Jean Piaget free essay sample

Jean Piaget was a theorist who studied child development; one of the many aspects of early childhood Piaget studied was preoperational thinking. Preoperational thinking usually occurs from ages 2 through 7 according to Piaget. It’s when a child is not able to think logically and perform activities that require logic. In other words, a child is not yet ready at this stage, to reason many situations. Piaget created many experiments that could help educators observe and detect the stages and levels of thinking of different children. For this observation, I focused on four aspects of preoperational thinking; conservation, centration, irreversible thinking, and focus on appearance. Piaget developed a set of tests for children that if failed, would demonstrate a child’s inability to think logically at their age. I observed six year old Breanna Nixon who demonstrated signs of both the preoperational stage (not being able to understand concrete logic) and the concrete operational stage (inductive logic). We will write a custom essay sample on Jean Piaget or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The first experiment I did with Breanna tested her irreversible thinking, which is the inability to hold the logic to understand that reversing a procedure will restore it to the original state in which it begun, â€Å"Preoperational thinkers fail to recognize that reversing a process sometimes restores whatever excised before†. (Berger, 2009, p. 250) In this experiment, I presented Breanna with two equal sized cups of water with the same amount of water in each. I then asked, ‘Breanna, are these cups equal? Do they have the same amount of water? † Breanna said yes after she checked the cups and we proceeded to the next question. I showed her a taller glass and asked, â€Å"Can you pour one of these cups into this one? † She poured one of the cups into the taller glass and then I asked â€Å"Now what do you think? Does this cup have more water? (The smaller glass) Or does this one have more water? (The taller glass) Or do they hold the same about of water? † Breanna quickly said, â€Å"The tall glass has more† I asked why and she responded, â€Å"Well this tall glass is higher and the water is higher than in the small glass† It is evident that this six year old girl has not yet understood the concept of reversing occurrences, however since she is 6, she is close to understanding. The next experiment covers the concept of centration. Centration is also referred to as egocentrism. This concept is literally being egocentric. A child at this stage only understands their own perception and point of view of things. â€Å"Centration is the tendency to focus on one aspect of the situation to the exclusion of others. † (Berger, 2009, p. 250) In this experiment I placed a doll facing Breanna and I, and a block behind the doll. I asked Breanna what it was that she saw placed on the table, and she answered â€Å" A doll and a block†, then I asked her, â€Å"Can the doll see the block? Breanna said, â€Å"No, she cant see the block because she’s facing us. She needs to turn around if she wants to look at the block. † Breanna is past the stage of being egocentric. As she gets older, she is able to understand different point of views. Understanding conservation means understanding that the amount of a substance is conserved even if its shape cha nges.