Describe how Piaget’s approach to children’s intellectual development has been extended to explain their development of social understanding. In what ways does the approach of Donaldson and her followers differ from that of Piaget? The work of Piaget provided the foundation for developmental psychology. He concentrated on the development of cognitive abilities, leaving much scope for later research. Before exploring how Piaget’s approach has been extended it might be helpful to outline his theory.
Piaget’s theory is constructivist; it shows how knowledge is actively constructed by the individual. Knowledge of the world is built through interaction with the environment. The development, in 4 stages, is divided into broad age groups, although he stressed that the ages were guidelines only. All children progress at different rates and move gradually from one stage to the next. The 4 stages must be passed through sequentially and are called the Sensori-Motor (0-2 years), the Pre-Operational (2-6 years), the Concrete-Operational (6-12 years) and the Formal Operational (12 years onwards).
Children think differently to adults and Piaget believed that as children pass through these 4 stages of development they mature into adult modes of thought. A child progresses through these stages by building and modifying mental plans called schemata. Piaget’s theory saw schemata as having intrinsic motivation; their very existence provides the motivation for their use. Existing schemata are applied to any new information encountered. If the information can be absorbed without modifying a schema, then the information will be assimilated.
Otherwise the schema is adapted to accommodate the new information. In this way, the processes of assimilation and accommodation are used (unconsciously) to develop cognitive abilities in a systematic way. ‘Object permanence’ is a key concept in Piaget’s theory. Observation of his own children led him to conclude that infants are unable to comprehend the existence of objects outside of their own perception. Piaget called this form of centration, egocentrism.
The schema of ‘object permanence’ is constructed during the sensori-motor stage and Piaget saw the task of the pre-operational stage as ‘breaking through the barrier of egocentrism’ (P104 of Introduction to Psychology). In fact, thoughts and actions become less and less centred as the child progresses through Piaget’s 4 stages. Social development was neglected by Piaget, he believed it to run a similar path to that of intellectual development, but in parallel. He believed each had little effect on the other.