Piaget became a pioneer in psychology. By 24, he was studying children in Paris. His discoveries and conclusions eventually led to the creation of several scientific disciplines: Developmental Psychology, Cognitive Theory, and Genetic Epistemology. His basic belief that children think differently than adults revolutionized education and Einstein called it "a discovery so simple only a genius could have thought of it.”
In 1923 Piaget published his first of nearly 60 books, by 1929 he was appointed Director of the International Bureau of Education, and in 1955 he established the Center for Genetic Epistemology. His research had one goal: to discover how knowledge grew. His answer to this question was that knowledge is a continuous structure with each new experience either reinforcing, revising, or replacing existing schemes. His most famous work involved the development of The Four Stages of Childhood Development: Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete, and Formal Operational.
The core of Piagets belief was that close examination of how knowledge develops in children will in turn, provide some insight into the nature of knowledge in general. If this has actually occurred, remains controversial. There's no doubt that modern artificial intelligence and the information process model of the mind owe more to Piaget than most realize. Also, innovative new research shows that newborn infants already possess some of the knowledge that Piaget believed they constructed; although this has little effect overall on his status as a giant in the field on cognitive theory.
Some anthropological terms coined by Piaget:
Egocentrism- The belief that others experience the world in the same way that you do. The belief that your culture is superior to all others.
Classification- Grouping objects into categories.
Seriation- Arranging objects in sequential order according to one aspect such as size, weight, or volume.
Because he was still active in the 1970’s, it is easy to forget that most of his core beliefs and theories were formed between 1910 and 1920. His distrust of Darwinian Evolution and his steadfast attachment to Lamarckian views were not uncommon in early twentieth-century France. His belief that children were logical creatures within their own cognitive framework and not just silly, underdeveloped adults, was particularly visionary, (considering that even today in many cultures children are still regarded with whimsy).
Piaget is best known as an Epistemologist, he was most interested in the study of knowledge and it's expansion. Piaget is known all over the world and is still an inspiration in the fields of epistemology, psychology, sociology, and law. He was awarded numerous Prizes and honorary Degrees all over the world.
After almost 75 years in science, Jean Piaget died in Geneva in 1980.
Jean Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology: Appreciation and Critique Institute of Objectivist Studies Summer Seminar, Charlottesville, VA, June 7-8 1997
Jean Piaget, http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/piaget.html, (March, 2006)
Bio, http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/piaget.html, (March, 2006)
Jean Piaget, http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/piaget.html, (March, 2006)
Written By: Holly Schwichtenberg, 2006