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Common Developmental Traits by Age Resource

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Common Developmental Traits by Age Resource

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Yardsticks: Child and Adolescent Development Ages 4 - 14

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Helping children grow and learn starts with understanding their development! Drawing on decades of educational experience and a wealth of research, Yardsticks invites every adult who teaches or cares for children to celebrate the incredible developmental journey that occurs from ages four through...

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Erikson's psychosocial development | Individuals and Society | MCAT | Khan Academy

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Erikson’s theory outlines eight stages of psychosocial development, from infancy to adulthood. At each stage, individuals face a conflict, such as trust vs. mistrust, which shapes their personality. Successfully resolving these conflicts leads to virtues like hope and integrity, while failure can result in guilt or despair.

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Kohlberg moral development | Individuals and Society | MCAT | Khan Academy

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Abstract

Kohlberg's theory of moral development was based on extensive research done on the reactions of people of all ages to specific moral situational dilemmas. Kohlberg was specifically interested in reasoning processes involved in decision-making. The way in which children perceive their rights is also based on reasoning processes that are inextricably linked to their level of development and more specifically to their level of moral development since the area of human rights can be considered essentially moral. Since Kohlberg's theory is primarily concerned with development, a great deal of insight can be gained into the developmental shift that occurs in children's reasoning about the rights to which they feel they should be entitled. This article focuses on Kohlberg's six-stage theory, specifically as it pertains to reasoning processes similar to those that would be used in rights reasoning. At each stage the authors propose a potential view of how children at each developmental stage might perceive their rights based on the description Kohlberg gives of the developmental trends associated with each stage. A critical assessment of Kohlberg's work is also given in order to highlight certain considerations about the limitations of this theory that need to be considered for future research.

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national center for biotechnology information

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Kohlberg's theory of moral development: insights into rights reasoning - PubMed

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Kohlberg's theory of moral development was based on extensive research done on the reactions of people of all ages to specific moral situational dilemmas. Kohlberg was specifically interested in reasoning processes involved in decision-making. The way in which children perceive their rights is also ...

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Understanding Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

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Erikson’s stages of development describe eight psychosocial phases that shape the development of personality, identity, and psychological skills.

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Kohlberg's theory of moral development is a theory that focuses on how children develop morality and moral reasoning. Kohlberg's theory suggests that moral development occurs in a series of six stages and that moral logic is primarily focused on seeking and maintaining justice.

Here we discuss how Kohlberg developed his theory of moral development and the six stages he identified as part of this process. We also share some critiques of Kohlberg's theory, many of which suggest that it may be biased based on the limited demographics of the subjects studied.

What Is Moral Development?

Moral development is the process by which people develop the distinction between right and wrong (morality) and engage in reasoning between the two (moral reasoning).

How do people develop morality? This question has fascinated parents, religious leaders, and philosophers for ages, but moral development has also become a hot-button issue in psychology and education. Do parental or societal influences play a greater role in moral development? Do all kids develop morality in similar ways?

American psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg developed one of the best-known theories exploring some of these basic questions. His work modified and expanded upon Jean Piaget's previous work but was more centered on explaining how children develop moral reasoning.

Kohlberg extended Piaget's theory, proposing that moral development is a continual process that occurs throughout the lifespan. Kohlberg's theory outlines six stages of moral development within three different levels.

How Kohlberg Developed His Theory

Kohlberg based his theory on a series of moral dilemmas presented to his study subjects. Participants were also interviewed to determine the reasoning behind their judgments in each scenario.

One example was "Heinz Steals the Drug." In this scenario, a woman has cancer and her doctors believe only one drug might save her. This drug had been discovered by a local pharmacist and he was able to make it for $200 per dose and sell it for $2,000 per dose. The woman's husband, Heinz, could only raise $1,000 to buy the drug.

He tried to negotiate with the pharmacist for a lower price or to be extended credit to pay for it over time. But the pharmacist refused to sell it for any less or to accept partial payments. Rebuffed, Heinz instead broke into the pharmacy and stole the drug to save his wife. Kohlberg asked, "Should the husband have done that?"

Stages of Moral Development

Kohlberg's theory is broken down into three primary levels. At each level of moral development, there are two stages. Similar to how Piaget believed that not all people reach the highest levels of cognitive development, Kohlberg believed not everyone progresses to the highest stages of moral development.

Preconventional Morality

0 to 9

Stage 1: Obedience and punishment Stage 2: Individualism and exchange

Conventional Morality

Early adolescence to adulthood

Stage 3: Developing good interpersonal relationships Stage 4: Maintaining social order

Postconventional Morality

Some adults; rare

Stage 5: Social contract and individual rights stage 6: Universal principles

Level 1. Preconventional Morality

Preconventional morality is the earliest period of moral development. It lasts until around the age of 9. At this age, children's decisions are primarily shaped by the expectations of adults and the consequences of breaking the rules. There are two stages within this level:

Stage 1 (Obedience and Punishment): The earliest stages of moral development, obedience and punishment are especially common in young children, but adults are also capable of expressing this type of reasoning. According to Kohlberg, people at this stage see rules as fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it is a way to avoid punishment.

Stage 2 (Individualism and Exchange): At the individualism and exchange stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs. In the Heinz dilemma, children argued that the best course of action was the choice that best served Heinz's needs. Reciprocity is possible at this point in moral development, but only if it serves one's own interests.

Level 2. Conventional Morality

The next period of moral development is marked by the acceptance of social rules regarding what is good and moral. During this time, adolescents and adults internalize the moral standards they have learned from their role models and from society.

This period also focuses on the acceptance of authority and conforming to the norms of the group. There are two stages at this level of morality:

Stage 3 (Developing Good Interpersonal Relationships): Often referred to as the "good boy-good girl" orientation, this stage of the interpersonal relationship of moral development is focused on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being "nice," and consideration of how choices influence relationships.

Stage 4 (Maintaining Social Order): This stage is focused on ensuring that social order is maintained. At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing one's duty, and respecting authority.

Level 3. Postconventional Morality

At this level of moral development, people develop an understanding of abstract principles of morality. The two stages at this level are:

Stage 5 (Social Contract and Individual Rights): The ideas of a social contract and individual rights cause people in the next stage to begin to account for the differing values, opinions, and beliefs of other people. Rules of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the society should agree upon these standards.

Stage 6 (Universal Principles): Kohlberg's final level of moral reasoning is based on universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning. At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules.

Kohlberg believed that only a relatively small percentage of people ever reach the post-conventional stages (around 10 to 15%). One analysis found that while stages one to four could be seen as universal in populations throughout the world, the fifth and sixth stages were extremely rare in all populations.

Applications for Kohlberg's Theory

Understanding Kohlberg's theory of moral development is important in that it can help parents guide their children as they develop their moral character. Parents with younger children might work on rule obeyance, for instance, whereas they might teach older children about social expectations.

Teachers and other educators can also apply Kohlberg's theory in the classroom, providing additional moral guidance. A kindergarten teacher could help enhance moral development by setting clear rules for the classroom, and the consequences for violating them. This helps kids at stage one of moral development.

A teacher in high school might focus more on the development that occurs in stage three (developing good interpersonal relationships) and stage four (maintaining social order). This could be accomplished by having the students take part in setting the rules to be followed in the classroom, giving them a better idea of the reasoning behind these rules.

Criticisms for Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Kohlberg's theory played an important role in the development of moral psychology. While the theory has been highly influential, aspects of the theory have been critiqued for a number of reasons:

Moral reasoning does not equal moral behavior: Kohlberg's theory is concerned with moral thinking, but there is a big difference between knowing what we ought to do versus our actual actions. Moral reasoning, therefore, may not lead to moral behavior.

Overemphasizes justice: Critics have pointed out that Kohlberg's theory of moral development overemphasizes the concept of justice when making moral choices. Factors such as compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in moral reasoning.

Cultural bias: Individualist cultures emphasize personal rights, while collectivist cultures stress the importance of society and community. Eastern, collectivist cultures may have different moral outlooks that Kohlberg's theory does not take into account.

Age bias: Most of his subjects were children under the age of 16 who obviously had no experience with marriage. The Heinz dilemma may have been too abstract for these children to understand, and a scenario more applicable to their everyday concerns might have led to different results.

Gender bias: Kohlberg's critics, including Carol Gilligan, have suggested that Kohlberg's theory was gender-biased since all of the subjects in his sample were male. Kohlberg believed that women tended to remain at the third level of moral development because they place a stronger emphasis on things such as social relationships and the welfare of others.

Gilligan instead suggested that Kohlberg's theory overemphasizes concepts such as justice and does not adequately address moral reasoning founded on the principles and ethics of caring and concern for others.

Other Theories of Moral Development

Kohlberg isn't the only psychologist to theorize how we develop morally. There are several other theories of moral development.

Piaget's Theory of Moral Development

Kohlberg's theory is an expansion of Piaget's theory of moral development. Piaget described a three-stage process of moral development:

Stage 1: The child is more concerned with developing and mastering their motor and social skills, with no general concern about morality.

Stage 2: The child develops unconditional respect both for authority figures and the rules in existence.

Stage 3: The child starts to see rules as being arbitrary, also considering an actor's intentions when judging whether an act or behavior is moral or immoral.

Kohlberg expanded on this theory to include more stages in the process. Additionally, Kohlberg believed that the final stage is rarely achieved by individuals whereas Piaget's stages of moral development are common to all.

Moral Foundations Theory

Proposed by Jonathan Haidt, Craig Joseph, and Jesse Graham, the moral foundations theory is based on three morality principles:

1. Intuition develops before strategic reasoning. Put another way, our reaction comes first, which is then followed by rationalization.

2. Morality involves more than harm and fairness. Contained within this second principle are a variety of considerations related to morality. It includes: care vs. harm, liberty vs. oppression, fairness vs. cheating, loyalty vs. betrayal, authority vs. subversion, and sanctity vs. degradation.

3. Morality can both bind groups and blind individuals. When people are part of a group, they will tend to adopt that group's same value systems. They may also sacrifice their own morals for the group's benefit.

While Kohlberg's theory is primarily focused on help vs. harm, moral foundations theory encompasses several more dimensions of morality. However, this theory also fails to explain the "rules" people use when determining what is best for society.

Normative Theories of Moral Behavior

Several other theories exist that attempt to explain the development of morality, specifically in relation to social justice. Some fall into the category of transcendental institutionalist, which involves trying to create "perfect justice." Others are realization-focused, concentrating more on removing injustices.

One theory falling into the second category is social choice theory. Social choice theory is a collection of models that seek to explain how individuals can use their input (their preferences) to impact society as a whole. An example of this is voting, which allows the majority to decide what is "right" and "wrong."

A Word From Verywell

While Kohlberg's theory of moral development has been criticized, the theory played an important role in the emergence of the field of moral psychology. Researchers continue to explore how moral reasoning develops and changes through life as well as the universality of these stages. Understanding these stages offers helpful insights into the ways that both children and adults make moral choices and how moral thinking may influence decisions and behaviors.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. American Psychological Association. Heinz dilemma.

2. American Psychological Association. Kohlberg's theory of moral development.

3. Kohlberg L, Essays On Moral Development. Harper & Row; 1985.

4. Gibbs J. Moral Development And Reality. 4th ed. Oxford University Press; 2019.

5. Gilligan C. In A Different Voice. Harvard University Press; 2016.

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Levels of Developing Morality in Kohlberg's Theories

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Kohlberg's theory of moral development seeks to explain how children form moral reasoning. According to Kohlberg's theory, moral development occurs in six stages.

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Test adapted from the 33-item emotional intelligence scale by Schutte and colleagues (1998) that was based on the model developed by Salovey and Mayer published in 1990.

Are you one of those people who can remain calm under pressure? Do you handle awkward situations with grace?

If you answered yes to those questions, you may have high emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence, aka emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to understand, interpret, and manage your emotions, as well as those of other people. If you have high EQ, you're able to communicate with others, show empathy when needed, and overcome emotionally-charged situations.

The concept of emotional intelligence was first introduced by psychologist and author Daniel Goleman in the 1990s. He referenced 5 components of emotional intelligence:

While some people naturally have emotional intelligence, others may have to practice improving their emotional skills. According to research from 2018, emotional intelligence can be strengthened and improved with targeted work.

This may include learning how to regulate your emotions during difficult situations or learning how to build empathy. If you're ready to strengthen your emotional intelligence, consider seeking out emotional intelligence training either through your workplace or an online course.

If you're having trouble regulating your emotions or it begins to interfere with your daily life, consider reaching out to a healthcare or mental health professional. They can guide you on the next steps.

This brief, time-saving questionnaire is designed for anyone looking to find out how emotionally intelligent they are.

The items below will help you determine whether you might benefit from boosting your emotional intelligence.

A mental health professional can help if you're having trouble regulating your emotions and recommend tools and strategies if needed.

This online screening is not a diagnosis or an official evaluation of your emotional intelligence.

It's a fun tool to help you better understand your emotional intelligence. Remember that no matter how high you score, you can often find new opportunities to improve your emotional intelligence.

You can also use this test as a self-screening tool to track your emotional intelligence and find out where you can improve and grow.

If you're having trouble regulating your emotions or it begins to interfere with your daily life, you may benefit from an evaluation by a mental health professional.

Only a trained medical professional, such as a healthcare or mental health professional, can help you determine the next best steps for you.

What are the 7 signs of emotional intelligence?

There are 7 signs that your emotional intelligence (EQ) is strong. You likely: 1. have a strong sense of self-awareness, 2. are able to embrace change, 3. can manage your emotions in difficult situations, 4. have a thirst for personal development, 5. are able to show empathy and compassion for others, 6. get along well with others, and 7. can diffuse tense situations and manage conflict.

What are the 5 elements of emotional intelligence?

The 5 components of emotional intelligence (EQ) are self-awareness, motivation, empathy, self-regulation, and social skills.

What are the 4 types of emotional intelligence?

The 4 types of emotional intelligence (EQ) are similar to the 5 components. It includes being socially aware and knowing how to react to various situations, being able to manage your emotions and understanding how to deal with situations in a helpful way, having the ability to connect with others and build healthy relationships, and being aware of your emotions and what you're feeling.

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EQ Test: How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?

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What is your emotional intelligence (EQ) score? You can take our test and find out.

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Emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) is the ability to perceive, express, and regulate emotions. Learn the role that emotional intelligence play in relationships and other areas.

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He may seem a surprising source for business advice, but, argues Daniel Goleman, the Dalai Lama is both a futurist and a visionary.

Continue reading

Psychologist Daniel Goleman (watch his TEDTalk about compassion) has just released a series of conversations about social neuroscience, empathy, compassion and social connection, each one with an expert on the topic - George Lucas on education, socially intelligent computing with Clay Shirky, Naomi Wolf on ethical leadership ... The audio series is available via download [...]

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Many TEDTalks speakers have answered the 2008 Edge Foundation question: What have you changed your mind about? Why? Among the more than 160 essays from leading thinkers - scientists, philosophers, artists - look for Wired's Chris Anderson, Nick Bostrom, Stewart Brand, Richard Dawkins, Aubrey de Grey, Juan Enriquez, Helen Fisher, Neil Gershenfeld, Daniel Gilbert, Daniel [...]

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Daniel Goleman, psychologist and award-winning author of Emotional Intelligence and other books on EI, challenges traditional measures of intelligence as a predictor of life success.

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Vygotsky sociocultural development | Individuals and Society | MCAT | Khan Academy

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Vygotsky created the concept of the zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, which came to be a central part of his theory. Language is the way that a child communicates with others after they are born and they continue to learn by interacting with those around them. Building on his idea of social interaction as the basis for learning, he broached the value of a mentor or teacher in the life of a student.

See also: Andragogy Theory - Malcolm Knowles

Vygotsky declared some controversial statements that went against prominent educational research at the time. He dismissed the idea that there was no ideal age for learning and instead introduced ideal stages for learning, a similar opinion as Piaget. He also explained that the cognitive growth increased less for students with a higher intelligence than a lower intelligence when they entered school. He coined this term relative achievement, a method that highlights the departure point of student learning and not just the end result. This led Vygotsky into the idea of the 'zone of proximal development,' as it assessed the change in cognitive development of students and not just the final outcome. Students benefit directly from the social interactions in class, and ideally, reach their learning potential with the help of their teacher.

Vygotsky consistently defines the zone of proximal development as the difference between the current level of cognitive development and the potential level of cognitive development. He maintains that a student is able to reach their learning goal by completing problem-solving tasks with their teacher or engaging with more competent peers. Vygotsky believed that a student would not be able to reach the same level of learning by working alone. As a student leaves his zone of current development, he travels through the zone of proximal development towards his learning goal.

The zone of proximal development consists of two important components: the student's potential development and the role of interaction with others. Learning occurs in the zone of proximal development after the identification of current knowledge. The potential development is simply what the student is capable of learning.

See also: Problem-Based Learning (PBL)

Scaffolding

To help learners achieve independence, Vygotsky outlined scaffolding as a tool for growth. Learners complete small, manageable steps in order to reach the goal. Working in collaboration with a skilled instructor or more knowledgeable peers help students make connections between concepts.

As learners grow within their zone of proximal development and become more confident, they practice new tasks with the social support that surrounds them. Vygotsky maintains that learning occurs through purposeful, meaningful interactions with others.

How Vygotsky Impacts Learning

Many psychologists, including Piaget and Bandura, have assessed the cultural influences on learning, however, only Vygotsky claims that they are inherently woven together. He felt that studies should be analyzing the individual within the society and not the individual itself. Only then could you observe the level of growth, as it is social interaction itself that promotes mental development. While morals, values, and thoughts are believed to be influenced by society, the process of learning is not seen as something that is mimicked. Vygotsky outlined that interactions with others created growth by making connections between concepts. To summarize, Vygotsky's views on cognitive development can be grouped into four main points, outlined as follows:

the relationship between the student and the teacher is central to learning;

society and culture influence the attitudes and beliefs of a student towards learning and education;

language is the primary tool used in the development of learning in children, including the transfer of sociocultural influences; and

students benefit greatly in programs that are student-led, as they can use the social interaction to grow towards their potential level of development.

Curriculum - Learning goals and curriculum outlines should be designed around social interaction between students and tasks.

Instruction - The idea of scaffolding is the basis of instruction. Students can achieve their learning potential with guided instruction from their teacher. The teacher constantly reassesses the levels of achievement of the student and creates the next task as a building block to the goal. As an added benefit, the student also learns problem-solving skills from performing leveled tasks on their own.

Assessment - Evaluations are catered to each student based on their zone of proximal development. As teachers strive to see the potential level of cognitive development in all students, assessments must cover a range of abilities. Some students may achieve a higher level with support from their teacher than others.

See also: Inclusive Teaching Strategies

On a more practical note, many wonder how this type of learning can be implemented in schools. Scaffolding seems to be a cycle - the teacher is constantly evaluating the progress of a student throughout a learning activity and consistently responding according to their needs. This means that the teacher adjusts the difficulty of the tasks and learning goals in order for the student to meet the expectations. The zone of proximal development indicates the level of task that the student can accomplish independently, which, in turn, demonstrates the actual activity that can be accomplished with guided support from the teacher. As they create learning goals, teachers must keep in mind the fact that each student will have unique personality traits that will affect their zones.

To summarize, students require many opportunities to demonstrate their point of learning in order for the teacher to create the next steps and support each need. The gradual release of responsibility, which we know as scaffolding, allows students to gain independence in learning tasks as they reach their goals. The teacher begins by offering a strong presence and close guidance; this may include demonstrations, facilitating activities, or explicit teaching of ideas. As the student moves through the zone of proximal development towards the goal, the teacher gradually releases control to the student as they approach their level of potential learning. The tasks become progressively more difficult as the student gains more knowledge and comes closer to reaching their potential level of cognitive development. Some suggest that all tasks should be on the higher end towards the optimal level of the zone of proximal development in order to main the interest of the student. Scaffolding is used as a tool to achieve the potential learning outcomes of a student.

The question remains then: is the theoretical idea of zones of proximal development really that different from what experienced teachers do in the classroom? Vygotsky's theory is centered on the idea that social interaction is critical to cognitive development. With the exception of some large classes, students actively engage with their teacher and with each other. Collaborating with peers is encouraged but cannot be over-used, as it may actually cause stagnant growth in some cases. Additionally, the teacher is the most educated on the learning process, automatically assessing many factors related to the student's potential growth.

Language tasks in education are still the best indicator in cognitive development. Such activities allow chain reactions to occur that begin with solid communication skills, lead to clarification of inner speech and continues with growth in thought patterns. However, one must not view language activities as exclusive: it does not mean that a student possesses a low level of cognitive ability if they are unable to orally express themselves. Language is complex, and some do not grasp the subtle meanings present in communication. Other types of intelligence, such a musical and bodily-kinesthetic, are not necessarily compatible with learning-centered on language. It is important to note, however, that early development of language offers an advantage to children in our society, as it offers favoritism towards other educational skills.

Currently, the value of educational software has been inconsistent in relation to Vygotsky's theory. As there is such a broad variance in computer-based programs available, it is challenging to evaluate its effect on learning. Social interaction looks different when on a computer; now students may be interacting with a human-like software program. Some artificial intelligence systems offer great responses to questions and misunderstandings, but others are not as advanced. There is great hope that a sophisticated program could assess a student's zone of proximal development and respond appropriately, but for now, the wide range of programs available are too unpredictable.

Vygotsky made it his mission to analyze the effects of socialization of cognitive development. We can see how language is the central approach of his theory, and how the cultural and societal relationships affect learning. In real-life applications, we discussed the utilization of the zone of proximal development by the teacher, which also emphasizes the need for student-directed learning in the educational system. As we move towards remote learning and computer-based applications, we need to evaluate the impact of the social world and the attention required for students.

See also: Using Bloom's Taxonomy to Write Effective Learning Objectives: The ABCD Approach

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Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding - Educational Technology

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Vygotsky created the concept of the zone of proximal development, often abbreviated as ZPD, which came to be a central part of his theory. Language is the

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Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) refers to the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance. Learning occurs most effectively in this zone, as the learner receives support from more knowledgeable individuals, such as teachers or peers, to help them reach the next level of understanding.

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Voiceover: Building off the five approaches in understanding motivation, or the five schools of thought like we talked about in the last video, let's take a deeper look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So it's actually broken down into, into a pyramid that looks just like this. This was created by a famous psychologist named Abraham Maslow. So Maslow said that we have needs that need to be fulfilled in a specific order. It has to start from the bottom of the pyramid, all the way to the top. So our most basic need is our physiological need. And that forms the foundation or base of this pyramid. So our physiological needs can include anything from food, water, breathing and sleep. All of these are essential needs to survive. Moving up, the second level is our need for safety. So, safety of resources, safety of employment, and health and property. Safety is a basic need also, but it can only be fulfilled once our physiological needs are met. So, we can call these two levels the basic levels. Now Maslow went on to name a third level, and this is our level of love. Our need for love. It's our need to belong. Our need to have acceptance from friends and family. And our need for intimacy. This level of needs is called our social needs. The fourth level is our need for self-esteem. We like to feel confident and have a sense of achievement in what we do. We look for recognition in competence of skill that gives us self confidence. So these needs fall under a level of respect. We like to gain respect from others when we reach this level but again, this can only occur if the three needs below, physiological, safety, and love are fulfilled, and now we've come to the top. This last level is called self-actualization. It's a really big word but Maslow describes it as one reaching their maximum potential. It's a desire to accomplish everything one can do and become the most one can be. And this differs from person to person obviously. For example, one we have is strong desire to become an ideal parent, or an ideal athlete, or an ideal artist. Maslow thought self-actualizers were moral to their own principles and had mastered all the needs that fall below, this one. This level is our level of full potential. So think of this as climbing Mount Everest. You have to start at the bottom, but along the way you're going to have different checkpoints. All of these checkpoints are managed by different Sherpas on the mountain. You can't climb to the next level unless the Sherpa at the level you're at gives you the go ahead. He has to make sure you've eaten and gotten enough rest and are breathing okay. Then you can ascend to the next level and eventually, this keeps on going until you reach the top. Where you've realized your maximum potential. There you have it, Maslow's hierarchy of human needs.

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs (video) | Khan Academy

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Voiceover: Building off the five approaches in understanding motivation, or the five schools of thought like we talked about in the last video, let's take a deeper look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. So it's actually broken down into, into a pyramid that looks just like this.

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs | Behavior | MCAT | Khan Academy

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Piaget's stages of cognitive development | Processing the Environment | MCAT | Khan Academy

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Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of learning. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence. Piaget's stages are:

Sensorimotor stage: Birth to 2 years

Preoperational stage: Ages 2 to 7

Concrete operational stage: Ages 7 to 11

Formal operational stage: Ages 12 and up

Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world. As kids interact with the world around them, they continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held ideas to accommodate new information.

History of Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Piaget was born in Switzerland in the late 1800s and was a precocious student, publishing his first scientific paper when he was just 11 years old. His early exposure to the intellectual development of children came when he worked as an assistant to Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon as they worked to standardize their famous IQ test.

Piaget vs. Vygotsky

Piaget's theory differs in important ways from those of Lev Vygotsky, another influential figure in the field of child development. Vygotsky acknowledged the roles that curiosity and active involvement play in learning, but placed greater emphasis on society and culture.

Piaget felt that development is largely fueled from within, while Vygotsky believed that external factors (such as culture) and people (such as parents, caregivers, and peers) play a more significant role.

Much of Piaget's interest in the cognitive development of children was inspired by his observations of his own nephew and daughter. These observations reinforced his budding hypothesis that children's minds were not merely smaller versions of adult minds.

Until this point in history, children were largely treated simply as smaller versions of adults. Piaget was one of the first to identify that the way that children think is different from the way adults think.

Piaget proposed that intelligence grows and develops through a series of stages. Older children do not just think more quickly than younger children. Instead, there are both qualitative and quantitative differences between the thinking of young children versus older children.

Based on his observations, he concluded that children were not less intelligent than adults-they simply think differently. Albert Einstein called Piaget's discovery "so simple only a genius could have thought of it."

Piaget's stage theory describes the cognitive development of children. Cognitive development involves changes in cognitive process and abilities. In Piaget's view, early cognitive development involves processes based upon actions and later progresses to changes in mental operations.

The Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development

During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A child's entire experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs through basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses.
Birth to 2 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

Know the world through movements and sensations

Learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and listening

Learn that things continue to exist even when they cannot be seen (object permanence)

Realize that they are separate beings from the people and objects around them

Realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them

During the sensorimotor stage, children go through a period of dramatic growth and learning. As kids interact with their environment, they continually make new discoveries about how the world works.

The cognitive development that occurs during this period takes place over a relatively short time and involves a great deal of growth. Children not only learn how to perform physical actions such as crawling and walking; they also learn a great deal about language from the people with whom they interact. Piaget also broke this stage down into substages. Early representational thought emerges during the final part of the sensorimotor stage.

Piaget believed that developing object permanence or object constancy, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, was an important element at this point of development.

By learning that objects are separate and distinct entities and that they have an existence of their own outside of individual perception, children are then able to begin to attach names and words to objects.

The Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development

The foundations of language development may have been laid during the previous stage, but the emergence of language is one of the major hallmarks of the preoperational stage of development.
2 to 7 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

Begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects

Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others

Getting better with language and thinking, but still tend to think in very concrete terms

At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view of other people. They also often struggle with understanding the idea of constancy.

Children become much more skilled at pretend play during this stage of development, yet they continue to think very concretely about the world around them.

For example, a researcher might take a lump of clay, divide it into two equal pieces, and then give a child the choice between two pieces of clay to play with. One piece of clay is rolled into a compact ball while the other is smashed into a flat pancake shape. Because the flat shape looks larger, the preoperational child will likely choose that piece, even though the two pieces are exactly the same size.

The Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development

While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point in development, they become much more adept at using logic.﻿﻿ The egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear as kids become better at thinking about how other people might view a situation.
7 to 11 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

Begin to think logically about concrete events

Begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for example

Thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete

Begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to a general principle

While thinking becomes much more logical during the concrete operational state, it can also be very rigid. Kids at this point in development tend to struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts.

During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

The Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development

The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas. At this point, adolescents and young adults become capable of seeing multiple potential solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.
Age 12 and Up
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this time:

Begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems

Begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning

Begins to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to specific information

The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key hallmark of the formal operational stage of cognitive development. The ability to systematically plan for the future and reason about hypothetical situations are also critical abilities that emerge during this stage.

Important Cognitive Development Concepts

It is important to note that Piaget did not view children's intellectual development as a quantitative process. That is, kids do not just add more information and knowledge to their existing knowledge as they get older.

Instead, Piaget suggested that there is a qualitative change in how children think as they gradually process through these four stages. At age 7, children don't just have more information about the world than they did at age 2; there is a fundamental change in how they think about the world.

Piaget suggested several factors that influence how children learn and grow.

A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world.

In Piaget's view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas.

For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child's sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters an enormous dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include these new observations.

Assimilation

The process of taking in new information into our already existing schemas is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective because we tend to modify experiences and information slightly to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it "dog" is a case of assimilating the animal into the child's dog schema.

Accommodation

Another part of adaptation is the ability to change existing schemas in light of new information; this process is known as accommodation. New schemas may also be developed during this process.

Equilibration

As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation).

Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation using a mechanism he called equilibration. Equilibration helps explain how children can move from one stage of thought to the next.

One of the main points of Piaget's theory is that creating knowledge and intelligence is an inherently active process.

"I find myself opposed to the view of knowledge as a passive copy of reality," Piaget wrote. "I believe that knowing an object means acting upon it, constructing systems of transformations that can be carried out on or with this object. Knowing reality means constructing systems of transformations that correspond, more or less adequately, to reality."

Piaget's theory of cognitive development helped add to our understanding of children's intellectual growth. It also stressed that children were not merely passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, kids are constantly investigating and experimenting as they build their understanding of how the world works.

Additional Reading

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What Is Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development?

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Psychologist Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development has 4 stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

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3. Schemas

Piaget claimed that knowledge cannot simply emerge from sensory experience; some initial structure is necessary to make sense of the world.

According to Piaget, children are born with a very basic mental structure (genetically inherited and evolved) on which all subsequent learning and knowledge are based.

Schemas are the basic building blocks of such cognitive models, and enable us to form a mental representation of the world.

Piaget (1952, p. 7) defined a schema as: "a cohesive, repeatable action sequence possessing component actions that are tightly interconnected and governed by a core meaning."

In more simple terms, Piaget called the schema the basic building block of intelligent behavior - a way of organizing knowledge. Indeed, it is useful to think of schemas as "units" of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions, and abstract (i.e., theoretical) concepts.

Wadsworth (2004) suggests that schemata (the plural of schema) be thought of as "index cards" filed in the brain, each one telling an individual how to react to incoming stimuli or information.

When Piaget talked about the development of a person's mental processes, he was referring to increases in the number and complexity of the schemata that a person had learned.

When a child's existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e., a state of cognitive (i.e., mental) balance.

Operations are more sophisticated mental structures which allow us to combine schemas in a logical (reasonable) way.

As children grow they can carry out more complex operations and begin to imagine hypothetical (imaginary) situations.

Apart from the schemas we are born with schemas and operations are learned through interaction with other people and the environment.

Piaget emphasized the importance of schemas in cognitive development and described how they were developed or acquired.

A schema can be defined as a set of linked mental representations of the world, which we use both to understand and to respond to situations. The assumption is that we store these mental representations and apply them when needed.

Examples of Schemas

A person might have a schema about buying a meal in a restaurant. The schema is a stored form of the pattern of behavior which includes looking at a menu, ordering food, eating it and paying the bill.

This is an example of a schema called a "script." Whenever they are in a restaurant, they retrieve this schema from memory and apply it to the situation.

The schemas Piaget described tend to be simpler than this - especially those used by infants. He described how - as a child gets older - his or her schemas become more numerous and elaborate.

Piaget believed that newborn babies have a small number of innate schemas - even before they have had many opportunities to experience the world. These neonatal schemas are the cognitive structures underlying innate reflexes. These reflexes are genetically programmed into us.

For example, babies have a sucking reflex, which is triggered by something touching the baby's lips. A baby will suck a nipple, a comforter (dummy), or a person's finger. Piaget, therefore, assumed that the baby has a "sucking schema."

Similarly, the grasping reflex which is elicited when something touches the palm of a baby's hand, or the rooting reflex, in which a baby will turn its head towards something which touches its cheek, are innate schemas. Shaking a rattle would be the combination of two schemas, grasping and shaking.

4. The Process of Adaptation

Piaget also believed that a child developed as a result of two different influences: maturation, and interaction with the environment. The child develops mental structures (schemata) which enables him to solve problems in the environment.

Adaptation is the process by which the child changes its mental models of the world to match more closely how the world actually is.

Adaptation is brought about by the processes of assimilation (solving new experiences using existing schemata) and accommodation (changing existing schemata in order to solve new experiences).

The importance of this viewpoint is that the child is seen as an active participant in its own development rather than a passive recipient of either biological influences (maturation) or environmental stimulation.

When our existing schemas can explain what we perceive around us, we are in a state of equilibration. However, when we meet a new situation that we cannot explain it creates disequilibrium, this is an unpleasant sensation which we try to escape, and this gives us the motivation to learn.

According to Piaget, reorganization to higher levels of thinking is not accomplished easily. The child must "rethink" his or her view of the world. An important step in the process is the experience of cognitive conflict.

In other words, the child becomes aware that he or she holds two contradictory views about a situation and they both cannot be true. This step is referred to as disequilibrium.

Jean Piaget (1952; see also Wadsworth, 2004) viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration.

To get back to a state of equilibration, we need to modify our existing schemas to learn and adapt to the new situation.

This is done through the processes of accommodation and assimilation. This is how our schemas evolve and become more sophisticated. The processes of assimilation and accommodation are continuous and interactive.

5. Assimilation

Piaget defined assimilation as the cognitive process of fitting new information into existing cognitive schemas, perceptions, and understanding. Overall beliefs and understanding of the world do not change as a result of the new information.

Assimilation occurs when the new experience is not very different from previous experiences of a particular object or situation we assimilate the new situation by adding information to a previous schema.

This means that when you are faced with new information, you make sense of this information by referring to information you already have (information processed and learned previously) and trying to fit the new information into the information you already have.

Examples

1. Imagine a young child who has only ever seen small, domesticated dogs. When the child sees a cat for the first time, they might refer to it as a "dog" because it has four legs, fur, and a tail - features that fit their existing schema of a dog.

2. A person who has always believed that all birds can fly might label penguins as birds that can fly. This is because their existing schema or understanding of birds includes the ability to fly.

3. A 2-year-old child sees a man who is bald on top of his head and has long frizzy hair on the sides. To his father's horror, the toddler shouts "Clown, clown" (Siegler et al., 2003).

4. If a baby learns to pick up a rattle he or she will then use the same schema (grasping) to pick up other objects.

6. Accommodation

Accommodation: when the new experience is very different from what we have encountered before we need to change our schemas in a very radical way or create a whole new schema.

Psychologist Jean Piaget defined accommodation as the cognitive process of revising existing cognitive schemas, perceptions, and understanding so that new information can be incorporated.

This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.

In order to make sense of some new information, you actually adjust information you already have (schemas you already have, etc.) to make room for this new information.

Examples

1. A baby tries to use the same schema for grasping to pick up a very small object. It doesn't work. The baby then changes the schema by now using the forefinger and thumb to pick up the object.

2. A child may have a schema for birds (feathers, flying, etc.) and then they see a plane, which also flies, but would not fit into their bird schema.

3. In the "clown" incident, the boy's father explained to his son that the man was not a clown and that even though his hair was like a clown's, he wasn't wearing a funny costume and wasn't doing silly things to make people laugh. With this new knowledge, the boy was able to change his schema of "clown" and make this idea fit better to a standard concept of "clown".

4. A person who grew up thinking all snakes are dangerous might move to an area where garden snakes are common and harmless. Over time, after observing and learning, they might accommodate their previous belief to understand that not all snakes are harmful.

7. Equilibration

Piaget believed that all human thought seeks order and is uncomfortable with contradictions and inconsistencies in knowledge structures. In other words, we seek "equilibrium" in our cognitive structures.

Equilibrium occurs when a child's schemas can deal with most new information through assimilation. However, an unpleasant state of disequilibrium occurs when new information cannot be fitted into existing schemas (assimilation).

Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds. Equilibration is the force which drives the learning process as we do not like to be frustrated and will seek to restore balance by mastering the new challenge (accommodation).

Once the new information is acquired the process of assimilation with the new schema will continue until the next time we need to make an adjustment to it.

Equilibration is a regulatory process that maintains a balance between assimilation and accommodation to facilitate cognitive growth. Think of it this way: We can't merely assimilate all the time; if we did, we would never learn any new concepts or principles.

Everything new we encountered would just get put in the same few "slots" we already had. Neither can we accommodate all the time; if we did, everything we encountered would seem new; there would be no recurring regularities in our world. We'd be exhausted by the mental effort!

Applications to Education

Think of old black and white films that you've seen in which children sat in rows at desks, with ink wells, would learn by rote, all chanting in unison in response to questions set by an authoritarian old biddy like Matilda!

Children who were unable to keep up were seen as slacking and would be punished by variations on the theme of corporal punishment. Yes, it really did happen and in some parts of the world still does today.

Piaget is partly responsible for the change that occurred in the 1960s and for your relatively pleasurable and pain-free school days!

"Children should be able to do their own experimenting and their own research. Teachers, of course, can guide them by providing appropriate materials, but the essential thing is that in order for a child to understand something, he must construct it himself, he must re-invent it. Every time we teach a child something, we keep him from inventing it himself. On the other hand that which we allow him to discover by himself will remain with him visibly".
Piaget (1972, p. 27)

Plowden Report

Piaget (1952) did not explicitly relate his theory to education, although later researchers have explained how features of Piaget's theory can be applied to teaching and learning.

Piaget has been extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching practice. For example, a review of primary education by the UK government in 1966 was based strongly on Piaget's theory. The result of this review led to the publication of the Plowden Report (1967).

In the 1960s the Plowden Committee investigated the deficiencies in education and decided to incorporate many of Piaget's ideas into its final report published in 1967, even though Piaget's work was not really designed for education.

The report makes three Piaget-associated recommendations:

1. Children should be given individual attention and it should be realized that they need to be treated differently.

2. Children should only be taught things that they are capable of learning

3. Children mature at different rates and the teacher needs to be aware of the stage of development of each child so teaching can be tailored to their individual needs.

"The report's recurring themes are individual learning, flexibility in the curriculum, the centrality of play in children's learning, the use of the environment, learning by discovery and the importance of the evaluation of children's progress - teachers should "not assume that only what is measurable is valuable."

Discovery learning - the idea that children learn best through doing and actively exploring - was seen as central to the transformation of the primary school curriculum.

How to teach

Within the classroom learning should be student-centered and accomplished through active discovery learning. The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, rather than direct tuition.

Because Piaget's theory is based upon biological maturation and stages, the notion of "readiness" is important. Readiness concerns when certain information or concepts should be taught.

According to Piaget's theory, children should not be taught certain concepts until they have reached the appropriate stage of cognitive development.

According to Piaget (1958), assimilation and accommodation require an active learner, not a passive one, because problem-solving skills cannot be taught, they must be discovered.

Therefore, teachers should encourage the following within the classroom:

1. Educational programs should be designed to correspond to Piaget's stages of development. Children in the concrete operational stage should be given concrete means to learn new concepts e.g. tokens for counting.

2. Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the child.

3. Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it. Instead of checking if children have the right answer, the teacher should focus on the student's understanding and the processes they used to get to the answer.

4. Child-centered approach. Learning must be active (discovery learning).
Children should be encouraged to discover for themselves and to interact with the material instead of being given ready-made knowledge.

5. Accepting that children develop at different rates so arrange activities for individual children or small groups rather than assume that all the children can cope with a particular activity.

6. Using active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing "truths."

7. Using collaborative, as well as individual activities (so children can learn from each other).

8. Evaluate the level of the child's development so suitable tasks can be set.

9. Adapt lessons to suit the needs of the individual child (i.e. differentiated teaching).

10. Be aware of the child's stage of development (testing).

11. Teach only when the child is ready. i.e. has the child reached the appropriate stage.

12. Providing support for the "spontaneous research" of the child.

13. Using collaborative, as well as individual activities.

14. Devising situations that present useful problems, and create disequilibrium in the child.

15. Educators may use Piaget's stages to design age-appropriate assessment tools and strategies.

Classroom Activities

1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years):
Although most kids in this age range are not in a traditional classroom setting, they can still benefit from games that stimulate their senses and motor skills.

2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years):

Role Playing: Set up pretend play areas where children can act out different scenarios, such as a kitchen, hospital, or market.

Use of Symbols: Encourage drawing, building, and using props to represent other things.

Hands-on Activities: Children should interact physically with their environment, so provide plenty of opportunities for hands-on learning.

Egocentrism Activities: Use exercises that highlight different perspectives. For instance, having two children sit across from each other with an object in between and asking them what the other sees.

3. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years):

Classification Tasks: Provide objects or pictures to group, based on various characteristics.

Hands-on Experiments: Introduce basic science experiments where they can observe cause and effect, like a simple volcano with baking soda and vinegar.

Logical Games: Board games, puzzles, and logic problems help develop their thinking skills.

Conservation Tasks: Use experiments to showcase that quantity doesn't change with alterations in shape, such as the classic liquid conservation task using different shaped glasses.

4. Formal Operational Stage (11 years and older):

Hypothesis Testing: Encourage students to make predictions and test them out.

Abstract Thinking: Introduce topics that require abstract reasoning, such as algebra or ethical dilemmas.

Problem Solving: Provide complex problems and have students work on solutions, integrating various subjects and concepts.

Debate and Discussion: Encourage group discussions and debates on abstract topics, highlighting the importance of logic and evidence.

Feedback and Questioning: Use open-ended questions to challenge students and promote higher-order thinking. For instance, rather than asking, "Is this the right answer?", ask, "How did you arrive at this conclusion?"

Individual Differences

While Piaget's stages offer a foundational framework, they are not universally experienced in the same way by all children.

Social identities play a critical role in shaping cognitive development, necessitating a more nuanced and culturally responsive approach to understanding child development.

Piaget's stages may manifest differently based on social identities like race, gender, and culture:

Race & Teacher Interactions: A child's race can influence teacher expectations and interactions. For example, racial biases can lead to children of color being perceived as less capable or more disruptive, influencing their cognitive challenges and supports.

Racial and Cultural Stereotypes: These can affect a child's self-perception and self-efficacy. For instance, stereotypes about which racial or cultural groups are "better" at certain subjects can influence a child's self-confidence and, subsequently, their engagement in that subject.

Gender & Peer Interactions: Children learn gender roles from their peers. Boys might be mocked for playing "girl games," and girls might be excluded from certain activities, influencing their cognitive engagements.

Language: Multilingual children might navigate the stages differently, especially if their home language differs from their school language. The way concepts are framed in different languages can influence cognitive processing. Cultural idioms and metaphors can shape a child's understanding of concepts and their ability to use symbolic representation, especially in the pre-operational stage.

Curriculum Development

According to Piaget, children's cognitive development is determined by a process of maturation which cannot be altered by tuition so education should be stage-specific.

For example, a child in the concrete operational stage should not be taught abstract concepts and should be given concrete aid such as tokens to count with.

According to Piaget children learn through the process of accommodation and assimilation so the role of the teacher should be to provide opportunities for these processes to occur such as new material and experiences that challenge the children's existing schemas.

Furthermore, according to this theory, children should be encouraged to discover for themselves and to interact with the material instead of being given ready-made knowledge.

Curricula need to be developed that take into account the age and stage of thinking of the child. For example there is no point in teaching abstract concepts such as algebra or atomic structure to children in primary school.

Curricula also need to be sufficiently flexible to allow for variations in the ability of different students of the same age. In Britain, the National Curriculum and Key Stages broadly reflect the stages that Piaget laid down.

For example, egocentrism dominates a child's thinking in the sensorimotor and preoperational stages. Piaget would therefore predict that using group activities would not be appropriate since children are not capable of understanding the views of others.

However, Smith et al. (1998), point out that some children develop earlier than Piaget predicted and that by using group work children can learn to appreciate the views of others in preparation for the concrete operational stage.

The national curriculum emphasizes the need to use concrete examples in the primary classroom.

Shayer (1997), reported that abstract thought was necessary for success in secondary school (and co-developed the CASE system of teaching science). Recently the National curriculum has been updated to encourage the teaching of some abstract concepts towards the end of primary education, in preparation for secondary courses. (DfEE, 1999).

Child-centered teaching is regarded by some as a child of the 'liberal sixties.' In the 1980s the Thatcher government introduced the National Curriculum in an attempt to move away from this and bring more central government control into the teaching of children.

So, although the British National Curriculum in some ways supports the work of Piaget, (in that it dictates the order of teaching), it can also be seen as prescriptive to the point where it counters Piaget's child-oriented approach.

However, it does still allow for flexibility in teaching methods, allowing teachers to tailor lessons to the needs of their students.

Social Media (Digital Learning)

Jean Piaget could not have anticipated the expansive digital age we now live in.

Today, knowledge dissemination and creation are democratized by the Internet, with platforms like blogs, wikis, and social media allowing for vast collaboration and shared knowledge. This development has prompted a reimagining of the future of education.

Classrooms, traditionally seen as primary sites of learning, are being overshadowed by the rise of mobile technologies and platforms like MOOCs (Passey, 2013).

The millennial generation, defined as the first to grow up with cable TV, the internet, and cell phones, relies heavily on technology.

They view it as an integral part of their identity, with most using it extensively in their daily lives, from keeping in touch with loved ones to consuming news and entertainment (Nielsen, 2014).

Social media platforms offer a dynamic environment conducive to Piaget's principles. These platforms allow for interactions that nurture knowledge evolution through cognitive processes like assimilation and accommodation.

They emphasize communal interaction and shared activity, fostering both cognitive and socio-cultural constructivism. This shared activity promotes understanding and exploration beyond individual perspectives, enhancing social-emotional learning (Gehlbach, 2010).

A standout advantage of social media in an educational context is its capacity to extend beyond traditional classroom confines. As the material indicates, these platforms can foster more inclusive learning, bridging diverse learner groups.

This inclusivity can equalize learning opportunities, potentially diminishing biases based on factors like race or socio-economic status, resonating with Kegan's (1982) concept of "recruitability."

However, there are challenges. While the potential of social media in learning is vast, its practical application necessitates intention and guidance. Cuban, Kirkpatrick, and Peck (2001) note that certain educators and students are hesitant about integrating social media into educational contexts.

This hesitancy can stem from technological complexities or potential distractions. Yet, when harnessed effectively, social media can provide a rich environment for collaborative learning and interpersonal development, fostering a deeper understanding of content.

In essence, the rise of social media aligns seamlessly with constructivist philosophies. Social media platforms act as tools for everyday cognition, merging daily social interactions with the academic world, and providing avenues for diverse, interactive, and engaging learning experiences.

Applications to Parenting

Parents can use Piaget's stages to have realistic developmental expectations of their children's behavior and cognitive capabilities.

For instance, understanding that a toddler is in the pre-operational stage can help parents be patient when the child is egocentric.

Play Activities

Recognizing the importance of play in cognitive development, many parents provide toys and games suited for their child's developmental stage.

Parents can offer activities that are slightly beyond their child's current abilities, leveraging Vygotsky's concept of the "Zone of Proximal Development," which complements Piaget's ideas.

Critical Evaluation

The influence of Piaget's ideas on developmental psychology has been enormous. He changed how people viewed the child's world and their methods of studying children.

He was an inspiration to many who came after and took up his ideas. Piaget's ideas have generated a huge amount of research which has increased our understanding of cognitive development.

Piaget (1936) was one of the first psychologists to make a systematic study of cognitive development. His contributions include a stage theory of child cognitive development, detailed observational studies of cognition in children, and a series of simple but ingenious tests to reveal different cognitive abilities.

His ideas have been of practical use in understanding and communicating with children, particularly in the field of education (re: Discovery Learning). Piaget's theory has been applied across education.

According to Piaget's theory, educational programs should be designed to correspond to the stages of development.

Criticisms

Are the stages real? Vygotsky and Bruner would rather not talk about stages at all, preferring to see development as a continuous process. Others have queried the age ranges of the stages. Some studies have shown that progress to the formal operational stage is not guaranteed.

For example, Keating (1979) reported that 40-60% of college students fail at formal operation tasks, and Dasen (1994) states that only one-third of adults ever reach the formal operational stage.

The fact that the formal operational stage is not reached in all cultures and not all individuals within cultures suggests that it might not be biologically based.

According to Piaget, the rate of cognitive development cannot be accelerated as it is based on biological processes however, direct tuition can speed up the development which suggests that it is not entirely based on biological factors.

Because Piaget concentrated on the universal stages of cognitive development and biological maturation, he failed to consider the effect that the social setting and culture may have on cognitive development.

Cross-cultural studies show that the stages of development (except the formal operational stage) occur in the same order in all cultures suggesting that cognitive development is a product of a biological process of maturation.

However, the age at which the stages are reached varies between cultures and individuals which suggests that social and cultural factors and individual differences influence cognitive development.

Dasen (1994) cites studies he conducted in remote parts of the central Australian desert with 8-14-year-old Indigenous Australians. He gave them conservation of liquid tasks and spatial awareness tasks. He found that the ability to conserve came later in the Aboriginal children, between ages of 10 and 13 (as opposed to between 5 and 7, with Piaget's Swiss sample).

However, he found that spatial awareness abilities developed earlier amongst the Aboriginal children than the Swiss children. Such a study demonstrates cognitive development is not purely dependent on maturation but on cultural factors too - spatial awareness is crucial for nomadic groups of people.

Vygotsky, a contemporary of Piaget, argued that social interaction is crucial for cognitive development. According to Vygotsky the child's learning always occurs in a social context in cooperation with someone more skillful (MKO). This social interaction provides language opportunities and Vygotsky considered language the foundation of thought.

Piaget's methods (observation and clinical interviews) are more open to biased interpretation than other methods. Piaget made careful, detailed naturalistic observations of children, and from these, he wrote diary descriptions charting their development. He also used clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to understand questions and hold conversations.

Because Piaget conducted the observations alone the data collected are based on his own subjective interpretation of events. It would have been more reliable if Piaget conducted the observations with another researcher and compared the results afterward to check if they are similar (i.e., have inter-rater reliability).

Although clinical interviews allow the researcher to explore data in more depth, the interpretation of the interviewer may be biased.

For example, children may not understand the question/s, they have short attention spans, they cannot express themselves very well, and may be trying to please the experimenter. Such methods meant that Piaget may have formed inaccurate conclusions.

As several studies have shown Piaget underestimated the abilities of children because his tests were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand (e.g., Hughes, 1975).

Piaget failed to distinguish between competence (what a child is capable of doing) and performance (what a child can show when given a particular task). When tasks were altered, performance (and therefore competence) was affected. Therefore, Piaget might have underestimated children's cognitive abilities.

For example, a child might have object permanence (competence) but still not be able to search for objects (performance). When Piaget hid objects from babies he found that it wasn't till after nine months that they looked for it.

However, Piaget relied on manual search methods - whether the child was looking for the object or not.

Later, researchers such as Baillargeon and Devos (1991) reported that infants as young as four months looked longer at a moving carrot that didn't do what it expected, suggesting they had some sense of permanence, otherwise they wouldn't have had any expectation of what it should or shouldn't do.

The concept of schema is incompatible with the theories of Bruner (1966) and Vygotsky (1978). Behaviorism would also refute Piaget's schema theory because is cannot be directly observed as it is an internal process. Therefore, they would claim it cannot be objectively measured.

Piaget studied his own children and the children of his colleagues in Geneva to deduce general principles about the intellectual development of all children. His sample was very small and composed solely of European children from families of high socio-economic status. Researchers have, therefore, questioned the generalisability of his data.

For Piaget, language is considered secondary to action, i.e., thought precedes language. The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1978) argues that the development of language and thought go together and that the origin of reasoning has more to do with our ability to communicate with others than with our interaction with the material world.

Piaget maintains that cognitive development stems largely from independent explorations in which children construct knowledge of their own.

Whereas Vygotsky argues that children learn through social interactions, building knowledge by learning from more knowledgeable others such as peers and adults. In other words, Vygotsky believed that culture affects cognitive development.

These factors lead to differences in the education style they recommend: Piaget would argue for the teacher to provide opportunities that challenge the children's existing schemas and for children to be encouraged to discover for themselves.

Alternatively, Vygotsky would recommend that teachers assist the child to progress through the zone of proximal development by using scaffolding.

However, both theories view children as actively constructing their own knowledge of the world; they are not seen as just passively absorbing knowledge.

They also agree that cognitive development involves qualitative changes in thinking, not only a matter of learning more things.

FAQs

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Piaget's Stages: 4 Stages of Cognitive Development & Theory

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Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development outlines four stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational) in a child's cognitive development from infancy to adolescence.

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Humans need food, sleep, safety, love, purpose. Psychologist Abraham Maslow ordered our needs into a hierarchy. This week, TED speakers explore that spectrum of need, from primal to profound.

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The hierarchy of needs is a theory developed by a famous psychologist, Abraham Maslow, and initially published in 1943. This theory is based on the belief that human behavior is motivated by 5 groups of needs that need to be met in order-physiological needs, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

This article discusses the hierarchy of needs, including how a person progresses through the hierarchy, and criticisms of Maslow's theory.

The Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often represented as a pyramid, with more basic needs on the bottom (physiological needs) and higher needs (self-actualization) on the top. Maslow believed that a person's basic needs must be met before higher needs can be addressed.

The first four levels of needs in the pyramid are sometimes called "deficiency needs." This means that a person is deprived of something and is motivated to get it. For example, if a person goes without food, they are motivated by hunger. Once that hunger is satisfied, the motivation for food decreases.

The highest level-self-actualization-is referred to as a "growth" need. As needs are met at this top-level, a person becomes even more motivated for personal growth.

Physiological Needs

Physiological needs are at the base of the pyramid of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. These basic needs have to be met for a person to survive. These include:

Safety Needs

Safety and security are the next level of human needs. Many aspects of life are included in this level:

Financial security

Job security

Physical and emotional health

Safety from physical danger

Law and order in society

Love and Belonging Needs

Maslow believed that all people have a need to love and be loved. He also believed that depression, anxiety, and loneliness were caused by unmet needs in this level of the hierarchy. The third level of needs, called love and belonging, includes:

Esteem Needs

The fourth level of the hierarchy is esteem needs. These needs include how a person views themselves ( self-esteem), and the way they are seen by others. Esteem needs include:

Self-Actualization Needs

Self-actualization needs are at the top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid. This level represents personal growth or reaching your full potential. These needs are specific to each person and can include things like being a great parent, an accomplished athlete, a professional artist, or an excellent student. This category is personal to your particular goals in life.

Expanded Hierarchy of Needs

Progressing Through the Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow initially stated that a person had to progress through the hierarchy of needs in order. However, later in his career, he stated that the hierarchy of needs could differ from person to person, based on individual circumstances. For example, a person might have a stronger need for recognition by others (level four need) than feeling loved by others (level three need).

Criticism of the Hierarchy of Needs

One of the biggest criticisms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs is related to self-actualization needs. Maslow initially based his idea of a "self-actualized" person on the qualities demonstrated by 18 mostly Caucasian, highly-educated men from Western backgrounds. His findings were not based on the general population.

In later years, Maslow included research on self-actualized women, but these individuals were also from a "higher class" and lacked ethnic diversity. Maslow has also been criticized for including sex as a basic need of all people.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory based on the idea that human behavior is motivated by levels of needs. These needs must be met in order-basic needs, such as food, water, and shelter, must be met before a person can find love, self-esteem, or reach their full potential.

Maslow's theory has been criticized based on its rigidity and lack of diversity. For some people, higher-level needs might be more important than needs in the "basic" level of the hierarchy.

A Word From Verywell

Whether you agree with Maslow or not, the hierarchy of needs can provide insight into the needs that can influence human behavior. This information can also help you prioritize your personal goals to help you reach your full potential.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the purpose of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that human behavior is motivated by the desire to have needs met, from basic to more complex.

How does someone progress through the hierarchy of needs?

As a person's basic needs are met, they are able to progress to the next level of the hierarchy. For example, once a person has their physical and emotional needs met, they are able to work on personal goals and reaching their full potential.

What are the shortcomings of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Maslow's hierarchy of needs assumes that all people put the same amount of value on different needs. However, for some people, finding love (level three need) might be more important than financial security (level two need). In addition, the hierarchy of needs does not take cultural differences into consideration.

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs organizes human needs into five categories: physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualization.

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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology comprising a five-tier model of human needs, often depicted as hierarchical levels within a pyramid.