same in quantity though its appearance may

change. E.g. If the liquid is put from a wide

container into a narrow long glass then the child

understands that the liquid is same in both the

containers

Seriation:- It involves the mental ability along a quantifiable dimension. For example, the

arrangement of balls from small to big sizes

Reversibility:- Child understands that the things can be reversed. For example, If water is freezed

into ice then it can be melted back to water

Decentring means that child can focus on many aspects during this stage. For example, if you arrange

two rows of 5 blocks such that one row has more space between the blocks and is longer. But if you

ask children which row has more blocks then a child would answer that both rows have same number

of blocks. This is because child can concentrate on two aspects (length and number) at the same

time

This stage is form 11 years onwards

In this stage child gains the ability to think in an abstract manner that

he becomes capable to think about the imaginative world

Child can think creatively, use abstract reasoning and imagine the

outcome of particular actions

For example, If a child is asked if A is taller than B and B is taller than

C, who is the tallest? In this question child needs to do abstract

thinking about the thing he has not experienced. Child in formal

operational stage would be able to do this thinking in his mind. In case

the child is not able to do thinking in his mind and needs to draw a

picture of A, B and C then he is in concrete operational stage

Children can do complex calculations and complex reasoning in this

stage

Discovery learning:- Child learns best by exploring the world

through hand on activities. The child should be active learner not

a passive one

Collaborative learning :- Children should be allowed to learn in a

group so that they learn from each other

The focus should be on learning rather than end product

Readiness:- Children should be taught certain concepts when they

are ready for it. For example, Child should be taught the concept

of conservation only when they have reached concrete

operational stage. Teaching this concept at preoperational stage

would lead to confusion for the child

Piaget believed that development occurs in stages but many theorists

believe that development is a continuous process and not confined

to stages

Piaget believed that children learn as he matures. But he failed to

consider the effect of culture and social setting and environment

The concept of schema’s is an internal process which cannot be

measured and confirmed. Other theorists do not agree to the

concept of schema’s

Piaget carried studies on small sample size and many of his studies

were carried out on his children indicating that the results might be

biased