Piaget Stage Theory Essays - Child Development, Cognitive Psychology

Piaget Stage Theory The project is based on Piaget`s stage theory of cognitive development Prediction Based on Piaget`s theory, children during the pre - operational stage have acquired the ability to stand apart and view themselves from another person`s perspective. They are able to describe themselves as different from other children by listing their unique characteristics, especially the fact that their names are different. They develop a more complex understanding of themselves, such as age, name, family etc.. During the same stage children become aware of and use gender as a dimension by which to classify people. Once children become aware of their own sex, they learn to label themselves as boy or girl. Early childhood is the time when children start to learn family values, and become a cooperative part of the family with their own responsibilities. They spend countless hours of play and other activities with their siblings. Although young children may use words reflecting an understanding of time, such as minute, hour, day, or week, they still confuse the concept of time and space. Based on Piaget`s theory, I believe that the interviewed children will know their age, name, gender, and their siblings. I do not expect to know their exact birthday and address because it is still too abstract for them. Furthermore, I do not expect that the background/culture is influencing the children`s answers to my questions. I believe that all four tested children do understand and are able to answer my questions. Methods Interviewing four children from different backgrounds was the method use to assess the children`s cognitive development. The four-year-old identical twin girls were interviewed in the living room of their parents` house. Each girl was interviewed separately. The five-year-old German boy was interviewed by phone, and the six year old Asian - American boy was interviewed at the neighborhood playground. Each interview took approximately 10 minutes. Hanna: 4 years old, female, white, American, has an identically twin sister and a younger sister. Emma: 4 years old, female, white, American, Hanna`s twin. Hanna and Emma are not going to school yet. They are staying with a nanny and their younger sister at home, while both parents are working. Max - Raphael: 5 years old, male, white, German, youngest of three children, parents are divorced, living with mother and older sisters, no contact with father, staying home with mother. Timothy: 6 years old, Asian - American, oldest of two boys, bilingual, living with both parents, going to a private Christian school. Questionnaire: 1. Name: Tell me your name. If child gave only the first name: What is the rest of it? 2. Age: How old are you? If fingers shown: How many does that make? If still no answer, let the child count fingers. 3. Sex/Gender: Are you a boy or a girl? 4. Siblings: Do you have any brothers and / or sisters? What are their names? How old are they? 5. Birthday: When is your birthday? 6. Address: Where are you living? What is your address? Results Hanna and Emma were both able to give me their names immediately. They also knew their age, gender, and they were able to name and give me the age of their sister. However, they did not know their address or birthday. I did not have to tease the answer out bit by bit. They were ready to give me a concrete answer. The answers I got from both were short and specific. Max - Raphael knew his name, age, sex, and was able to name and give the age of his sisters. He, like Hanna and Emma, did not know his address and birthday. Max - Raphael gave me his age, gender, and his sisters' name and age immediately, but I had to ask him about his surname. Timothy could answer every question. His answers were concrete and given readily. I did not have to tease any question out of him. The results support my prediction in most points. All children were able to give me their age, gender, sex, and the name and age of their siblings. I was not too sure if Timothy would be able to give me his correct birthday and address, although he is already attending school. Discussion The study is only based on four pre - operational children but the results show that there are no major differences cross - culturally in the children`s knowledge and experience. The five-year-old German boy knew as much as the four-year-old American girls. The fact that the six year old Asian -