Topic > Erik Piaget's Theory of Psychosocial Development

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who took a particular interest in the development of children. His research has led to many great discoveries about children's thinking process, how they learn, when they learn, what things they learn quickly, how they adapt to different environments, and how they adapt to themselves in the way they constantly review their knowledge . . Piaget breaks down eras in a slightly different way than Erikson. Piaget's theory is divided into 4 developmental stages compared to Erikson's eight. Piaget's works like this: first, the sensorimotor period (from birth to 2 years), second, preoperational thinking (from 2 to 7 years), third, concrete operations (from 6 to 12 years) and finally, formal operations (from 11 years to adult). . During the sensorimotor period, children learn that their actions make things happen and that even things that cannot be seen still exist. During the Preoperational Thinking phase, children learn to interpret words and derive something from the images they look at. However, in her article, A Summary of Piaget's Stages, Kendra Cherry states that "although they are improving with language and thinking, they still tend to think about things in very concrete terms." (Cherry, 2016). This means he may still need to be told the same thing multiple times or reassured when he is doing the right thing. Subsequently, the Concrete Operational phase, the moment in which children's characteristics change drastically and they begin to use logic and reason. The last stage, which continues into adulthood, begins when adolescents begin to have an abstract thought process, become concerned with philosophical, ethical, moral and political issues that carry them with them into adulthood. Like Erikson's theory of developmental stages, Piaget's can also be equated with classroom behavior. Like Erikson's theory of developmental stages,