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Piaget's Toy Project: Mental Processes Of Children

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Piaget's Toy Project Jean Piaget was a theorist who focused on mental processes of children (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 10). He inquired into the processes of how children understand the world and in what ways they think, apply their logic and their problem- solving ability (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 10). Piaget considered children as natural physicists who want to actively learn and control their world (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 10). He used concepts such as schemes, adaptation, assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration to explain cognitive development (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 11). Piaget identified the cognitive processes of children in an orderly sequence of four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational (Rathus …show more content…

11). This theory is applied for educational purposes (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 11). Now, I will discuss each stage in detail and I will choose a different toy for each stage which will meet the need for each stage. As per Piaget's theory, sensorimotor stage refers to the first two years of cognitive development (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 81). This is a time during which infants progress from responding to events with reflexes to goal- oriented behavior (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 81). He divided this stage into 6 substages. The first stage is "simple reflexes" which is the first month of life (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 81). In this stage, they locate and visually trace an object but cannot grasp that object (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 81). Second substage is "Primary Circular Reactions" during which they learn coordinating the sensorimotor schemes and focus on their own bodies (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 82). It lasts from 1- 4 months of age (Rathus & Longmuir, 2015, p. 82). Secondary Circular Reactions is the third substage in which

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