Summarize Piaget's Cognitive Theory

According to Piaget’s comprehensive cognitive theory, children are born with a basic mental structure and the ability to adapt to their surrounding because of their natural reflexes. Because of Piaget, our understanding of children has changed drastically. Schema is what he came to believe are the patterns and ways we think in a certain situation. The more a child can learn the more schema they will have to help them in the future. He was able to break up cognitive growth into stages. What helps children reach a new stage is a stable balance also known as equilibrium. Piaget learned that kids being able to assimilate and accommodate results in them being in equilibrium. Assimilation happens when a child has new schema about an object or situation. Accommodation occurs when the old schema is not needed or is wrong in a situation and needs to be changed. Piaget’s 4 universal stages include sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. There are also substages to the sensorimotor stage which are reflex schemas(1 month), primary circular reactions(1-4 months), secondary circular reactions(4-8 months), coordinate secondary circular …show more content…
Object permanence is when an object is hidden but the child knows that the object still exists. By conducting a sensorimotor development interview on my 12-month-old niece Viviana, I want to be able to identify what substage she is in and if she understand the concept of object permanence. Viviana is what you would call a happy baby. Fussiness with her is limited to when she 's hungry, tired or needs to be changed. She has brown eyes and very curly brown locks. She sometimes does not warm up to new people very quickly but since I am her aunt, it was easier for her. Viviana is able to walk on her own but cannot yet verbally speak. Although she can shake her head indicating yes or no, blows kisses and waves