John Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Abilities

I chose to write my paper on Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Abilities. I chose this

topic because I as well as many people in my family have been labeled “gifted” early on

in school. I realize that this is a measure of intelligence defined as the potential for

learning, however none of us labeled gifted have done anything more successful than

other members of my family. I fact the opposite may be true. Perhaps a gifted labeling

made us all lazy. Nonetheless, I would like to know how Piaget’s theory relates to how

intelligence is measured.

Piaget became fascinated early in his studies with the discovery that children of the

same age often gave the same incorrect answers to questions, suggesting that there were

consistent, qualitative differences in the nature of reasoning of different ages, not simply

a quanitive increase in the amount of intelligence or knowledge. This discovery marked

the beginning of Piaget’s continuing e...