DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPT, HEREDITY

AND ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES.

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT:
ERICKSON AND PIAGET’S THEORY OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
 Growth
Growth refers to quantitative changes – increase
in size, and structure, increase in height, weight
etc. Not only does child become larger physically
but size and structure of internal organs and brain
also increases.
As a result of growth of brain, Child has a greater
capacity for learning, remembering reasoning. He
grows mentally as well as physically.
Growth takes place in the physical aspect only. It
is possible to measure how tall a child has grown
over a specific period of time.
 development
Development involves the processes that are
genetically programmed as well as those that are
influenced by the environment. It refers to the
qualitative changes. Development refers to
physical cognitive, language, social, emotional and
others. For e.g. child’s increased ability to adjust
in groups and make friends is a social aspect of his
development.
The process of development continues even after
the individual has attained physical maturity
(growth). The individual is continuously changing
as he/she interacts with the environment.
Difference between growth and
development
 Growth is quantitative and development is
qualitative in nature.
Growth refers to physical aspects only; whereas
development refers to all aspects such physical,
cognitive, language, emotional, social etc.
Growth is limited to height and weight but
development refers to all changes leading towards
maturity.
Growth stops at certain period of life but
development continues till death.
 PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT
1. DEVELOPMENT INVOLVES CHANGE: The human
being is never static. From the moment of
conception to the time of death, the person is
undergoing changes.
2. DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWS A FIXED
PATTERN/SEQUENCE: Each child may have a
different rate of development. However, the
development of all human beings follows a
similar pattern, similar sequence or direction.
3.DEVELOPMENT PROCEEDS FROM GENERAL TO
SPECIFIC: In all the phases of pre-natal (before birth)
development and post-natal (after birth) life, the
child’s responses are from general to specific. General
activity proceeds to specific activity.
For example when Sufi was less than 3 months of
age and was shown a rattle, she would get excited
and move her arms and kick her legs. This is a general
response. At 5 months of age she would reach out to
hold it in her hand. This is a specific response.
4.DEVELOPMENT IS CORRELATED: All types of
developments, i.e. physical, mental, social and
emotional, are related to each other e.g. a child, who
is physically healthy is likely to have superior
sociability and emotional stability.
5.DEVELOPMENT PROCEEDS STAGE BY STAGE: The
development of the child occurs in different
stages. Each stage has certain unique
characteristics. There are individual differences in
the rate of growth and development. Speech
gradually develops from cooing, babbling,
monosyllabic sounds to complete sentence
formation.
6.EARLY DEVELOPMENT IS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN LATER DEVELOPMENT: Early childhood
experiences have more impact on the
development of a child. Examples include
nutritional, emotional, social and cultural
experiences.
7.DEVELOPMENT IS CONTINUOUS: From the
moment of conception till death the individual is
continuously changing. There is no
break/discontinuity in development, in some
stages development is fast and in some it is slow.
8.THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN
DEVELOPMENT: Interaction between heredity
and environmental influences leads to individual
differences in the developmental pattern. These
differences are caused by the genes one inherits
and the environmental conditions like food,
medical facilities, psychological conditions and
learning opportunities
Heredity and environmental
influences
Heredity involves all those physiological and
psychological characteristics which a person
inherits from his parents. It explains why people
differ and why persons who are related resemble
one another more than persons who are totally
unrelated.
Heredity covers all the factors that were present
in the individual when he began his life (not at
birth but at the time of conception). Heredity
determines the structure, colour of the skin the
colour of hair, height, facial features etc.
• Heredity is the potential each person receives
from his or her parents through transmission of
genes.
• Definition of Heredity- Heredity is defined “as the
totality of biologically transmitted factors that
influence the structure of body”. --RUCH
Mechanism of Heredity/Genetic Process
Human differences began at conception. Each one of us
begins life as a single fertilized cell smaller than the
head of a pin. Two germ cells unitely form a new
individual called Zygote – consists a dark nucleus
surrounded by a light watery substance, the
CYTOPLASM’. The Zygote contains the genetic
material that transmits heredity characteristics from
the parents to the new individual.
Monozygotic twins also called an identical twin which
develops from the single fertilized egg that splits into
two genetically identical replicas.
Di-zygotic twins also known as fraternal twins which
developed from two different eggs, for example
ordinary siblings.
ADOPTION STUDY- A study in which investigators seek
to discover whether, in behaviour and psychological
characteristics, adopted children are more like their
adoptive parents, who provided a home environment
or more like their biological parents, who contributed
their heredity.
DNA AND THE COLLABORATIVE GENE
• The nucleus of each human cell contains
chromosomes, which are threadlike structures
contains substance – deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA.
Chromosomes are made up of DNA. DNA is a
complex molecule that contains genetic information.
It has a double helix shape, like a spiral staircase.
• In a human cell there are 46 chromosomes- 23 pairs.
The child gets one chromosome of each pair from his
father and the other from his mother.
• The difference lies in the 23rd pair. Females have
that ‘X-chromosomes, males have an ‘X’ and a Y-
chromosomes. The presence of Y-chromosomes
is what makes an individual male.
• All of a persons genetic material makes up her
genotype. Phenotype – consists of observable
characteristics. The way an individual’s genotype
is expressed in observed and measureable
characteristics is called phenotype. It included
physical characteristics (such as height, weight
and hair colour) and psychological characteristics
(such as personality & intelligence).
GENETIC INFLUENCES ON THE FETUS
• In 95 to 98% of cases there is normal
development of fetus but in remaining 2 to 5% of
cases, children are delivered with serious birth
defects. A major cause of such defects is genetic
– the information in the chromosomes inherited
from one or both of parents causes a problem.
Most common genetic defects are –
• Klinefelter Syndrome – It is a genetic disorder in
which males have an extra x chromosome,
making them xxy instead of xy
• Fragile x Syndrome – Genetic disorder, results
from x chromosome, mental deficiency is the
outcome.
• Turner Syndrome – A chromosomal disorder in
females in which either an chromosome is
missing, making the person xo instead of xx or the
second x chromosome is partially deleted.
• XYY Syndrome – A Chromosomal disorder in
which males have an extra Y chromosome.
“ENVIRONMENT”
• Environment stands for all these circumstances
which are asserting influence on the child since
conception to death. Environment is the
aggregate of all the external forces, influences and
conditions, which affect the life.
Behaviour geneticist Sandra Scarr (1993)
described three ways that heredity and environment
are correlated.
A. PASSIVE GENOTYPE ENVIRONMENT CORRELATIONS
Occur because biological parents, who are genetically
related to the child, provide a rearing environment
for the child. For example, the parents might have a
genetic predisposition to be intelligent and read
skilfully. Because they read well and enjoy reading,
they provide their children with books to read. The
likely outcome is that their children, given their own
inherited predisposition from their parents and their
book-filled environment, will become skilled readers.
B. EVOCATIVE GENOTYPE ENVIRONMENT
CORRELATIONS
Occur because a child’s characteristics elicit certain
types of environments. For example- active,
smiling children receive more social stimulation
than passive, quiet children do. Cooperative,
attentive children evoke more pleasant and
instructional responses from the adults around
them than uncooperative, distractible children do.
C. ACTIVE (NICHE-PICKING) GENOTYPE
ENVIRONMENT CORRELATIONS
• Occur when children seek out environment that they
find compatible and stimulating.
• Niche- picking refers to finding a setting that is suited
to one’s abilities. Children select some aspect from
their surrounding environment that they respond to,
learn about or ignore. Their active selections of
environments are related to their particular
genotype.
• For example- outgoing children tend to seek out
social contexts in which to interact with people,
whereas shy children don’t. Children who are
musically inclined are likely to select musical
environments in which they can successfully perform
their skills
SHARED AND NONSHARED ENVIRONMENTAL
EXPERIENCES
• Shared environmental experiences are siblings
common experiences, such as their parent’s
personalities or intellectual orientation, the
family’s socio-economic status, and the
neighbourhood in which they live.
• Non shared environmental experiences are a
child’s unique experiences, both within the family
and outside the family, that are not shared with a
sibling. For example, Parents often interact
differently with each sibling and siblings interact
differently with parents (Reiss & Plomin 1994).
 ERICKSON’S (1959) THEORY OF
DEVELOPMENT
 Erickson’s theory deals with development across the entire
life span. Erickson’s theory is like Piaget’s a stage theory. It
suggests that all human beings pass through specific stages
or phases of development . In contrast to Piaget’s theory,
however, Erickson is concerned primarily with social rather
than cognitive development.
 Erickson believed that each stage of life is marked by a
specific crisis or conflict between competing tendencies.
Only if individuals negotiate each of these hurdles
successfully can the continue to develop in a normal
,healthy manner. The first four stages occur during
childhood, one takes place during adolescence and the final
three occur during our adult years.
FOLLOWING ARE THE STAGES GIVEN BY ERICKSON
I. INFANCY - TRUST VS MISTRUST (BIRTH to 18
Months)
• During this stage the infant is uncertain about
the world in which they live. To resolve these
feelings of uncertainty the infant looks towards
their primary caregiver for stability and
consistency of care.
• If the care the infant receives is consistent,
predictable and reliable they will develop a
sense of trust which will carry with them to
other relationships, and they will be able to feel
secure even when threatened.
• Failing to acquire the virtue of HOPE will lead to the
development of fear. For example, if the care has been
harsh or inconsistent, unpredictable and unreliable then
the infant will develop a sense of mistrust and will not
have confidence in the world around them or in their
abilities to influence events. This infant will carry the
basic sense of mistrust with them to other relationships.
It may result in anxiety, heightened insecurities, and an
over feeling of mistrust in the world around them.
II. EARLY CHILDHOOD - AUTONOMY VS SHAME AND
DOUBT (2 to 3 Years)
• During this stage toddlers are learning to regulate
their own bodies and to act in independent ways. If
they succeed in these tasks, they develop a sense of
autonomy.
• Here children begin to assert their independence, by
walking away from their mother, picking which toy to
play with, and making choices about what they like to
wear, to eat, etc.
• The child is discovering that he or she has many skills
and abilities, such as putting on clothes and shoes,
playing with toys etc. Such skills illustrate the child's
growing sense of independence and autonomy.
• Erikson states it is critical that parents allow
their children to explore the limits of their
abilities within an encouraging environment
which is tolerant of failure. For example, rather
than put on a child's clothes a supportive parent
should have the patience to allow the child to
try until they succeed or ask for assistance.
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of
will. If children in this stage are encouraged and
supported in their increased independence, they
become more confident and secure in their own
ability to survive in the world.
• If children are criticized, overly controlled, or not
given the opportunity to assert themselves, they
begin to feel inadequate in their ability to survive,
and may then become overly dependent upon
others, lack self-esteem, and feel a sense of
shame or doubt in their own abilities.
III. PRESCHOOL – INITIATIVE VS GUILT (3 to 5
YEARS)
• During this period the primary feature involves the child
regularly interacting with other children at school.
• Central to this stage is play, as it provides children with
the opportunity to explore their interpersonal skills
through initiating activities.
• Children begin to plan activities, make up games, and
initiate activities with others. If given this opportunity,
children develop a sense of initiative, and feel secure in
their ability to lead others and make decisions.
• Conversely, if this tendency is squelched, either through
criticism or control, children develop a sense of guilt.
They may feel like a nuisance to others and will therefore
remain followers, lacking in self-initiative.
• Too much guilt can make the child slow to interact with
others and may inhibit their creativity. Some guilt is, of
course, necessary otherwise the child would not know
how to exercise self control or have a conscience. A
healthy balance between initiative and guilt is important.
Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of PURPOSE.

I
IV. SCHOOL AGE – INDUSTRY (COMPETENCE) VS
INFERIORITY (6 to 11 YEARS)
• Teachers begin to take an important role in the
child’s life as they teach the child specific skills. It
is at this stage that the child’s peer group will gain
greater significance and will become a major
source of the child’s self esteem.
• The child now feels the need to win approval by
demonstrating specific competencies that are
valued by society, and begin to develop a sense of
pride in their accomplishments.
• If children are encouraged and reinforced for their
initiative, they begin to feel industrious and feel
confident in their ability to achieve goals. If this initiative
is not encouraged, if it is restricted by parents or teacher,
then the child begins to feel inferior, doubting his own
abilities and therefore may not reach his or her potential.
Success in this will lead to the virtue of competence.
V. ADOLESCENCE – IDENTITY VS ROLE CONFUSION
(12 to 18 YEARS)
• At this time of life, teenagers ask themselves, “who am I?”, “What
do I want to become?”
• Children are becoming more independent, and begin to look at the
future in terms of career, relationships, families, housing, etc. The
individual wants to belong to a society and fit in. This is a major
stage in development where the child has to learn the roles he will
occupy as an adult.
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of fidelity.
Fidelity involves being able to commit one's self to
others on the basis of accepting others even when
there may be ideological differences. During this
period, they explore possibilities and begin to form
their own identity based upon the outcome of their
explorations.
• Failure to establish a sense of identity within society
("I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up")
can lead to role confusion. Role confusion involves
the individual not being sure about themselves or
their place in society. In response to role confusion or
identity crisis an adolescent may begin to experiment
with different lifestyles (e.g. work, education or
political activities).
VI. YOUNG ADULTHOOD – INTIMACY VS
ISOLATION(19 TO 40 YEARS)
• Occurring in young adulthood (ages 18 to 40 yrs),
we begin to share ourselves more intimately with
others. Person explore relationships leading
toward longer term commitments with someone
other than a family member.
• Successful completion of this stage can lead to
comfortable relationships and a sense of
commitment, safety, and care within a
relationship.
• Avoiding intimacy, fearing commitment and
relationships can lead to isolation, loneliness, and
sometimes depression. Success in this stage will
lead to the virtue of love.
VII. MIDDLE ADULTHOOD – GENERATIVITY VS
STAGNATION (40 to 65 YEARS)
• During middle adulthood (ages 40 to 65 yrs), we
establish our careers, settle down within a
relationship, begin our own families and develop
a sense of being a part of the bigger picture.
• Person give back to society through raising our
children, being productive at work, and becoming
involved in community activities and
organizations.
• By failing to achieve these objectives, individual
become stagnant and feel unproductive. Success
in this stage will lead to the virtue of care.
VIII. MATURITY – EGO INTEGRITY VS DESPAIR
(65 TO DEATH)
• As individual grow older (65+ yrs) and become senior
citizens, he tend to slow down his productivity, and
explore life as a retired person.
• It is during this time that we contemplate our
accomplishments and are able to develop integrity if
we see ourselves as leading a successful life.
• Erik Erikson believed if we see our lives as
unproductive, feel guilt about our past, or feel that
we did not accomplish our life goals, we become
dissatisfied with life and develop despair, often
leading to depression and hopelessness
• Success in this stage will lead to the virtue of
wisdom. Wisdom enables a person to look back
on their life with a sense of closure and
completeness, and also accept death without fear.
 STAGE BASIC CONFLICT IMPORTANT EVENTS
Infancy (birth to 18 Trust vs. Mistrust Feeding
months)
Early Childhood (2 to 3 Autonomy vs. Shame and Toilet Training
years) Doubt
Preschool (3 to 5 years) Initiative vs. Guilt Exploration

School Age (6 to 11 years) Industry vs. Inferiority School

Adolescence (12 to 18 Identity vs. Role Confusion Social Relationships

years)
Young Adulthood (19 to 40 Intimacy vs. Isolation Relationships
years)
Middle Adulthood (40 to Generativity vs. Stagnation Work and Parenthood
65 years)
Maturity(65 to death) Ego Integrity vs. Despair Reflection on Life
CRITICAL EVALUATION
• Erikson is rather vague about the causes of
development. The theory does not have a
universal mechanism for crisis resolution. Indeed,
Erikson (1964) acknowledges his theory is more a
descriptive overview of human social and
emotional development that does not adequately
explain how or why this development occurs. For
example, Erikson does not explicitly explain how
the outcome of one psychosocial stages influence
personality at a later stage.
• One of the strengths of Erikson's theory is it
ability to tie together important psychosocial
development across the entire lifespan.
 PIAGET’S THEORY OF
DEVELOPMENT
Piaget's theory of cognitive development is a
comprehensive theory about the nature and
development of human intelligence. It was first
developed by a Swiss developmental
psychologist, Jean Piaget (1896–1980). Piaget
believed that one's childhood plays a vital and active
role to the growth of intelligence, and that the child
learns through doing and actively exploring.
According to Piaget we build mental structures that
help us to adapt to the world. Adaptation involves
adjusting to new environmental demands. Piaget also
stressed that children actively construct their own
cognitive worlds.
B. ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMODATION
• Assimilation occurs when children incorporate new
information into their existing schemes.
• Accommodation occurs when children adjust their
schemes to fit new information and experiences.
• For example- Think about a toddler, who has learned
the word “CAR” to identify the family’s car. The
toddler might call all moving vehicles on roads “car”,
including motorcycles and trucks; the child has
assimilated these objects into his or her existing
scheme. But the child soon learns that motorcycles
and trucks are not cars and fine tunes the category to
exclude motorcycles and trucks accommodating the
scheme.
C. ORGANIZATION
• Organisation is Piaget’s concept of grouping
isolated behaviours into a higher order system.
Items are grouped into categories. Every level of
thought is organized. Children continually
integrate and coordinate the many other
branches of knowledge that often develop
independently.
D. EQUILIBRATION
Equilibration is a mechanism that Piaget proposed
to explain how children shift from one stage of
thought to next. The shift occurs as children
experience cognitive conflict or disequilibrium in
trying to understand the world.
For example- if a child believes that the amount of a
liquid changes simply because the liquid is poured
into a container with a different shape-for
instance, from a container that is short and wide
into a container that is tall and narrow- she might
be puzzled by such issues as where the “extra”
liquid came from.
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE ( 0-2 YEARS)
Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six sub
stages which are as follows-
1. SIMPLE REFLEXES (first month after birth) – sensation and action
are coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviours. These
include rooting and sucking reflexes, which the infant has at birth.
In this sub stage the infant develops an ability to produce
behaviour that resemble reflexes in the absence of the usual
stimulus for the reflex.
2. FIRST HABITS AND PRIMARY CIRCULAR
REACTIONS (1 and 4 months of age)
In this sub stage the infant learns to coordinate
sensation and two types of schemes: Habits and
Primary circular reactions.
A habit is a scheme based on a reflex that has
become completely separated from its eliciting
stimulus.
 For example, infants in sub-stage 1 might suck
when bottles are put to their lips or when they
see a bottle. Infants in sub stage two might suck
even when no bottle is present. A circular reaction
is a repetitive or stereotyped action.
3. SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (4-8 months
of age)-
Infant becomes more object oriented, moving
beyond pre occupation with self. By chance, an
infant might shake a rattle. The infant repeats this
action for the sake of experiencing fascination.
4.COORDINATION OF SECONDARY CIRCULAR
REACTIONS (8-12 MONTHS OF AGE)
4.1 INTENTIONAL /GOAL ORIENTED BEHAVIOUR
By 8 months, infants have had enough practice with a variety of
schemes that they coordinate them deliberately to solve
sensorimotor problems. The clearest example is provided by
Piaget’s object hiding tasks, in which he shows the baby an
attractive toy and then hides it behind his hand or under a
cover. Infants of this sub stage can find the object. In doing so,
they coordinate two schemes: “pushing” aside the obstacle
and “grasping” the toy.
4.2 OBJECT PERMANENCE
 The fact that infants can retrieve hidden objects reveals
that they have begun to attain a second cognitive milestone
that is Object Permanence.
 It means the understanding that objects continue to exist
even when out of sight. But awareness of object
permanence is not yet complete. If an object is moved from
one hiding place (A) to another (B), babies will continue to
search for it only in the first hiding place (A). This is known
as AB search error.
5. Tertiary Circular reactions, novelty and curiosity
(12 to 18 months)
• At this sub stage, the circular reactions now called teritary
becomes experimental and creative. Experimentation to find new
ways to solve problems or produce interesting outcomes. For
Example: explore bath water by gently patting it, then hitting it and
watching the results. Continually doing new things to them and
exploring the results. Piaget says that this stage marks the starting
point for human curiosity and interest in novelty.
6. BEGINING OF THOUGHT/ INTERNALIZATION OF
SCHEMES (18 TO 24 MONTHS OF AGE)
• Sub stage 6 brings with it the ability to make
mental representations of reality- internal images
of absent objects and past events. Ability to use
primitive symbols. For Piaget, a symbol is an
internalized sensory image or word that
represents an event. In a favourite Piagetian
example Piaget’s young daughter saw a match box
being open and closed. Later, she mimicked the
event by opening and closing the mouth.
 PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE (2-7
YEARS)
In this stage, children begin to represent the world with
words, images and drawings. Symbolic thoughts goes
beyond simple connections of sensory information
and physical action. Stable concepts are formed
mental reasoning emerges, ego-centrism is present
and magical beliefs are constructed.
• Preoperational stage is divided into sub stages
I. THE SYMBOLIC FUNCTION SUB STAGE- (2-5YEARS)
The child gains the ability to mentally represent an
object that is not present. This ability vastly expands
the child’s mental world (Deloache 2004)
II. The intuitive thought sub stage (4-7 years)
In this sub stage children begin to use primitive to all
sorts of questions. By the age of 5 children have just
about exhausted the adults around them with “why”
questions. The child questions signal the emergence
of interest in reasoning and in figuring out why things
are the way they are.
• CENTRATION – One characteristics of preoperational
thought is centration which means a centring of
attention on one characteristics to the exclusion of
all others. Centration is most clearly evidenced in
young children’s lack of conservation, the awareness
that altering an object’s or a substance’s appearance
does not change its basic properties.
TWO LIMITATIONS OF THE PRE OPERATIONAL STAGES-
EGOCENTRISM- it is the inability to distinguish between
one’s own perspective and someone else’s
perspective.
ANIMISM- it is the belief that inanimate objects have
life like qualities and are capable of action (Gelman
and Opfer, 2004). A young child might show animism
by saying, “that tree pushed the leaf of and it fell
down”.
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
(7-11 YEARS)
In this stage children can perform concrete operations
and logical reasoning replaces intuitive reasoning as
long as the reasoning can be applied to specific and
or concrete examples. For instance, concrete
operational thinkers cannot imagine the steps
necessary to complete an algebraic equation, which
is too abstract for thinking at this stage of
development.
CONSERVATION – the conservation tasks demonstrate
a child’s ability to perform concrete operations.
Concrete operations allow children to coordinate
several characteristics rather than focus on a single
property of an object.
CLASSIFICATION – one important skill that
characterizes concrete operational children is the
ability to classify things and to consider their
relationships. An example of concrete operational
classification skills that involves a family tree of
four generations (Furth & Wachs, 1975). The
concrete operational child understands that
person “J” can, at the same time, be father,
brother, and grandson. A child who comprehends
this classification system can move up and down a
level (vertically), across a level (horizontally) and
across (obliquely) within the system.
Another example of the ability of concrete operational
children to reason about relations is “SERIATION”,
which involves stimuli along a quantitative dimension
(such as length).

TRANSITIVITY – If a relation holds between a first

object and a second object, and also holds between
the second object and a third object, then it also
holds between the first and the third objects. In
Piaget’s theory, concrete operational thinkers
understands that if A is longer than B, and B is longer
than C, then A is longer than C.
 FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE
(11-15 YEARS)
In this stage, individuals move beyond concrete
experiences and think in abstract and more logical
ways.
• ABSTRACT, IDEALISTIC AND LOGICAL THINKING
In this stage, the abstract quality of the adolescents
thought is adolescent’s verbal problem solving
ability. Whereas the concrete operational thinker
needs to see the concrete elements A,B & C to be
able to make the logical inference that if A=B and
B=C, then A=C, the formal operational thinker can
solve this merely through verbal presentation.
At this stage adolescents begin to think more as a
scientific thinks, devising plans to solve problems and
systematically testing solutions. They use
hypothetical deductive reasoning, which means that
they develop hypothesis or best guesses and
systematically deduce, o conclude, which is the best
path to follow in solving the problem.
• ADOLESCENT EGOCENTRISM – In addition to thinking
more logically, abstractly and idealistically –
characteristics of Piaget’s formal operational thought
stage. Adolescent egocentrism is the heightened self-
consciousness of adolescents, which is reflected in
their belief that others are as interested in them as
they are themselves, and in their sense of personal
uniqueness.
ELKIND believes that adolescent egocentrism can be
dissected into two types of social thinking-
• IMAGINARY AUDIENCE – It refers to the aspect of
adolescent egocentrism that involves attention
getting behaviour- the attempt to be noticed, visible
and “on stage”. An adolescent girl walks into her
classroom and thinks that all eyes are riveted on her
complexion. In early adolescence they believe that
they are the main actors and all others are the
audience.
• PERSONAL FABLE – The personal fable is the part of
adolescent egocentrism that involves an adolescent’s
sense of personal uniqueness. It makes them feel that
no one can understand how they really feel. For
example – an adolescence girl thinks that her mother
cannot possibly sense the hurt she feels because her
boyfriend has broken up with her.
 EVALUATING PIAGET’S THEORY
CONTRIBUTIONS
• Piaget was a giant in the field of developmental psychology,
the founder of the present field of children’s cognitive
development.
• Piaget also was a genius when it came to observing
children. His careful observations showed us inventive ways
to discover how children act on and adapt to their world.
• Piaget showed us some important things to look for in
cognitive development, such as the shift from
preoperational to concrete operational thinking.
• He also showed us how children need to make their
experiences fit their schemes (cognitive frameworks) yet
simultaneously adapt their schemes to experience.
 CRITICISMS
Piaget’s theory has not gone unchallenged
(Byrnes,2001,2003)
ESTIMATES OF CHILDREN’S COMPETENCE
• Some cognitive abilities emerge earlier than
Piaget’s thought (Bjorklund, 2005). For example-
some aspects of object’s permanence emerge
earlier than he believed.
STAGE
• Piaget conceived a stages as unitary structure of
thought. Thus his theory assumes developmental
synchrony, that is, various aspects of stage should
emerge at the same time.
Effects of training
• Some children who are at one cognitive stage (such
as Preoperational) can be trained to reason at a
higher cognitive stage (such as concrete operational).
This poses a problem for Piaget’s theory. He argued
that such training is only superficial and ineffective
unless the child is at a maturational transition point
between the stages (Gelman &William, 1998).
CULTURE AND EDUCATION
• Culture and education exert stronger influences on
children’s development than Piaget believed. (Cole,
2006). For example – the age at which children
acquire conservation skill is related to how much
practice their culture provides in these skills.