Piaget's Theory Of Brain Development

Through many years there have been many speculations and myths about the brain and learning. It should be a question about where does science end and where the speculation begins. Many people and teachers believe the myths about the right and left sides of the brain. For example, some people believe that the right side of the brain performs tasks about logic and mathematics and the left side of the brain perform tasks about creativity and arts. According to the researches, both sides of the brain perform to do most things (Woolfolk, 2016). Another two clear examples of how teaching can affect brain development are Nico and Brooke’s cases. After Nico’s right hemisphere was removed, the expectation was that he would not be able to have good visual-spatial

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a theory based on the thinking process from birth to maturity. Piaget divided his theory in four stages. (Woolfolk, 2016). The first stage is the sensorimotor. This stage is from birth to 2 years. According to Piaget, during this stage a child learns through senses, reflexes and movement. Furthermore, at this stage children begin to imitate others and remember events as well children make a transition from reflexive actions to intentional activity. The second stage is the preoperational stage. This stage is from 2 years to 7 years. During this stage, children are able to develop language and they will able to use symbols, words gestures, signs and images to represent objects. In addition, children do not have notion of time, they only think in the present. The third stage is named the concrete operational because during this stage children are able to think logically about concrete problems and organize things into categories and series. In fact, children are able to reverse thinking to mentally “undo” actions. They also are able to understand past, present and future. Concrete operational stage begins about 7 and ends about 11 years old. The fourth stage is named formal operational. This stage is from adolescence to adulthood. During this stage, teenagers are able to think hypothetically and deductively. They are able to solve abstract problems in a logical way. In addition, teenagers are able to develop concerns about social issues, justice and personal identity (Woolfolk,