Jean Piagets Contribution to Psychology Essay -- Jean Piaget Papers

Throughout history, many a(prenominal) people have made amazing contri providedions to the school of psychology. One of these was blue jean Piaget and his theories on the cognitive development stages.Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. here(predicate) he studied at the university and received a doctorate in biology at the age of 22. Following his schooling he became progressively interested in psychology and began much question and studying of the subject. From this research Piaget created a broad theoretical system for the development of cognitive abilities. His work, in this way, was much like that of Sigmund Freud, save Piaget emphasized the ways that children think and contract knowledge.Piaget referred to his theory as genetic epistemology. This is defined as the study of the acquisition, modification, and harvest-feast of abstract ideas and the abilities as on the basis of an inherited or biologic substrate, an intelligent functioning that makes the g rowth of abstract thought possible.(Ginsburg 5) Piaget derived his theories from directly spy children and by questioning them about their thinking. He was less interested in whether the children answered correctly than how they arrived at their answers. Piaget viewed intelligence as an extension of biological variation that has a logical structure. One of the central points of his theories was that of epigenesis. This is that growth and development exceed in a series of stages, each of which is built on the prosperous mastery of the previous stage.(Furth 33)Piaget described four major stages leading to the efficacy for adult thought. Each stage is a prerequisite for the following stage, but the rate at which different children move through different stages varies with their hered... ...ght, but on a higher level than in the past. Not in all adolescents enter the stage at the similar time or to the same degree. Depending on individual capacity some may not acquire the stage at all and may remain in concrete operational mode throughout life.Despite the psychiatric applications Piagets theories have been utilize more widely in the area of education. Piagets concepts have been used to determine educational problems, such as assessing intellectual development, scholastic aptitude, grade placement, and information readiness. Innovative early school programs, such as Head scratch line can be traced to Piagets believe that experience plays a major position in human thought. Throughout his writings Piaget emphasized that the greater richness, complexity, and the variety of the environment, the greater the likelihood that high levels of mental functioning are achieved.