Activity 3.2

Piaget and James acknowledged that learning takes place in sequential order. James stated, “There is a native tendency to assimilate certain kinds of conception at one age, and other kinds of conception at a later age.” (p.72). This relates to Piaget’s stages of development because at each of stage, children develop and learn how to apply different cognitive skills during the acquisition of knowledge. Similar to Piaget’s stages, James asserted, “during the first seven or eight years of childhood the mind is most interested in the sensible properties of material things” (p. 72); “it is not till adolescence is reached that the mind grows to be able to take in the more abstract aspects of experience…” (p.73). It appears that individuals’ foundation of education begins with understanding simple, concrete concepts. As they develop, or progress through Piaget’s stages of development, they acquire skills necessary for processing more abstract ideas.