The Theories of Piaget and Kohlberg Essay - 1067 Words

Assignment 2: The Theories of Piaget and Kohlberg Many researchers have written about child development, but none are quite as well known as Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral development theory have been essential for researchers to gain a better understanding of child development. While these theories are unique in explaining different types of child development, they have many similarities and differences as well. Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory states that a child goes through many set stages in his or her cognitive development. It is through these stages that the child is able to develop into an adult. The first of these stages is called the sensorimotor period†¦show more content†¦The final period of cognitive development is found in children ranging from ages 11-15 and is known as the formal operational period. In this period, the child has a clear understanding of the logics of his own mind, has become relatively skillful at both language and math, and has come to be able to formulate hypotheses to test against his or her environment and other people. This period essentially contains no limitations since the child keeps developing and learning on his or her way to becoming an adult. Although Piaget’s theory does have its flaws, his work has greatly influenced developmental psychology with this working theory of child development. Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development was dependent on the thinking of Jean Piaget. Kohlberg believed that people progressed in their moral development through a series of stages. He stated that there were six identifiable stages, which could be more generally divided into three levels. The first level of moral development called, preconventional morality, is generally found at the elementary school level. In the first stage of this level, people behave according to socially acceptable norms because they are told to do so by some authority figure like their parents or their teachers. They also comply with rules to avoid punishment or to gain reward (Smith). The secondShow MoreRelatedResearch on the Cognitive Moral Development Theories of Jean Piaget Lawrence Kohlberg2712 Words   |  11 Pages Running head: PIAGET KOHLBERG RESEARCH ON THE COGNITIVE MORAL DEVELOPMENT THEORIES OF JEAN PIAGET LAWRENCE KOHLBERG DONNA O. O CONNOR INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF THE CARIBBEAN ABSTRACT The intention of this paper is to provide an overview of the psychological theories of Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. While Piaget s perspective was psychological, Kholberg s viewpoint was psychological with emphasis placed on moral development and both theories will be compared and contrasted inRead MorePiaget s Theory Of Cognitive Development And Kohlberg s Stages Of Moral Development1439 Words   |  6 Pagesare: Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development and Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development. According to psychologist Jean Piaget, kids progress through a progression of four basis phases of cognitive advancement. Every stage is stamped by the movements in how children comprehend the world. Following his perceptions, he reasoned that children were not less intelligent than adults, they simply think in an unexpected way. 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Another important characteristic of his stage theory is that they are  universal;  the stages will work for everyone in the world regardless of theirRead MoreCriticism on Moral Development Theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Bandura and Providing a New Model for Research in Iranian Students Moral Development5918 Words   |  24 PagesCriticism on moral development theories of Piaget, Kohlberg, and Bandura and providing a new model for research in Iranian students moral development Hossein Lotfabadi, Ph. D.1 Abstract Its been years in the psychology and assessment of moral development that theories of genetic epistemology and social behaviorism (which are based on Piaget, Kohlberg, and Banduras approaches) have been in the center of attention for the psychologists and education experts and have been used by the educationalRead MoreCritical Review of the Moral, Cognitive, Social and Personality Developmental Stages of Michael Oher in the Movie Blindside. 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According to psychologists Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg it should have. Individually the two psychologists have made remarkable discoveries on how children develop and use their moral development. Jean Piaget, grew up in Switzerland in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s with his father, who was a dedicated historian. Around Paget’s early twenties he had the privilege of working with many influentialRead MoreJoan Eriksons Stages Of Psychosocial Development792 Words   |  4 PagesEriksons stages of psychosocial development, as articulated by Erik Erikson, in collaboration with Joan Erikson,[1] is a comprehensive psychoanalytic theory that identifies a series of eight stages, in which a healthy developing individual should pass through from infancy to late adulthood. All stages are present at birth but only begin to unfold according to both a natural scheme and ones ecological and cultural upbringing. In each stage, the person confronts, and hopefully masters, new challengesRead MoreLawrence Kohlberg ´s Development and Moral Reasoning819 Words   |  3 PagesLawrence Kohlberg was greatly influenced by Piaget, which laid the foundation for the basis of his theories of how moral and faith development is created. He hypothesized that there are six stage-like positions for the development of moral reasoning. Piaget’s focus consisted of a subject knowing and interacting with a well versed environment. Where Piaget was concerned how the person knows the world scientifically and mathematically, Kohlberg focused on how the person structured their experiences