Educational Media Reviews Online

Piaget's Developmental Theory: Concrete Operations looks at the third of Piaget's age-related stages. During the Concrete Operations Stage (from about 6 to 12 years old) children develop logic and are able to use rules and units. At the same time, thoughts remain rooted in the present with real objects. Piaget scholar Dr. David Elkind examines the elements of the Concrete Operations Stage through taped exercises with a variety of children at different levels of development.

The program discusses intelligence as an interplay of adaptive thought and action. As a child becomes older, "thought and action become increasingly flexible and freed from the domination of immediate perception." During the Concrete Operational Stage, a child develops the logical processes of transitivity and reversibility, and is able to combine these two processes to attain the unit concept.

Dr. Elkind clearly illustrates Piaget's Concrete Operations Stage through a variety of taped interactions with children throughout the program, and provides expanded discussion of Piaget's theories and their criticisms. The program's production standards are high, and its content would be particularly useful for study and research in elementary education and developmental psychology. This program is highly recommended for academic libraries. Related titles available from Davidson Films, Inc. include Piaget's Developmental Theory: An Overview and Using What We Know: Applying Piaget's Developmental Theory to Primary Classrooms.