Jean Piaget Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Jean Piaget
OCCUPATION: Psychologist, Biologist
BIRTH DATE: August 09, 1896
DEATH DATE: September 16, 1980
EDUCATION: Neuchâtel Latin High School, University of Neuchâtel, University of Zürich, Sorbonne
PLACE OF BIRTH: Neuchâtel, Switzerland
PLACE OF DEATH: Geneva, Switzerland

Best Known For

Psychologist Jean Piaget identified stages of mental development, called Schema, and established the fields of cognitive theory and developmental psychology.

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Jean Piaget

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During the "concrete operational stage," children 8–11 develop cognitively through the use of logic that is based on concrete evidence. "Formal operations," the fourth and final stage, involves 12-to-15-year-olds forming the ability to think abstractly. Piaget called his collective theories on child development "Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology."

Death and Legacy

Jean Piaget died of unknown causes on September 16, 1980, in Geneva, Switzerland. He was 84 years old. His body rests at the Cimetière des Plainpalais.

Piaget is responsible for developing entirely new fields of scientific study, including cognitive theory and developmental psychology. The recipient of the prestigious Erasmus (1972) and Balzan (1978) prizes, he summed up his passion for the ongoing pursuit of scientific knowledge with these words: "The current state of knowledge is a moment in history, changing just as rapidly as the state of knowledge in the past has ever changed and, in many instances, more rapidly."