Piaget's Developmental Stages

The purpose of the following observation was to gain experimental, first hand knowledge of Piaget's developmental stages in children (2-5 years of age) with regard to their biological, psychological, and social development. A daycare center was chosen as the setting for my notes, so that the children could be observed in as natural a setting as possible.

I asked the regular daycare teachers and volunteers if I could ask the children to do some simple developmental tasks, and they agreed. I told them that I would be asking the children to do some activities that involved muscular coordination, cognitive ability, and social interaction.

First I asked the boys and girls to write their names on three different sizes of white construction paper with a red crayon. The first size of paper was 5" X 8", the second size was 8" X 11", and the third size was 10" X 14". I used three different sizes of paper because I wanted to see if eye-hand coordination, dependent in part on musculoskeletal coordination, was easier for the children if they had a larger area on which to write. Regardless of the size of writing area, the two-year-old children grasped their crayons in tight little fists, while the older children (ages 3-5) wrote progressively more legible versions of their names. The two-year-olds seemed to be etching out a code, while the older children had some sense that they were signing their names. The size of the paper did make a difference with some of the older children

Related Essays

Developmental Theories of Piaget and Erikson .... 6) Unlike Erikson, Piaget constructed not only a developmental model but .... NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Clarke-Stewart, A., Friedman, S. & Koch, J. (1985). .... (2924 12 )

Freud & Piaget .... Also, both men focused on developmental growth in childhood as a key to understanding personality .... Siegler, RS and Ellis, S. (July 1996) "Piaget on Children .... (2605 10 )

Edited Freud & Piaget .... Also, both men focused on developmental growth in childhood as a key .... Siegler, RS and Ellis, S. (July 1996 .... "Piaget on Children." Journal of Psychological Science .... (3485 14 )

Role of Children's Play in Developmental Process .... define play as either "aimless expenditure[s] of exuberant .... whereas] Piaget's (1962) studies .... play, just as much (at least in early developmental stages) as "not .... (3720 15 )

Developmental Psych .... cognitive abilities (formal operations to Piaget), and vocational .... In this developmental stage integrity is pitted against .... stages.html, 1-4. Harter, S. Self and .... (2257 9 )

Adolescence .... of the theories that have addressed the questions of what constitutes the developmental tasks of .... A Brief Introduction to Piaget. .... Belmont, CA: Miles, S. (1997). .... (2141 9 )

ee-form, so to speak. The outside play area had sand boxes, a jungle gym, and several railroad ties, and grassy, shaded areas. Some of the older children tried to walk on the ties by carefully placing one foot in front of the other, trying not to fall off. As one might expect, the older children were much more adroit at staying on. I asked one of the two-year-olds if he could stay on the tie all the way across. He tried repeatedly, just to please me, but he kept falling off. Clearly, the younger children just did not have the musculoskeletal control to stay on the ties. The older kids seemed to take great pride in the fact that what was easy for them was virtually impossible for the younger ones. One little girl (age 2) went over to a grassy area, sat down, and started to pull out blades of grass, talking to herself, seemingly lost in her own world. This egocentrism is what one would expect from a child this young. She seemed to be conversing with the grass as if it could hear her talk. Eventually another three-year-old girl came over to sit with her. The new arrival started to pull out blades of grass as well. She put a blade of grass in her mouth, chewed on it for a moment, and started to laugh. The two girls star

Category: Psychology - P