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Theories Of Jean Piaget

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Throughout the decades, there have been many thoughts, believes and theories regarding children, how they learn, and what they are capable of. Child theorists have helped to shape our child care and education system into what it is today. One of the most well-known theorist of the 20th century was Jean Piaget. Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland on August 9th, 1896. As a small child, Piaget developed an interest in biology and living creatures particularly, mollusks. By the age of 15 Piaget had several published articles on mollusks and was considered to be an expert on the topic. Later in life, Jean Piaget attended the University of Neuchatel where he studied zoology and published multiple philosophical papers. In 1918, Piaget received his natural sciences Ph.D. During the same year, Piaget spent time studying psychology at the University of Zurich. Piaget’s studies were the beginning of his interest in psychoanalysis. Jean Piaget believed in the theory of cognitive development which explains the way that children mentally perceive the world. Piaget believed that intelligence and behaviors were learned rather than already being present at birth. The theory of cognitive development is a series of four stages which correspond to specific ages and behaviors. Stage one is the sensorimotor stage and is believed to take place from birth to age two. Stage two is the preoperational stage and lasts from age two to four. Stage three is the concrete operations stage

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