Jean Piagets Theory Of Genetic Epistemology Essays

Jean Piaget has held a fascination for me since first learning about him in my developmental psychology class. Piaget’s tireless journey to figure out how knowledge grows is a fascinating one. In the interest of obtaining a greater understanding for Piaget’s theories as well as the processes behind those theories, we must first look at Piaget’s Theory of Genetic Epistemology. Piaget’s theory of Genetic Epistemology, as well as the criticism of his theory, will be the focus of this paper. Jean was born in Switzerland on August 9, 1896 (Smith, 1997). Jean began volunteering at the Neuchà ¢tel Museum of Natural History at the age of 10. While volunteering at the museum, the director took Jean on as his assistant and apprentice, â€Å"paying Jean†¦show more content†¦It was with this suspicion that Piaget set out to answer the question â€Å"How does knowledge grow?† (Plucker, 2003) During Piaget’s quest to answer this very question, he changed the history of how we view cognitive development. His research led to the development of the â€Å"theory of Genetic Epistemology† (Plucker, 2003). While studying the process of cognitive development, Piaget strove to figure out how children adapt to their environments. â€Å"Adaptation to a child’s environment is controlled through mental organizations called schemes† (Huitt Hummel, 2003). Schemes, which can also be considered concepts, are â€Å"used by each individual to represent the world and designate action† (Huitt Hummel, 2003). These schemes are driven by the body’s need to maintain homeostasis with the surrounding environment. Piaget hypothesized that the base reflexes seen at birth were actually just base schemes that had yet to be developed. â€Å"Piaget felt that these basic schemes, or reflexes, were replaced with more complex schemes as the infant learned to adapt to their environment† (Huitt Hummel, 2003). Piaget also believed that intelligence itself is a form of adaptation, and felt that two process were used by each individual to attempt this adaptation. Piaget referred to these two processes as assimilation and accommodation. Piaget felt that as children mature, â€Å"they use both assimilation andShow MoreRelatedJean Piaget s Theories Of Cognitive Development1360 Words   |  6 Pages Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist. He worked in the fields of Developmental Psychology and Epistemology. He’s known for his works and theories in the field of child development. His theories of cognitive development and epistemological views are called, â€Å"genetic epistemology†. Piaget placed the education of children as most important. His works and theories still play a huge role and influence the study of child psychology today. Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896 in Neuchatel, SwitzerlandRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory And Theory1673 Words   |  7 PagesWhat is a theory? A theory is an organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development. These are essential for developing predictions about behaviors and predictions result in research that helps to support or clarify the theory. The theorist I am choosing to talk about is Jean Piaget who discovered the cognitive development theory and who broke it down into different stages. The different stages are the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational thoughtRead MoreJean Piaget: Biography and Theory of Cognitive Development1601 Words   |  6 PagesPiagets Theory of Cognitive Development: Jean Piagets theory of cognitive development is a description of the four distinct stages of development of cognition in children. The theory was developed at a time when Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s in which his main responsibilities were to develop the French versions of questions on the English intelligence tests. During this period, Piaget became increasingly concerned or interested with the reasons children gave for theirRead MorePiagets Theory of Cognitive Development1075 Words   |  5 PagesPiaget’s Theory of Child Psychological Development There currently exists a great deal of literature based on child developmental psychology from a variety of great psychologists, notably Freud, Erikson, Bowlby, Bandura, Vygotsky, and many others. However, this paper will focus on the theories of Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher, was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on August 9, 1896. After working with Alfred Binet in his children’s intelligence testsRead MoreVygotsky And Vygotsky : Early Childhood Development1683 Words   |  7 Pages Amanda Rezzonico Piaget vs Vygotsky Early Childhood Development Lev Vygotsky and Jean Piaget are known in the educational world. Vygotsky and Piaget were developmental psychologists who had many of the same views and beliefs, but at the same time had opposing views. According to Jean Piaget â€Å"cognitive development was a repetitive reorganization of mental processes that derived from biological maturation in addition to environmental experiences’’ (McLeod, S. A. (2015). The childRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Knowing921 Words   |  4 PagesJean Piaget was a developmental psychologist and philosopher from Switzerland. He is known for his epistemological studies with children. He was the first to make a systematic study of cognitive development. Piaget was also the Director of the International Bureau of Education. He was â€Å"the great pioneer of the constructivist theory of knowing.† He was known as the second best psychologist after Skinner by the end of the 20th century. Throughout his career, Jean Piaget declared that â€Å"only educationRead MoreA Look Into the Past: Jean Piagets Life and Work Essay2990 Words   |  12 Pagespresent an over view of Jean Piaget’s life. It will focus on details of his personal life, his contributions to psychology, his historical development, and his present contributions to his career. Jean Piaget’s research in developmental psychology and genetic epistemology answered the question: How does knowledge grow? Piaget’s findings have been and continue to be an inspiration to fields like psychology, sociology, education, epistemology, economics and law. Jean Piaget was born on AugustRead MoreNew Placement Of The Piaget Profile2873 Words   |  12 PagesNew placement of the Piaget profile This profile of Jean Piaget should be placed in the functionalism psychology portion of the book due to the focus on children that Piaget took and the cognitive behavioral approach that he primarily studied. The developments he made were primarily used to the early and middle childhood education and he worked to understand children behavior and the learning process. Introduction: Jean Piaget was a great mind and contributed copious amount of knowledge andRead MoreThe Theory Of Cognitive Psychology928 Words   |  4 Pagesscience, was Swiss biologist, Jean Piaget. Piaget’s discoveries and principles have made a significant contribution in expansion of cognitive psychology ideas. His research and concepts that were based on kids learning and progressing helped him to form his famous theory of four developmental stages, which later found supporters and critics among many psychologists. Although much of his work included analyses of child’s development, he described himself as â€Å"genetic epistemologist†, not child psychologistRead MoreJean Piaget s Theory Of Education Essay1248 Words   |  5 Pagesgenerations have done,† (â€Å"Jean Piaget†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) a wise man once stated. In this paper we are going to go more in-depth into Jean Piaget’s life and how the work of Jean Piaget greatly influenced the field of early childh ood education. This paper will include a brief summary of Jean Piaget’s life, a description of his/her major theories or ideas, and how those ideas impact early education today. One question that was posed and will be touched on during my paper is the question of how Jean Piaget made it easier