JEAN PIAGET'S BACKGROUND

Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. He published his first scientific paper at the tender age
of 10 – a 100-word description of an albino sparrow in a naturalist magazine. Between the ages of 15
and 19, he published numerous papers on mollusks and was even offered a job as a curator at a
museum, although he had to decline the offer since he still had two years of high school to complete.
While he developed an interest early on in how people come to know the world around them, he didn't
receive any formal training in psychology until after he had completed his doctoral degree at the
University of Neuchatel. After receiving his Ph.D. degree at age 22 in natural history, Piaget formally
began a career that would have a profound impact on both psychology and education. After studying
briefly with Carl Jung, he happened to meet Theodore Simon, one of Alfred Binet's collaborators.
Simon offered Piaget a position supervising the standardization of the intelligence tests developed by
Binet and Simon. Piaget developed an interest in the intellectual development of children.

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Based on his observations, he concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults, they
simply think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have
thought of it." Piaget's stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive
development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive
development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses to changes in mental
operations. Piaget's interest in child cognitive development was influenced by watching his 13-month-
old nephew, Gerard, at play. By chance, Piaget observed the toddler playing with a ball. When the
ball rolled under a table where the boy could still see it, Gerard simply retrieved the ball and
continued playing. When the ball rolled under a sofa out of his sight, however, the child began
looking for it where he had last seen it. This reaction struck Piaget as irrational. Piaget came to
believe that children lack what he referred to as the object concept - the knowledge that objects are
separate and distinct from both the individual and the individual's perception of that object.

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Jean Piaget set out to study his daughter Jacqueline as she developed through infancy, toddlerhood,
and childhood. He quickly noted that during the early months of his daughter's life, she seemed to
believe that objects ceased to exist once they were out of her sight. At nearly a year, she started to
search actively for objects that were hidden from her view although she made mistakes similar to the
one Gerard made. By 21 months, Jacqueline had become skilled at finding hidden objects and
understood that objects had an existence separate from her perception of them. Piaget's observations
of his nephew and daughter reinforced his budding hypothesis that children's minds were not merely
smaller versions of adult minds. Instead, he proposed, intelligence is something that grows and
develops through a series of stages. Older children don't just think faster than younger children, he
suggested. Instead, there are both qualitative and quantitative differences between the thinking of
young children versus older children.

A LOOK AT PIAGET'S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

The Sensorimotor Stage: During this stage, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory
experiences and manipulating objects. It was his observations of his daughter and nephew that heavily
influenced his conception of this stage. At this point in development, a child's intelligence consists of
their basic motor and sensory explorations of the world. Piaget believed that developing object
permanence or object constancy, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they
cannot be seen, was an important element at this point of development. By learning that objects are
separate and distinct entities and that they have an existence of their own outside of individual
perception, children are then able to begin to attach names and words to objects.

The Preoperational Stage: At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic
and taking the point of view of other people. They also often struggle with understanding the ideal of
constancy. For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and
then give a child the option of choosing two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is rolled
into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape. Since the flat shape looks
larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece even though the two pieces are exactly the
same size.

The Concrete Operational Stage: Kids at this point of development begin to think more logically,
but their thinking can also be very rigid. They tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical
concepts. At this point, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other
people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their
thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and
opinions.

The Formal Operational Stage: The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the
ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, people
become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about
the world around them.

It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development as a quantitative
process; that is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as
they get older. Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as
they gradually process through these four stages. A child at age 7 doesn't just have more information
about the world than he did at age 2; there is a fundamental change in how he thinks about the world.

To better understand some of the things that happen during cognitive development, it is important first
to examine a few of the important ideas and concepts introduced by Piaget. The following are some of
the factors that influence how children learn and grow:

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Schemas - A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and
knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world. In
Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that
knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change
previously existing schemas. For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as
a dog. If the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are
small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters an enormous dog. The child
will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include these new
observations.

Assimilation - The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known
as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences and
information slightly to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and
labeling it "dog" is a case of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.

Accommodation - Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in
light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves modifying
existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also
be developed during this process.

Equilibration - Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and
accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children
progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between
applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge
(accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children can move from one stage of thought into
the next.

FINAL THOUGHTS

One of the most important elements to remember of Piaget's theory is that it takes the view that the
creation of knowledge and intelligence is an inherently active process. "I find myself opposed to the
view of knowledge as a passive copy of reality," Piaget explained. " I believe that knowing an object
means acting upon it, constructing systems of transformations that can be carried out on or with this
object. Knowing reality means constructing systems of transformations that correspond, more or less
adequately, to reality."

MORE ABOUT PIAGET'S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

The Sensorimotor Stage

The Preoperational Stage

The Concrete Operational Stage

The Formal Operational Stage

Support and Criticism of Piaget

References:

Fancher, R. E. (1996). Pioneers of Psychology, 3rd edition. New York: Norton.

Santrock, John W. (2008). A topical approach to life-span development (4 ed.). New York City:
McGraw-Hill.

Piaget, J. (1970). Genetic Epistemology. New York: Norton.

Piaget, J. (1977). Gruber, H.E.; Voneche, J.J. eds. The essential Piaget. New York: Basic Books.

Piaget, J. (1983). Piaget's theory. In P. Mussen (ed). Handbook of Child Psychology. 4th edition. Vol.
1. New York: Wiley.

PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES

Freud (1905) proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of fixed
stages. These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido
(roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body. As a person grows
physically certain areas of their body become important as sources of potential frustration (erogenous
zones), pleasure or both. Freud believed that life was built round tension and pleasure. Freud also

believed that all tension was due to the build up of libido (sexual energy) and that all pleasure came
from its discharge. In describing human personality development as psychosexual Freud meant to
convey that what develops is the way in which sexual energy accumulates and is discharged as we
mature biologically. (NB Freud used the term 'sexual' in a very general way to mean all pleasurable
actions and thoughts). Freud stressed that the first five years of life are crucial to the formation of
adult personality. The id must be controlled in order to satisfy social demands; this sets up a conflict
between frustrated wishes and social norms. The ego and superego develop in order to exercise this
control and direct the need for gratification into socially acceptable channels. Gratification centers in
different areas of the body at different stages of growth, making the conflict at each stage
psychosexual.

THE ROLE OF CONFLICT

Each of the psychosexual stages is associated with a particular conflict that must be resolved before
the individual can successfully advance to the next stage. The resolution of each of these conflicts
requires the expenditure of sexual energy and the more energy that is expended at a particular stage
the more the important characteristics of that stage remain with the individual as he/she matures
psychologically. To explain this Freud suggested the analogy of military troops on the march. As the
troops advance, they are met by opposition or conflict. If they are highly successful in winning the
battle (resolving the conflict) then most of the troops (libido) will be able to move on to the next battle
(stage). But the greater the difficulty encountered at any particular point the greater the need for
troops to remain behind to fight and thus the fewer that will be able to go on to the next confrontation.

FRUSTRATION, OVERINDULGENCE AND FIXATION

Some people do not seem to be able to leave one stage and proceed on to the next. One reason for this
may be that the needs of the developing individual at any particular stage may not have been
adequately met in which case there is frustration. Or possibly the person's needs may have been so
well satisfied that he/she is reluctant to leave the psychological benefits of a particular stage in which
there is overindulgence.Both frustration and overindulgence (or any combination of the two) may lead
to what psychoanalysts call fixation at a particular psychosexual stage. Fixation refers to the
theoretical notion that a portion of the individual's libido has been permanently 'invested' in a
particular stage of his development. It is assumed that some libido is permanently invested in each
psychosexual stage and thus each person will behave in some ways that are characteristic of infancy,
or early childhood.
PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

You can remember the order of these stages by using the mnemonic: “old (oral) age (anal) pensioners
(phallic) love (latent) grapes (genital).

Oral Stage (0-1 year)

In the first stage of personality development the libido is centered in a baby's mouth. It gets much
satisfaction from putting all sorts of things in its mouth to satisfy the libido, and thus its id demands.
Which at this stage in life are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and breastfeeding.

Freud said oral stimulation could lead to an oral fixation in later life. We see oral personalities all
around us such as smokers, nail-biters, finger-chewers, and thumb suckers. Oral personalities engage
in such oral behaviors, particularly when under stress.

Anal Stage (1-3 years)

The libido now becomes focused on the anus and the child derives great pleasure from defecating.
The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring
them into conflict with the demands of the outside world (i.e. their ego has developed). Freud
believed that this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training, in which adults impose
restrictions on when and where the child can defecate. The nature of this first conflict with authority
can determine the child's future relationship with all forms of authority. Early or harsh potty training
can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive personality who hates mess, is obsessively tidy,
punctual and respectful of authority. They can be stubborn and tight-fisted with their cash and
possessions. This is all related to pleasure got from holding on to their faeces when toddlers, and their
mum's then insisting that they get rid of it by placing them on the potty until they perform! Not as
daft as it sounds. The anal expulsive, on the other hand, underwent a liberal toilet-training regime
during the anal stage. In adulthood the anal expulsive is the person who wants to share things with
you. They like giving things away. In essence, they are 'sharing their s**t'!' An anal-expulsive
personality is also messy, disorganized and rebellious.

Phallic Stage (3 to 5 or 6 years)

Sensitivity now becomes concentrated in the genitals and masturbation (in both sexes) becomes a new
source of pleasure. The child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences, which sets in motion the
conflict between erotic attraction, resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear which Freud called the
Oedipus complex (in boys) and the Electra complex (in girls). This is resolved through the process
of identification, which involves the child adopting the characteristics of the same sex parent.

Oedipus Complex
The most important aspect of the phallic stage is the Oedipus complex. This is one of Freud's most
controversial ideas and one that many people reject outright. The name of the Oedipus complex
derives from the Greek myth where Oedipus, a young man, kills his father and marries his mother.
Upon discovering this he pokes his eyes out and becomes blind. This Oedipal is the generic (i.e.
general) term for both Oedipus and Electra complexes. In the young boy, the Oedipus complex or
more correctly, conflict, arises because the boy develops sexual (pleasurable) desires for his mother.
He wants to possess his mother exclusively and get rid of his father to enable him to do so.
Irrationally, the boy thinks that if his father were to find out about all this, his father would take away
what he loves the most. During the phallic stage what the boy loves most is his penis. Hence the boy
develops castration anxiety. The little boy then sets out to resolve this problem by imitating, copying
and joining in masculine dad-type behaviors. This is called identification, and is how the three-to-
five year old boy resolves his Oedipus complex. Identification means internally adopting the values,
attitudes and behaviors of another person. The consequence of this is that the boy takes on the male
gender role, and adopts an ego ideal and values that become the superego. Freud (1909) offered the
Little Hans case study as evidence of the Oedipus complex.

Electra Complex
For girls, the Oedipus or Electra complex is less than satisfactory. Briefly, the girl desires the father,
but realizes that she does not have a penis. This leads to the development of penis envy and the wish
to be a boy. The girl resolves this by repressing her desire for her father and substituting the wish for
a penis with the wish for a baby. The girl blames her mother for her 'castrated state' and this creates
great tension. The girl then represses her feelings (to remove the tension) and identifies with the
mother to take on the female gender role.

Latency Stage (5 or 6 to puberty)

No further psychosexual development takes place during this stage (latent means hidden). The libido
is dormant. Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage and sexual
energy can be sublimated (re: defense mechanisms) towards school work, hobbies and friendships.
Much of the child's energy is channeled into developing new skills and acquiring new knowledge and
play becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender.

Genital Stage (puberty to adult)

This is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality development and begins in
puberty. It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of which is
settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in our 20's. Sexual instinct is
directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self pleasure like during the phallic stage. For Freud,
the proper outlet of the sexual instinct in adults was through heterosexual intercourse. Fixation and
conflict may prevent this with the consequence that sexual perversions may develop. For example,
fixation at the oral stage may result in a person gaining sexual pleasure primarily from kissing and
oral sex, rather than sexual intercourse.