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1、1602Task269482SIHUANLiu(Anny)TheTheoryofCognitiveDevelopmentinEarlyChildhoodEducationHowdochildrengrowupandgetnewknowledgefromtheirsurroundings?BeforetheSwisschildpsychologistJeanPiaget,themajorityofscientistsbelievedthattheexternality(e.g.parents’guide,theirlivingenvironm
2、ent,etc.),notthechildrenthemselves,playedthemostimportantroleonchildren’sgrowth.However,withhisdevotiontotheresearchofchildren’sdevelopment,Piagetproposedthatchildrenareactivesubjectswhodeveloptheirintelligenceatdifferentstagesoftheirgrowth(WoodandElizabeth2013).Thisreview
3、willfirstoutlinethetheoryofcognitivedevelopment,thendiscusstwoapplicationsderivedfromthetheoryandfinallymakeanassessmentofthistheory.Firstly,thefocusisplacedonthetheoryitself.AccordingtoPiaget(1964,p.1),“developmentisaprocesswhichconcernsthetotalityofthestructureofknowledg
4、e”,whichimpliesthedevelopmentisthechangeinstructure(Phillips1981).Atthesametime,thewaychildrenbuildtheircognitivestructureisthroughfunctionalconstructsofadaptation(Ault1982).Therearetwoactsinadaptation,namely,assimilationandaccommodation.Assimilationmeanstoabsorbnewknowled
5、geintotheexistingsystem,whileaccommodationmeanstoadjustthegainedknowledgetothenewthings.Piagetstatedthatfunctionalconstructsdonotchangewithage,howevercognitivestructuredochangewithage(Ault1982).Fourstagesareidentifiedintheconstructionofthestructures1602Task269482SIHUANLiu(
6、Anny)inPiaget’stheoryofcognitivedevelopment:thesensorimotorstage,thepreoperationalstage,theconcreteoperationalstageandtheformaloperationalstage.Thesensorimotorstageisthefirststageofchildren’scognitivedevelopment,beginningatbirthandendingatabout2yearsold.Atthisstage,childre
7、nsensetheworldthroughphysicalcontact(touching,suckingandhearing).Thehallmarkofthisstageisthatchildrenknowhowtopronouncesomesoundsandlearnthatenvironmentisdifferentfromthemselves(Santrock2008).Thepre-operationalstageisthesecondstagefromtwotosevenyearsold.Childrenlearnmuchne
8、wknowledge,manyideasandconceptsthroughplaying,includingplayingwithobjects,playingwithpeer
