Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory is a standard theory in the field of psychology used to describe how people grow and change with regards to personal reasoning skills. According to the text, Piaget’s cognitive development theory is the “principle that from infancy to adolescence, children progress through four qualitatively different stages of intellectual growth” (Belsky, 2012, p. 22) The four stages (occurring during childhood) developed by Piaget are: Sensorimotor, Preoperations, Concrete Operations, and Formal Operations. Each stage has subsequent stages, which further details Piaget’s beliefs around the development of a growing mind. Since its inception, Piaget’s cognitive development theory has been widely accepted in the field, …show more content…
Adolescent egocentrism was David Elkind’s rebuttle to Piaget’s stage of formal operations (Belsky, 2012, p. 272). Elkind asserts that adolescents “see beneath the surface of adult rules” and “become aware of the difference between what adults say they do and how they really act” (Belsky, 2012, p. 272). Essentially, adolescents understand that rules imposed by adults are potentially fickle and can be challenged. This attitude of challenging the rules moves adolescents towards the fabled teenage rebellion, which many adolescents exhibit. This rebellion is spearheaded by a regression reminiscent of the Piaget’s preoperations stage where adolescents believe that the world revolves around them. Elkhart explains adolescent egocentrism as being defined by “imaginary audience” and “personal fable” (Belsky, 2012, p. 273). Imaginary audience is the adolescent’s belief that everyone concerns themselves with their actions, and personal fable is the adolescent’s belief that they are an exception to the rules, or invincible (Belsky, 2012, p. 273). It is a well-known fact that emotional instability affects our perceptions and reactions. Due to the hormonal changes occurring during adolescence, as well as the new experiences associated with evolving emotional emancipation, it is understandable why adolescents have questionable means of personal conveyance. Because of adolescents’ engagement in imaginary audience and personal fable, it is clear that Piaget missed some crucial aspects in cognitive development. All of the aforementioned developmental stages pertain to neurologically typical individuals, but how do traditional theories, such as Piaget’s pertain to individuals who are neurologically