Discuss the main criticisms of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
What will be an ideal response?
A good answer would include the following key points:
- Researchers have questioned the stage conception of Piaget's theory because they contend that development proceeds in a continuous fashion.
- Critics dispute Piaget's notion that cognitive development is grounded in motor activities because it overlooks the importance of sensory and perceptual systems present from infancy.
- Recent studies cast doubt on Piaget's view that infants are incapable of mastering the concept of object permanence until they are one year of age, due to the fact that the techniques used to test infants' abilities were not sensitive enough. An infant's inability to demonstrate object permanence may be attributed to memory deficits rather than to an inability to master object permanence.
- Piaget's work has been criticized for being based upon Western cultural experience with an omission of a non-Western point of view.
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