My Experience - Cognitive and Knowledge Development

I heard about Jean Piaget long back by his four major stages of cognitive development and his genetic epistemology. But it was not clear at that time about his studies and thoughts.

Now after reading about him and his teachings, my thoughts are mixed.

Heredity is one factor really decides about cognition. It is the “god’s signature” to every animal in the world. Another factor is the environment we are in. According to Piaget, “Cognition is the interaction between heredity and environment.”
Cognitive and knowledge development is the changes taking place in an individual’s cognitive structure, abilities and activities.

A new born baby cries when feels hunger or thirst. It opens mouth to every object. It sucks the finger; but continues the cry. Crying stops when the child is feeded by the mother.

Next time feels hungry, the child know what to do! Even the mother’s presence makes the child to stop crying. Child starts to recognize mother. Starts to show happiness by actions by seeing his/her mother. All these are new developments.
According to Piaget a child acquires physical, logical-mathematical and social knowledge.

I remember the day, my son called me “Papa”. I was with him from his birth. He Know me as someone important. He smiles at me and talks with me in his own language to me. He used to call me some name in his language. But he never knows to address me with “Papa”. May be he invented and reinvented that knowledge from his mother.

My son learned to cry, learned to express emotions, learned what to do when hungry, and learned to recognize parents. All these he learned from the environment around him. He approaches the environment and acquires knowledge through actions; a continuous self-construction.

During those days, every day he learned some thing new. He learned about toys and to play differently with different toys.

When he becomes a toddler he calling car for all vehicles, for him, event he big truck was a car.

I used to explain to him that it is a truck not a car. But there were some problem for him to accept that. He took long time to distinguish between car and truck.

When he calls all vehicles “Car”, between his schemes and his experience there was equilibrium. When he calls a truck a car, he was trying to interpret the new experience by interpreting in terms existing schemes (assimilation). When I told him the difference between the car and truck he becomes confused. There was disequilibrium. But once he accepts the concept, the successful accommodation restores equilibrium. There happens a rearrangement in the existing schemes for my son (Organization).

Reference: Driscoll, M (2005). Psychology of Learning For Instruction. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.