PIAGET’S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY: AN OVERVIEW

With David Elkind, Ph.D.

1989 (25 min) $250.   ISBN: 1-891340-64-6        [Available with Spanish Subtitles]

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Jean Piaget was first a biologist interested in how organisms adapt to their environment and are affected by it.  He ended up as the most celebrated cognitive psychologist of his time and his work is basic to any study of child development.  “Constructivism” is the theory that humans have to process information and skills in order to be able to use them, we don’t just absorb new facts or ways of doing things, but have to fit them into already present modes of thought and action which are in turn affected by the aspects of the new skill or item of information. 

Many of the subsequent thinkers, including Lev Vygotsky, have been very influenced by the constructivistic theory of learning and the new field of cognitive neuroscience is confirming many of Piaget’s ideas. 

Film content:

            The film briefly documents Piaget’s life, both personal and professional.

            The body of the film is organized around four periods of Piaget’s work and includes demonstrations of his research techniques and lively illustrations of the concepts that came out of this research.  Among the concepts discussed are:                                           

                        Assimilation/accommodation

                        Schema

                        Conservation

                        Stages of Cognitive Development (Sensorimotor, Pre-Operational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operations)

                        The relationship of memory and intelligence

Visuals:

            Photos of Piaget from his bright-eyed childhood through his old age with pipe damaged front teeth show students that this was a real person.  Pictures of him picnicking with happy trekkers in the Alps are especially fun.

            Semi-clinical interviews in which Dr. Elkind demonstrates classical Piagetian tasks with a children aged 8 months through 12.

            Film sequence from the Tufts University demonstration preschool.

            Film of children and teenagers in their home environments.

            Film sequence of Piaget giving a lecture with subtitles in English.

Jean Piaget’s life:

            Born into a professor’s family in Neuchatel, Switzerland, 1896.

            Earned his Ph.D. in “Natural Science” (biology).

Initially his study of child development was based on careful observations of his own three children.

Was a professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland most of his life.

Wrote numerous books and articles in French most of which have been translated to English and other languages.

Died in 1980.

Consultant:

David Elkind, Ph.D. is a Professor of Child Development, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts.  He did his Ph.D. at UCLA and a post-doctorate year in Switzerland working directly with Jean Piaget.  He is a Past President of the National Association for the Education of Children. Dr. Elkind is the author of several seminal books, among them: THE HURRIED CHILD, ALL GROWN UP WITH NO PLACE TO GO, THE POWER OF PLAY.  

Other films with Dr. Elkind as consultant:

            GROWING MINDS: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

            CONCRETE OPERATIONS

            ADOLESCENT COGNITION: LEARNING IN A NEW KEY

            USING WHAT WE KNOW: APPLYING PIAGET'S DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY IN PRIMARY CLASSROOMS

            Part of the GIANTS OF PSYCHOLOGY series

"An excellent film. Informative as well as being a lovely, sensitive presentation."

— Barbara Shelton, Villa Julie College, Stevenson, Maryland

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