Juliet In Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory

Juliet is a three-year old, independent and strong-willed girl, who even though she “wants to be three forever,” will celebrate her fourth birthday with her family, on April 26, 2018. At four, Juliet is considered to be transitioning smoothly through a period of development called Early Childhood, which includes children who are two-years old, until they are 6-years old. During Early Childhood, the body becomes leaner than infancy and toddlerhood, motor skills are refined, and children become self-controlled and self sufficient (Berk, 2012). Make-believe play blossoms, supporting every aspect of psychological development (Berk, 2012 p. 6). In addition, during Early Childhood, thought and language expand at an astounding pace, a sense of morality

Presently, Juliet is considered to be in Piaget’s 2nd stage of cognitive development called Preoperational Stage. During Preoperational Stage, preschool children’s thinking is full of faulty logic, and development of language and make-believe play takes place (Berk, 2012). One reason to believe that Juliet is in the second stage of Piaget’s Cognitive Developmental Theory is because she absolutely loves to play make-believe. It is not unusual to find Juliet and her daddy playing doctor in her bedroom. She loves when dad calls her “Dr. Juliet” and asks her to check on her stuffed animals and babies, to see if they might need some medicine, a band-aid, or even a pretend shot. Fortunately, studies have revealed that make-believe strengthens a wide variety of mental abilities, including sustained attention, memory logical thinking, language and literacy, imagination, creativity and the ability to reflect on own’s thinking, regulate one’s own emotions and behavior, and take another’s perspective (Berk, 2012, p.

For example, as Juliet grows older, she has started to have full conversations with her family member’s and her friends, and if mom and dad are talking, she often chimes in as though she wants to be a participant in the conversation. She loves to talk to everyone she meets (except for what she calls “dudes”), and be involved in every activity, which is most likely how she has learned most of what she says and does; just watch what you say in front of her, because it only takes one time for her to hear something, before she repeats exactly what she