His Theory and Its Impact

Piaget knew what he wanted to study after entering Zurich: psychology. He left for France and stayed at a boys' institution to study the developing mind of a child. He knew that children thought differently than adults. He saw that when peers talked and debated with one another, they saw the world in different view points. In his studies, he grouped the various stages of cognitive development with specific age groups. This would become known as the cognitive development theory.

This table shows the stages of cognitive development and the age groups in which they occur. Piaget studied the intellectual developments of the boys at the institution and his three daughters.

This video, from Davidson Films, gives an overview on the theory as well as relevant facts in great detail.

Piaget passed away in 1980, but he left a legacy. His theories are required reading in psychology courses. Some of the organizations he was part of are still standing today. There is a society named after him with the same goal he had. Thanks to Piaget, we understand our children much better now. He knew they thought differently from adults, something we tend to forget sometimes.

Visit the Jean Piaget Society: http://www.piaget.org/

For more information: http://muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/piaget.htm

An Introduction to Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896 in Switzerland. A child prodigy, he made it to high school at a young age, where he wrote a paper on a unique bird he saw. He would end up getting a degree in Zoology from the University of Neuchatel (where his father, Arthur Piaget, was a professor), but he would take interest in psychoanalysis at the University of Zurich.

For more on Piaget's early life and studies: http://www.piaget.org/aboutPiaget.html

Jean Piaget (middle) with his sisters (left) and parents, Rebecca Jackson and Arthur Piaget (right). Arthur Piaget was a medieval literature professor at the University of Neuchatel.

Piaget in his adolescence, when he studied zoology, a subject he was passionate about as a child.