1) Using Piaget's Cognitive Development theory, why do 5-year-olds think like Miriam? Analyze Miriam's thought process as related to Cognitive Developmental concepts (30 pts). Piaget's cognitive theory states that, "Thoughts and expectations profoundly affect attitudes, beliefs, values, assumptions, and actions" (The Developing Person, pg. 47). In Piaget's theory, two to six-year-old's think symbolically, with language, yet children are very egocentric and can only perceive things from their own perspective. This means that children at this age cannot understand things from others point of view. In this example, Miriam does not understand death fully. Pepper, her dog, dying is most likely her first experience with death based on the way
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Once again, drawing from Piaget, how would this age group explain death to you? What have they cognitively mastered to explain it different from a 5-year-old? A 9-year-old would fall under the concrete operational period of Piaget's Cognitive Development theory. This means that children can now understand and apply logic, although their thinking is limited by direct experiences. By applying logic, children learn to grasp concepts of conservation, number, classification, and many other scientific ideas (The Developing Person, pg 49). Children in this stage finally begin to understand that there is no reversing death. This is different because, as Miriam demonstrated, at first she believed that Pepper would just wake up later that day. A 9-year-old would understand that Pepper cannot wake up after being put to sleep. This age group would draw from their own experiences to explain death to me. They might make death into a being who took someone's spirit away, like the grim reaper or something similar. They might also associate death with violence, instead of asking how they died, they might ask instead "who killed them?". Children at this age would also most likely be more concerned with how their lives will change because of this death. (Hospice) For example, a young girl might ask "who will go with me to the father-daughter dance now?" Children who are more mature at this age might even try to take over a late parents role in the family. A 9-year-old has cognitively mastered how to grasp concepts that they used to not understand completely and can now better explain what is happening around
Once again, drawing from Piaget, how would this age group explain death to you? What have they cognitively mastered to explain it different from a 5-year-old? A 9-year-old would fall under the concrete operational period of Piaget's Cognitive Development theory. This means that children can now understand and apply logic, although their thinking is limited by direct experiences. By applying logic, children learn to grasp concepts of conservation, number, classification, and many other scientific ideas (The Developing Person, pg 49). Children in this stage finally begin to understand that there is no reversing death. This is different because, as Miriam demonstrated, at first she believed that Pepper would just wake up later that day. A 9-year-old would understand that Pepper cannot wake up after being put to sleep. This age group would draw from their own experiences to explain death to me. They might make death into a being who took someone's spirit away, like the grim reaper or something similar. They might also associate death with violence, instead of asking how they died, they might ask instead "who killed them?". Children at this age would also most likely be more concerned with how their lives will change because of this death. (Hospice) For example, a young girl might ask "who will go with me to the father-daughter dance now?" Children who are more mature at this age might even try to take over a late parents role in the family. A 9-year-old has cognitively mastered how to grasp concepts that they used to not understand completely and can now better explain what is happening around