Jean Piaget
Jean Piaget
Born: 9-Aug-1896
Birthplace: Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died: 17-Sep-1980
Location of death: Geneva, Switzerland
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Cimetière des Plainpalais, Geneva, Switzerland
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Psychologist
Nationality: Switzerland
Executive summary: Elaborated the stages of childhood
Jean Piaget was a Swiss biologist, philosopher, and psychologist best known for his work in the area of developmental psychology. LikeSigmund Freud and Erik Erikson, Piaget divided cognitive (sikundi) growth and development into fixed stages. But Piaget's particular focus was on the intellectual or cognitive development of children and on the way in which their mind's processed and progressed in knowledge. Piaget's central thesis was that children (1) develop self-centric theories about their environment, and about objects or persons in that environment, and they grow; and (2) that children base these theories on their own personal experiences interacting with persons and objects in their environment; (3) that the child used "schemas" to master and gain information about the environment; and (4) that the sophistication of a child's cognitive structures increased as the child grew and developed, as did the child's "schemas". Schemas, which are the child's tool bag of actions and responses to make things happen, start with rudimentary interactions such as grabbing and mouthing objects and eventually progress to highly sophisticated skills such as scientific observation. Piaget divided the child's path of development into four stages which began with birth and culminated in the teen years. These stages are: Sensorimotor stage (0-2 yrs), Preoperational stage (2-7 yrs), Concrete operations (7-11 yrs), and Formal operations (from 11-15 and up). A chief tenet of Piaget's theory is that these stages do not vary in order, cannot be skipped, and should not be rushed.
Born: 9-Aug-1896
Birthplace: Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Died: 17-Sep-1980
Location of death: Geneva, Switzerland
Cause of death: unspecified
Remains: Buried, Cimetière des Plainpalais, Geneva, Switzerland
Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Psychologist
Nationality: Switzerland
Executive summary: Elaborated the stages of childhood
Jean Piaget was a Swiss biologist, philosopher, and psychologist best known for his work in the area of developmental psychology. LikeSigmund Freud and Erik Erikson, Piaget divided cognitive (sikundi) growth and development into fixed stages. But Piaget's particular focus was on the intellectual or cognitive development of children and on the way in which their mind's processed and progressed in knowledge. Piaget's central thesis was that children (1) develop self-centric theories about their environment, and about objects or persons in that environment, and they grow; and (2) that children base these theories on their own personal experiences interacting with persons and objects in their environment; (3) that the child used "schemas" to master and gain information about the environment; and (4) that the sophistication of a child's cognitive structures increased as the child grew and developed, as did the child's "schemas". Schemas, which are the child's tool bag of actions and responses to make things happen, start with rudimentary interactions such as grabbing and mouthing objects and eventually progress to highly sophisticated skills such as scientific observation. Piaget divided the child's path of development into four stages which began with birth and culminated in the teen years. These stages are: Sensorimotor stage (0-2 yrs), Preoperational stage (2-7 yrs), Concrete operations (7-11 yrs), and Formal operations (from 11-15 and up). A chief tenet of Piaget's theory is that these stages do not vary in order, cannot be skipped, and should not be rushed.