Cognitive Development and Faith

Cognitive Development and Faith

Kathy J. Velzen

Colorado Christian University

Abstract

This final paper will discuss Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Next, the paper will focus on the process of faith development or faith maturity. We will explore the idea that people grow as they interact with people, with the physical world around them and with knowledge. We grow as we wrestle with the problems of life, in the light of God’s Word. This paper will explore the stages of development and reflect on our relationship with God at those various stages.

Cognitive Development and Faith

Overview of Piaget’s Life

Piaget was born in 1896 in the small Swiss university town of Neuchtel. Piaget’s father was a historian who specialized in medieval literature, and his mother was an intelligent and religious French woman. Piaget was a brilliant child. He published his first academic paper at age 10. By the time he was 21, he earned a doctorate in natural sciences from the University of Neuchtel, published twenty-five professional papers, and was considered one of the world’s experts on mollusks. Piaget was a disciplined person who organized his thinking on long walks and wrote down his ideas the next day. During the summer months he would retreat to a hideaway in the Alps, take long walks, write, and come down in the fall with another book. For Piaget, writing was the way he organized his thoughts. By the time he died, in 1980, Piaget had written or co-authored about 50 books and hundreds of articles.

After finishing his doctorate, Piaget moved from Switzerland to Paris, France and he taught at the Grange-Aux-Belles Street School for Boys. Alfred Binet, the developer of the Binet intelligence test, ran the school and Piaget assisted in the marking of Binet's intelligence tests. Piaget was intrigued with incorrect answers children gave to questions on tests. Piaget did not focus so much on the fact of the children's answers being wrong, but...