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  • Essay / Child observation study: Piaget's theory for cognitive development in a child

    Table of contentsIntroductionObservational studyReflection and evaluationConclusionIntroductionIn this study, the theory used from an experimental point of view was applied to a child of 24 months. This is an interpretation of a small part of Jean Piaget's work, involving the observation of a child's sensorimotor period. The research process will be conducted using the methodology used by Piaget to create his theory of intelligence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Psychology is a very important field in general and indispensable in the early childhood growth stage. Many authors intend to understand the characteristic thinking of these eras. It is necessary to study this area to understand the child and be able to offer him the appropriate material to promote all his development. In just a few decades, the study of babies' cognitive ability has been very rare, and because of this research, I think this is a great opportunity to explore this topic. One of these great authors dedicated to the study of human knowledge is Jean Piaget, a psychologist who based his cognitive theory on the genetic inheritance that characterizes each living being. Thanks to this theory we can discover how the child begins to perceive the environment in which he finds himself and the reality in which he lives; how he internalizes this reality in his mind and, in short, how the phenomenon of intelligence begins to occur. During this period, the child is able to perceive the reality in which he lives through reflections. For observations, the reflections of the child's sucking, a type of biological and instinctive reflexes, will be taken as a reference. However, we will focus on the sixth age which presents the characteristics of the child at the age of approximately two years. Observational studyObservation 1: The child plays with three dolls by presenting them in a box; but he loses one and starts calling for it and looking around for it. The child knows that this object is missing because he has mentally assimilated it. This assimilation is also appreciated when one searches for it and does not find it (because this object already has its own characteristics and none of those he sees resemble the one he mentally visualizes).Observation 2:I learned to the child a giant puzzle of the pieces of the plant. The puzzle is divided into stem, leaves and flower; and they must be placed on a wall mural containing the silhouette of the plant. After showing him where each piece goes; he does it perfectly. The next day, I come back to show him the puzzle but, a new difference, the visual support of the wall fresco with the silhouette is not there. Without saying anything, the child takes each part of the plant and places them on the wall where the fresco was stuck the day before. The child visualized how he formed the plant the day before and the position of each part. , so that he was able to place it perfectly without needing to see the silhouette.Observation 3:I taught the child a game of rectangular cork with holes. While looking at the cork, I put a pencil in one of the holes; being this one vertically to the ground. But the holes in the cap are designed in such a way that the pencil can only be inserted through the tip. The child, seeing this fact, laughs and I suggest he continue playing with the cork. This is when the child begins to push pencils into the cork, but does not go all the way in. Some came in, but in a failed attempt to set them apart, he begins to separate them and take new ones untillet them enter. As you can see, not everyone is able to enter yet. He can use the ones that are already placed to put them in this hole. In such a way that he only begins to insert the pencils into the holes in which he was able to present one. This makes it clear that not every hole is worth sticking a pencil in. After several correct attempts to put the pencils in these holes, one did not fit. Following his hypothesis that not all holes work, he begins to try to insert the pencil into all the ones he deems appropriate, but without rotating the position of the pencil; so that in none of the holes where he thought the pencil could stick. That's when he changes tactics and tries to introduce it in every possible way (from the blunt side, with the pencil lying down, etc.). After many attempts to explore these possibilities with different pencils, we eventually realized that the pencil is only stuck on the tip side. Thus, his first diagram in which all the holes are not the same size, is lost by forming a new one: the pen only enters in a particular, possible way. Observation 4: I asked the child to play a game with me. In the game we place 3 toy glasses of the same size but different colors (yellow, red, green) in a row. I showed the child a plastic egg, kept it in one of the glasses and asked him which of the three I had presented. He answers me correctly in the “red”. So he mentally pictures the egg in the red bowl. Then I put the three glasses upside down and ask again where I put the egg; to which he again replies that the egg is in the "red", which further reinforces his knowledge. I change the position of the glasses upside down with just two movements, and I ask the question again “Where is the egg?” and the child repeats without hesitation into the red glass. With this fact it is demonstrated that the child knows at all times where the egg is, even after hiding it and even after changing it. It is able to follow the steps, visible and invisible, regardless of the color of the glass. Later I decided to hide the egg in the yellow glass. I asked him the same questions as during the previous observation: “Where is the egg? ". The child responded that the egg was in the “yellow” glass, thus assimilating a first mental representation. I moved the glasses again when I asked him again if he knew where the egg was; he told me firmly that the egg was in the “red” glass. Immediately, he threw himself at the glass of this color to uncover it and see if in fact the egg was inside; but, to his great surprise, he discovered that the red container was empty. I could feel how shocked he was to see that the glass wasn't in the same place. He did not mentally represent the egg in the correct glass but only noticed the visible movements that had been made, so he discovered the glass which was in the same position where the egg had disappeared. He continued to discover the next glass, the green glass; that it contained nothing either. Finally he discovered the last glass, the yellow glass, and inside he found the egg we had hidden. In this case, the child still does not perceive the invisible movements taking place in the object, which suggests that he is still in a process of change between stage 5 and stage 6 of Piaget. On this second attempt when I ask him where the egg is even though he has hidden it, he does not answer me orally but he does so visually by pointing the object to me with his eyes. When I carry out the movement of the vessels, it carefully uncorks the vessel which is in the position in which it was last seentimes. Unlike the previous time when the child discovered the glass because it was the last place he saw it, here the child remains thoughtful for a few seconds until he decides to discover it; trying to think about his movements but without achieving his goal. During this observation, the child has the same reaction as last time. We appreciate the way in which the child acquires a series of mental capacities in which he brings into play the “possibilities of action” without having to resort to them, because they are in his brain. Through these new situations, the child develops such an ability to seek the solution. At the beginning, he tries to mechanically realize all the possibilities of an event but, little by little, he internalizes these possibilities without having to arrive at action; he deduces them mentally. Thus, we can verify that the child has already established object permanence, giving rise to the end of Piaget's sixth stage. Observation 5: In this observation, the child is sitting on the floor. In front of him I place a cushion that I will call 'A' and, followed by this, a second cushion identical to what I will call 'B'. Above “B”, and as far away from the child as possible, I place a stuffed animal representing a rabbit. When he goes to catch the rabbit, he sits in front of “A”. After a few seconds, he reacts by abruptly removing “A” and leaving rabbit “B” within his reach. The child hesitates for a few seconds, then begins to crawl around “B” to finally be able to pick up the stuffed toy. The same observation is made by Piaget (1952), and the following happens: the child is seated in front of a large square cushion C, placed on the floor. Beyond the cushion is a second pillow D, identical in appearance, so that Lucienne has two successive cushions in front of her. I put my clock in D, furthest from the child. The child looks at the clock, but does not try to grab it directly: he takes cushion C then pushes it aside, then draws cushion D towards him and picks up the watch. Observation 6: I experimented with the child with one of his favorite toys and see how I put them on a small table. He approaches to take it but, after several attempts, he verifies that it is impossible. Next to him is a toy cube that he always uses to sit on; then, he picks it up and climbs on it until he reaches the object. The child “seeing an inaccessible bottle, but located on a lid within his reach, immediately reaches for the lid to grab the bottle” (Piaget, 1952, p. 273). In both cases, they know how to use the objects because they have already encountered similar situations with similar objects and have ended up assimilating these gestures. Observation 7: The child is located behind a balustrade made of bars placed vertically. In front of him, and on the other side of the railing, I place a stick long enough so that it does not cross the bars when it is perpendicular to them. I lay the stick on the ground parallel to the railing so it isn't so easy to transfer. The child passes the stick through the bars and tries to pass, but even if he pulls, he does not let himself be pulled; since it is perpendicular to the bars. He continues to try several times but in none of them does he get a good result; until he begins to turn the stick until it is perpendicular to the ground and he manages to pass the bars. Observation 8: I showed the child a marble and hid it in my hand. Then, I put my hand under a cloth and leave the marble underneath without the child being able to see it. I pull my hand away, fist clenched, and wait to see what reaction she gets. The child looks at the hand and opens it. When he sees that the marble is not in his hand, he gets really confused and stops looking for it. The child has not yet assimilatedthat there are movements outside the visible, that's why he can't find the marble. The notion of object is not fully developed and he does not know how to find the object when it is hidden by non-visible movement. During this stage, the child begins to make meaningful movements to get whatever he wants (like a stuffed animal, a stick, a book, etc.). They focus on everything around them to achieve their goal. At this stage, the child has no problem interacting with reality, but when this reality is hidden from him, the child only perceives the places where he has seen them. for the last time, leaving aside all these invisible movements that are happening. We deduce from this that the child has a simple concept of the object, and that there are relationships between objects and other elements of the environment; but this still does not equate it with the fact that the object is present if we do not see it, in this case, this object tends to disappear from reality.Reflection and evaluationAs my observations progressed, I was able to realize all the aspects that characterize each stage of the sensorimotor period. For example, the theory postulated by this author; as well as the common characteristics found in all children depending on the stage they are in. Children may also have a different mental approach. Although they are all children with similar abilities, we must not forget that each child has a personality and an exclusive learning pace that makes us different from each other and, ultimately, unique. Throughout this period, there is a gradual internalization of the environment. in children with the result of developing their intelligence and increasing it. It is through these reflections that they will provide the intelligence of this child. Thus, the genetics of the human species is a formidable trigger for all this development; but the environment also contributes in a very influential way. These reflexes, through interaction with the environment, will move from innate to intentional actions. However, "it should be clear that the emergence of each new stage in no way removes the behaviors of previous stages and that the new behaviors simply superimpose on the old ones." All these behaviors form a closed circle in which they develop more and more, without neglecting their initial foundation; Its essence. In all cases, all six stages of the sensorimotor period occur, but not all children begin or complete each of them at the same age. Piaget thus establishes a series of reference times to be able to situate each stage from a general point of view; moments that are not always encountered, but used to form their cognitive theory. Although the events that appear in the theory are established, after the observations we can say that, in relation to the object, the child of this age can have the following characteristics:The child stops observing objects to concentrate on your actions. The child is able to discover hidden objects but, unlike the previous stage, he looks for them where they were last seen. Finally, we can talk about the permanence of the object. The child is able to search for all kinds of hidden objects in which visible and non-visible movements are used to hide them. This whole process is due to the fact that the child is capable of generating “possibilities” through mental representations. Also, I think it is appropriate to emphasize the importance of all the developments that occur in the child (visual, motor, auditory, etc.) and this helps him to know his reality when he is in contact with She. No less important are the senses, thanks to which the child experiences a.