Psychology Discussion 7: Child Personality Development Theories

This discussion post delves into Jean Piaget's theories on child personality development, outlining the four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The student highlights the active role children play in learning and building upon existing knowledge through interaction with their surroundings. The post includes responses to fellow students, Ashley Harris and Larissa, discussing the interplay of genetics and environment in shaping personality and the implications of genetic influence, referencing the study of genetic influence and alcohol involvement among rural adolescents. The student finds Piaget's ability to clearly demarcate the stages of mental development fascinating. The post includes a list of references to support the discussed concepts.

Running head: DISCUSSION 7
Discussion 7
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DISCUSSION 7
The personality development of children is a subject that has been well researched upon,
analyzed and discussed by Jean Piaget. There are four stages of what may be termed as mental
development that children are seen to go through, in the view of Jean Piaget (Ilias & Esa. 2017).
The theories that have been forwarded by Piaget in this context are not only aimed at arriving at
an understanding of the ways by which children are seen to acquire knowledge and information
but also the manner by which intelligence as a concept may be understood (Li, 2017). As such,
the four stages of development as advocated by Jean Piaget are the sensorimotor stage, the pre-
operational stage, the concrete operational stage and the formal operational stage. The first stage
is considered to be active when a child falls within the age group of birth to two years, the
second stage becomes active when a child falls within the age group of two to seven years, the
third stage becomes active when a child is in the age group of seven to eleven years and the
fourth stage is activated when a child reaches the age of twelve and remains relevant as he
continues to grow older (Sandow, 2018). According to Piaget, children take an active interest in
and participate quite actively in the entire learning process as a whole. By interacting with their
surroundings, children contribute to new knowledge while building upon existing knowledge at
the same given time. What has fascinated me about this particular subject and the reason why it
caught my interest is the specific way by which Piaget is so clearly able to demarcate the stages
of mental development that children go through, pointing out yet again with clarity the types of
progress or development that children undergo in each stage (Wimmer, 2017).
Response to Ashley Harris
It is interesting what you have to say about gene environment interaction, there Ashley.
Yes I also agree what you have to say, namely, that while genes are responsible for our
biological attributes, such as our physical features, the type of personality that we exhibit be it at

2DISCUSSION 7
a young or an old age, has more to do in the physical, environment and social environment in
which we are raised. Our environment and the people we engage with have the most profound
impact on our personality development, far more than anything.
Response to Larissa
Hi Larissa, yes I understand what you have to say here, how intertwined genetics and
environment is as a subject and how daunting it can be to delve into the basics of it all. I am
particular impressed with the analogy that you have made between the study of biology and
genetics and the biology of cancer. That genetics can have a role to play in how easily we get
cancer is something that I was previously unaware of and I am greatly enlightened by your post.
I also find your allusion to the study of genetic influence and alcohol involvement among rural
adolescents quite interesting.

3DISCUSSION 7
References
Ilias, M. R., & Esa, A. (2017). Children's psychology development. Psychology, 6924-46925
Li, D. (2017, January). Personality Development Theory and Its Enlightenments to the Children's
Education. In 2016 2nd International Conference on Economics, Management
Engineering and Education Technology (ICEMEET 2016). Atlantis Press.
Sandow, S. (2018). The development of personality and emotion. In The Education of Children
with Severe Learning Difficulties (pp. 87-100). Routledge
Wimmer, M. (2017). Konrad Lorenz and Jean Piaget. Ludus Vitalis, 13(24), 121-138