Jean Piaget - Swiss Psychologist

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist. “He was born in Neuchatel Switzerland on August 9, 1896.” (3) He was the oldest child of his father and mother. “At the age of 11, he wrote about the albino spine, which was the start of his career.”(1)His theories were widely spread in educational fields as well as psychology. “Piaget stressed the holistic approach.” (2) He developed an interest for mollusks during his late adolescence, where he became known as a malacologist by finishing school. “He published many papers in the field that remained of interest for him all his life.” (3)

After high school, he studied natural sciences at the University of Neuchatel. “He published two philosophical essays which he considered as “adolescence work” but were important for the general orientation of his thinking.” (3) After school, he went to France. He worked at a boy’s institution. “There, he standardized Burt’s test of intelligence and did his first experimental studies of the growing mind.” (3) He became the director of studies at Rousseau Institute in Geneva. “In 1923, he and Valentine Chatenay were married.” (2) They had three children and Piaget studied their development as they grew up.

Piaget had many jobs. He studied psychology, sociology, and history of science at Neuchatel, as well as much more. His logic and modes of thinking are initially entirely different from those of adults. He is an inspiration to the world in many fields. He was awarded many awards and recognition for his achievements.

He continued to work on general theory of structures and typing his psychological work for a few more years. He continued to do public service through a Swiss delegate. By the end of his career, he had written over 60 books and many of articles concerning psychology. He died on September 16, 1980 in Geneva. He was one of the most significant psychologists of the twentieth century with all this attributes to psychology.

Piaget attended the University for Neuchatel. At this University, he researched many concepts of psychology. He worked for a year at psychology labs in Zurich and at Bleuler’s famous psychiatric clinic to help his studies. He was introduced to the works for Freud, Jung, and many others. “He taught psychology and philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris.” (2)

Piaget organized the cognitive development. He outlines the stages as:

1. Sensorimotor

2. Preoperational

3. Concrete Operational

4. Formal Operational

The four stages have the following characteristics:

1. invariant sequence

2. universal (not culturally specific)

3. related to cognitive development

4. generalizable to other functions

5. stages are logically organized wholes

6. hierarchical nature of stage sequences (each successive stage incorporates elements of previous stages, but is more differentiated and integrated)

7. stages represent qualitative differences in modes of thinking, not merely quantitative differences.

The first stage is the sensorimotor stage. It lasts from birth to about two years old of age. The infant uses senses and motor abilities to understand the world. The infant will also begin with reflexes and ending with complex combinations of sensorimotor skills. Younger infants seem to function by an “out of sight, out of mind” schema. Older infants remember, and may even try to find things