Piaget, Jean, << `pee` uh ZHAY, zhan >> (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist, is known for his theories on the cognitive (mental) development of children. His ideas were central to the creation of developmental psychology and influential in other fields, including education, sociology, and computer science.
Piaget believed children pass through four periods of mental development. During the sensorimotor period, they obtain a basic knowledge of objects through their senses. This period lasts until about age 2. During the preoperational period, from about 2 to 7, children develop such skills as language and drawing ability. In the period of concrete operations, from about 7 to 11, they begin to think logically. For example, they learn to organize their knowledge, classify objects, and do thought problems. The period of formal operations lasts from about 11 to 15. At this time, children begin to reason realistically about the future and to deal with abstractions. Abstractions are ideas about qualities and characteristics viewed apart from the objects that have them.
Piaget was born in Neuchatel on Aug. 9, 1896. When he was 10, he published a scientific article on an albino sparrow. He published articles on mollusks at 15. He received a doctor’s degree in the natural sciences in 1918 and then studied psychology. In 1921, Piaget began to do research in child psychology at the Institute J.-J. Rousseau in Geneva. He served as its codirector from 1933 to 1971 and as director of the International Bureau of Education from 1929 to 1967. Piaget became a professor of psychology at the University of Geneva in 1929. He died on Sept. 17, 1980.
