PIAGET'S STADIUM THEORY

A biologist by training, Jean Piaget is interested in philosophical problems about the origin and explanation of knowledge. He considers the study of human knowledge from an evolutionary perspective, proposing a new discipline called andgenetic pistemology or theory of the development of knowledge.

Piaget tries to find out how knowledge increases, both at the level of the species and the individual. Thus, for the study of human behavior, the Swiss psychologist proposes a series of structures that he calls stages of intellectual development. In this Psychology-Online article, we will see the most important aspects of the Piaget's stage theory.

Index

1. Piaget's stage theory
2. Characteristics of Piaget's stages
3. Piaget's Principles of Cognitive Development
4. Criticisms of Piaget's theory

Piaget's stage theory proposes that the development of children's intelligence is carried out through four different stages: the sensorimotor, the preoperational

In this way, Piaget's 4 stages link formal intelligence with the innate interactions of boys and girls with their physical environment. Thus, it provides us with a complete and systematic view of the intellectual development of people through stages. Each of Piaget's stages corresponds to different moments of cognitive development and are characterized by qualitatively different structures.

According to Piaget's stage theory, people's intellectual development is marked by four evolutionary stages. Next, we will see the characteristics of Piaget's stadiums:

• Order of successionof the stadiums: the sequence of acquisition of the stages is constant for all subjects. It does not depend on age, since it varies according to social experience and intelligence levels.
• Stadium structure: each stadium is characterized by a structure that defines it. These structures can be formulated in algebraic or logical terms. Piaget opts for mathematical language to characterize the structure that underlies the performance of the subjects in each of the stages.
• Integration: each stage integrates the characteristics of the previous stage as a subordinate structure.
• Distinction: at each stage of Piaget it is necessary to distinguish between a preparation phase and a finishing phase or, in other words, final formation processes and forms of equilibrium.

Piaget tries to answer the questions about the origin of the structures and the mechanisms of change from biology. Through intelligence, the human organism achieves a more complex and flexible balance in its relations with the environment. The same type of adaptive exchanges also occur at the psychological level between the subject and the objects of knowledge during Piaget's stages.

Let's see what are the early Piaget's theory of cognitive developmentthat regulate the mechanisms of transition from one stage to another:

• Organization: attribute that allows people to interact in a coherent way with the environment. It orders knowledge and, in each case, leads to the adoption of specific behaviors according to the context.
• Adaptation: two elements are involved. The assimilation it allows the subject to incorporate objects to his cognitive structure, to his previous schemes, in an active process by which the subject transforms the reality to which he adapts. The accommodation It is the complementary process by which the subject transforms his cognitive structure and modifies his schemas to be able to incorporate the objects of reality.
• Balance: organization of the cognitive process that regulates the subject's interactions with reality. Balance is a factor of self-regulating character that guides the subjects in their adaptation to the environment. People tend to find a balance between their own patterns of knowledge and the external events that occur around them.

Piaget's stages have given the most complete explanation of human cognitive development. Even so, his theoretical proposal contains relevant limitations. We are going to see what the main criticisms of the theory are through examples of Piaget's stage theory.

1. Piaget's approaches to cognitive development are limited to a linear and cumulative model.
2. The main limitation of Piaget's theory is the difficulty understanding transition processes between stages. Piaget's stage theory is able to better explain the quantitative changes that occur within each stage than the discontinuity that occurs from one stage to another.
3. Studies of cognitive development, through Piaget's stages, are exclusively based on experiments with boys and girls.
4. Piaget proposes a "scientist child". Does not take into account the implications of social interaction in cognitive development.
5. The structural dimension of the stages, according to Piaget, requires stability in the behavior of boys and girls in each of the stages. Over time it has been seen that this is not the case. The norm in development is variation and not stability.
6. Certain infantile cognitive capacities appear in the development of the boy or girl earlier than predicted by Piaget's stage theory. This aspect manifests itself especially in the sensorimotor stage and in the stage of concrete operations.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Piaget's stage theory, we recommend that you enter our category of Evolutionary Psychology.

• Piaget, J. (1999). The psychology of intelligence. Barcelona: Editorial Crítica.
• Piaget, J., and Inhelder, B. (2015). Child psychology. Madrid: Morata Editions.