Problem

Criticisms of Piaget's Theory.

There have been a number of criticisms levelled at Piaget's theory. Here are some of the most
common ones:

One criticism mentioned by Carlson and Buskist (1997) concerns Piaget's terminology. From a
scientific viewpoint, it is necessary to define new terms operationally, in other words, in the form of
an operation which can be duplicated. Piaget often didn't do this, so it is difficult for others to assess
the significance of his general findings because they cannot be easily and precisely replicated. For
example, consider terms like 'accommodation' and 'assimilation'. Piaget offers these terms up to
indicate a change that has occurred in a child, but what exactly has changed? Piaget does not offer a
specific operationalised definition that would guide researchers to a link between observed
behavioural changes and posited changes in the mind. This lack of operational definitions provides
a further difficulty. It becomes impossible for any other researcher to establish a cause-and-effect
relationship among Piaget's variables.

A major criticism stems from the very nature of a stage theory. The stages may be inaccurate or just
plain wrong. Weiten (1992) points out that Piaget may have underestimated the development of
young children. He cites Bower, (1982) and Harris, (1983) who have conducted research that found
that some children develop object-permanence earlier than Piaget thought. Others point out that
preoperational children may be less egocentric than Piaget believed. Flavell et al. (1982 cited in
Weiten, 1992) showed that even a three year old child is aware that an adult looking at a card from
the opposite side of the child will be seeing a different view. Furthermore, individual differences
may mean that children of similar ages may vary widely across the stages. In fact some children
may never achieve the level of formal operations. If children can show a mixture of different stages
in their cognitive make-up, what is the point in attempting to differentiate between different stages
at all?

Related to the previous criticism is Gray's (1994) notion that Piaget offers no substantial evidence
for a qualitative difference in cognitive capacity between two children of different stages. The most
important aspect of Piaget's theory is that each cognitive stage is different, not just as a matter of
degree, but rather a child's type of thinking is quite different depending on the stage it is in.
Providing evidence for a qualitative difference between stages has not been comprehensively
achieved. This criticism has a further implication. If each stage is marked by a new type of thinking,
then as a child ages there should be signs indicating the sudden acquisition of certain abilities. In
fact the opposite is true. Children tend to progress rather slowly and gradually. Gray (1994) offers
the example of the conservation-of-numbers which most children can understand by about age five,
compared to the conservation-of-substance which normally develops around age eight. While
Piaget does admit that some developments can be slow, critics argue that overall, cognitive
development is so slow as to obviate the need for a stage theory at all.

Another criticism is levelled at Piaget's action-oriented approach. Piaget believes that physical
manipulation of external objects is essential for normal cognitive development. Theorists have
argued that children born without the physical capability of outward action (consider, for example,
paralysed children born without the ability to move either arms or legs) are still capable of normal
cognitive development. Also, the physical nature of Piaget's theory fails to explain how children
understand abstract words that don't necessarily relate to an immediately physical object.

A criticism levelled by the likes of Vygotsky, chastises Piaget for his inattention to culturally specific
influences on cognitive development. The children Piaget studied grew up in Geneva, a Western
culture where children attend school and are trained in certain forms of thinking. Yet Piaget largely
ignored this influence and attributed each child's intellectual growth to the individual's cognitive
reaction to the environment. Later tests (Segall and others, 1990 cited in Gray, 1994)) have shown
that Piaget's formal operational period and even the concrete operational period are heavily
dependent on formal Western schooling.

Having said all of this, Piaget's theory is still greatly respected in the psychological
community. His theory has stimulated other developmental psychologists into new areas of
research and has heavily influenced research into education. While perhaps not entirely accurate,
Piaget's theory of cognitive development nevertheless provides a detailed account of the order in
which Western children seem to develop.

Support and Criticism of Piaget's Stage Theory

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development is well-known within the fields of psychology and
education, but it has also been the subject of considerable criticism. While presented in a series of
progressive stages, even Piaget believed that development does not always follow such a smooth
and predictable path.

In spite of the criticism, the theory has had a considerable impact on our understanding of child
development. Piaget's observation that kids actually think differently than adults helped usher in a
new era of research on the mental development of children.

Support for the Theory

Piaget's focus on qualitative development had an important impact on education. While Piaget did
not specifically apply his theory in this way, many educational programs are now built upon the
belief that children should be taught at the level for which they are developmentally prepared.

In addition to this, a number of instructional strategies have been derived from Piaget's work.
These strategies include providing a supportive environment, utilizing social interactions and peer
teaching, and helping children see fallacies and inconsistencies in their thinking.

Research Methods

Much of the criticism of Piaget's work is in regards to his research methods. A major source of
inspiration for the theory was Piaget's observations of his own three children. In addition to this,
the other children in Piaget's small research sample were all from well-educated professionals of
high socioeconomic status. Because of this unrepresentative sample, it is difficult to generalize his
findings to a larger population.

Formal Operations

Research has disputed Piaget's argument that all children will automatically move to the next stage
of development as they mature. Some data suggest that environmental factors may play a role in
the development of formal operations.

Children's Abilities

Most researchers agree that children possess many of the abilities at an earlier age than Piaget
suspected. Theory of mind research has found that 4- and 5-year-old children have a rather
sophisticated understanding of their own mental processes as well as those of other people. For
example, children of this age have some ability to take the perspective of another person, meaning
they are far less egocentric than Piaget believed.

Piaget's Legacy

While there are few strict Piagetians around today, most people can appreciate Piaget's influence
and legacy. His work generated interest in child development and had an enormous impact on the
future of education and developmental psychology. His work helped change the way that
researchers thought about children. Rather than simply viewing them as smaller versions of adults,
experts began to recognize that the way children think is fundamentally different from the way that
adults think.

Problem:

A major criticism stems from the very nature of a stage theory. The stages may be inaccurate or just
plain wrong. Weiten (1992) points out that Piaget may have underestimated the development of
young children. ... Others point out that preoperational children may be less egocentric than Piaget
believed.
Conclusion:

Conclusion Mwamwenda,T,S.(2009)It is absolutely possible to incorporate Piaget`s

theory in the classroom. Piaget takes a constructivist point of view and believes that
learners are not passive in their knowledge. Piaget’s theory suggests that students need a
curriculum that supports their cognitive development by learning concepts and logical
steps. He also suggests that children are only capable of learning specific material in
specific stages of cognitive development. Piaget emphasizes that learning take place as a
result of active engagement of learners is important, so teachers have to see the learners
take an active role by participating in whatever is being taught and learned. Piagets theory
acknowledges individual difference in cognitive development. Teacher should arrage
activities that learners intellectual development.Pieget shows that child`s understanding
is restricted by stagesthat he or she has reached and teacher should take this into
account as they teach children with different levels of intellectual developments.
From the module on Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development, I learned that Cognitive
development is Jean Piaget's theory. Through a series of stages, Piaget proposed four stages
of cognitive development: the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and
formal operational stage. In addition to Piaget theory there was a Basic Cognitive Concepts;
The Schema, Assimilation, Accommodation and Equilibrium these are the factors that
influence how children learn and grow by means of the nature in cognitive development.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four
different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how
children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence. This
theory is truly a classic in the field of educational psychology because this theory is fueled
other researches and theories of development and learning. Its focus is on how individuals
construct knowledge, intelligence and moral development and it was applied widely to
teaching and curriculum design specially in the preschool and elementary curricula.
Furthermore, 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. 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.