Describe and assess one theory of cognitive development Essay

Piaget argued that CD is based on the development of schemas. This refers to a psychological structure representing either of a roughbodys knowledge of actions or ends, e.g. gripping or driving. To answer a new skill which the person has no schema they have to work from previous skills that they have. This is called assimilation, where they have pulled previous schemas together so adapted and changed them to fit their task through with(predicate) accommodation. For example when a person is learning to juggle a person can already grasp, bind and catch so they use the schemas that they have for these skills to perform the skill of juggling. When a person feels confident and comfortable with the task that they atomic number 18 performing they are said to be in a state of equilibrium.Piaget believed that fryren go through 4 levels of CD Sensori-motor (0-2yrs)- in this stage children have no object permanency. So if they were playing with a toy and it fell out of volume they would not realise it had hitherto existed. Piaget said that the skill of object permanence came at about 9 months. The second stage of CD is the pre-operational stage (2-7yrs), at this stage language is developing but children are otiose to conserve (understand that shapes can change without the mass or size having to change) or decentre (cant understand things from another persons point of view).This is also known as the theory of mind. In the concrete operational stage (7-11yrs) children have create the theory of mind and are also able to conserve if the job is concrete/visual. The final stage is Formal operational stage (11yrs- onwards). In this stage children are able to work things out abstractly so this is the stage in which children start to be taught algebra.The above ideas about CD were based on Piagets own research. Most of the studies were carried out but on his own three children. The studies were carried out in the form of clinical interviews and tasks and all the results and observation were recorded in a diary. sensation say-so of Piagets theory comes in the detailed supporting evidence, which he himself provided. One of his tasks investigated object permanence. He gave a baby a toy and they compete happily with it. But then he covered the toy with some cloth. Even though the baby had seen the toy hidden it failed to look for it and it appeared he didnt even remember it had been there. This suggests that ideas are underpinned by detailed empirical research, which provides a sound foundation for the theory.A further strength is that Piagets theory has been applied to education and has lead to improvements in the quality of belief and learning. Discovery learning is where children learn through play and interaction. They handle and perform what they are learning so that it sticks in their mind. For example to learn how plants start a class will be split in to thirds unmatchable group taking home some cress placing it on the windowsill an d irrigate it daily. Another group takes home some cress, which they fix in a cupboard and water daily and then the final group who place their cress on the windowsill but get int water. From this they will visually see the importance that water and light play in excerption of plants. This is important, as they cant think abstractly. This suggests that Piaget theory has had a colossal impact on primary school teaching methods and he showed children dont just think like little adults.However later on researchers have been critical of Piagets methodology. He carried out his research on his three children for starters this number is too small and means that results cant generalised. The children were born from a genius so it is likely that they arent true examples of children in society. As his research was high on ecological severity it meant that it was low on reliability. This suggests that if the tasks were repeated its unlikely that the researchers could repeat them exactl y as Piaget did them.A further weakness is that more recent research has throw doubt on the ages that Piaget suggested. For example Bower carried out a mull in to object permanence where he put a mystify and baby in a room with a toy. After the child had been playing happily he turned the light off. Due to unseeable lights Bower could see how the child behaved and it reached out to find the toy even though it was out of sight. This suggests that we need to rethink the age of stage shifts overdue to up-to-date/ recent findings.In conclusion, although Piagets theory has some weaknesses it clay one of the key theories of CD. However in contrast to Piagets view, Vigotsky took sooner a different view. He laid much more wildness on social interaction and cultural factors and on interaction with adults moldable CD. Perhaps a combination of their ideas is the way forward.