Piaget Theory

¶ … theorist Jean Piaget. The writer uses two case studies, a nine-year-old and a 14-Year-old, and provides the reader with the results of the study conducted on the children. Throughout history theorists have studied human behavior to try and determine what it is that makes people react the way they do. There have been many theories tossed about regarding the behavior of mankind and the impact the behaviors have on the world. One important theorist in the history of psychology was Jean Piaget.

Piaget focused his work on children and believed the complete developmental process of life occurs during childhood. Piaget developed different stages of development that he believed occurred at recognizable ages and with repeated patterns. This theory has been tested again and again and in many cases has held itself to be true. This paper presents case studies of two children who are held against their Piaget age groups and hold true to the developmental stage developed by the theorist regarding their development.

The study was conducted using five base questions and seeing if the child addressed the questions in relation to the Piaget developmental stage the child was currently in. There were two children chosen to be tested against Piaget's developmental stage theories. The first child was a nine-year-old white male and the second child was a 14-year-old male Asian. Each of the children were presumed to have normal intelligence levels and expected normal environmental stimulus as they were growing up thus far.

Each child lives with both parents and they have not experienced any obvious traumas or abuses. For the purpose of this test there were five test questions developed and each child responded to the same five questions. This was to allow a measurement of the same questions against the theories of Piaget regarding development to discover if the child was falling within the developmental guidelines of the theory. Piaget (http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/piaget.htm) The questions that were asked included the following: 1.

Would you rather have an eight of a piece of cake or a fourth? (The child was not shown pieces of cake this size). 2. Why don't we float up in space when we walk outside? 3. Can these blocks fit into this box? The children were shown 21 square inch blocks and a box with square inch markings. 4. If you had to walk the half mile to school how long before school starts would you leave? 5. How many friends do you have? 1.

Would you rather have an eighth of a piece of cake or a fourth? (The child was not shown pieces of cake this size). In this first question the researcher anticipated that the younger child would have a difficult time with it as they had not yet learned fractions. Fractions are an abstract concept if one does not have the physical pieces of cake right there with them to look at and measure.

This question explored the part of the theory about how well the children can address abstract ideas based on the stage of development that they are in. The nine-year-old answered this with an immediate and self assured smile....he said he would rather have the eighth of a piece of cake. When asked why he wanted that one he said he loves cake and would choose the larger one especially if it had chocolate icing on it.

This demonstrated that the child was in the stage of development that Piaget refers to as "Concrete." Piaget believed that children this age cannot grasp and sustain abstract ideas. According to this child, without seeing the sizes of cake the eighth size was naturally going to be larger because eight is larger than four in the number system the child was comfortable working in. The 14-year-old however also asked for the eighth of a piece of cake.

When asked why he said he was watching his calorie intake and wanted the smaller piece. This answer also demonstrated that the child was in the area of developmental stages that were described by Piaget. At this age according to Piaget the child can grasp and understand abstract concepts and this was shown to be the case where this question is concerned. 2. Why don't we float up in space when we walk outside? In the second question the researcher believed that each child would answer gravity.

The children gave different answers and when they explained them it placed them right into the Piaget theories. The nine-year-old believed that we don't float into space because we are to heavy to do so. The nine-year-old used concrete examples of why we cannot float in space, and said that a feather can because of its weight. The 14-year-old did in fact refer to gravity and believes that gravity's pressure on us is what causes us to be weighted down.

Each of these statements has a semblance of truth to it but each one also displays where on the abstract measurement the child falls in the Piaget theory of development. Can these blocks fit into this box? The children were shown 21 square inch blocks and a box with square inch markings. In this question the children provided interesting proof of Piaget's theories. The nine-year-old looked at the box and quickly counted the blocks. He then began to place the blocks in the box to determine the answer.

After placing all of the blocks in the box he announced that they would all fit. This was an interesting way to solve the problem given the fact that Piaget theories believe children at this age must be able to physically manipulate things to figure them out. When the 14-year-old was given the blocks and box he glanced at the box and saw there were square inch markings on it.

As he took a pencil and paper and figured out that all 21 blocks would fit he demonstrated the ability to figure it out using more abstract measures to do so. 4. If you had to walk the half mile to school how long before school starts would you leave? This question provided a less clear picture of the Piaget theories.