Child Development 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Child Development 2 - Essay Example There are four significant developmental stages that correspond to the ages of 18 months, 7 years, 11 years and above 11 years. The ages correspond to the sensi-motor, pre-operational, concrete operational and formal operational stages of acquiring knowledge and skills (Atherton, 2011). Thus, certain tasks are not achievable until children reach a certain developmental stage regardless of how intelligent a child appears to be. Of all Piaget’s ideas, assimilation and accommodation are considered most significant (Atherton, 2011). These two processes are complementary and describe how anything in the external world is internalized by an individual. In assimilation, anything that is perceived in the environment is made to fit into stereotypes or preconceived notions. Accommodation is the process of accommodating the mind to what has been assimilated. Piaget’s theory was significant because it gave general ideas of cognitive development and points to the relationship of env ironment and the child. Piaget was the first to point out the importance of transformation in cognition (Gelman, 1979). The major criticism is that the theory is very rigid. The capacity of children for logical thinking of abstract events can be achieved earlier than age 11, and some people take longer to achieve the formal operational stage.