Jean Piaget s Theory Of Psychology - 744 Words

Justin Waite The Study of Jean Piaget 11/16/2015 Born on August 9, 1986 in Neuchatel, Switzerland, Jean Piaget was one of the most influential theorist in the field of early childhood development and psychology that ever existed. His input towards human intelligence is second to none. Piaget learned the value of hard work from his father who was a medieval history writer. His mother was also very intelligent. Although she was a very bright and energetic individual, she was also mentally ill and that has some very troublesome effects on the everyday family life for them. These mental issues are what encouraged Piaget to study psychology in the first place. At such a young age, Piaget became very interested in many things such as†¦show more content†¦Being one of the most influential researchers in childhood development, Jean Piaget considered himself to be a â€Å"genetic epistemologist.† He began his track originally studying biology and philosophy. He was heavily interested in the biological influ ences on how we come to know. The believed that the main thing that makes us different from other animals is the human’s ability to do Abstract Symbolic Reasoning. His views and thoughts on this were often compared and thought of with those of Lev Vygotsky. Piaget, along with Jerome Bruner, John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky and Ulrick Neisser, was able to put together an instruction manual or construction guide to the theory of human learning and mental thought. Piaget was credited with coming up the the 4 thought processes of human beings: †¢ Sensorimotor – Birth through ages 18-24 months. †¢ Preoperational – 18-24 months through age seven. †¢ Concrete operational – Ages seven to twelve. †¢ Formal operational – Adolescence through adulthood. There were many criticisms on Piaget’s work. Many questioned were the stages even real. Vygotsky and Bruner didn’t even speak about the stages in their writings and study of human development. There are even some studies that show and prove that there is no guarantee that humans will make it to the formal operating stage. Piaget mainly concentrated on the