THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO JEAN PIAGET'S COGNITIVE STAGES

Abstract

This study aims to clarify how technology affects child development and its symptoms, analyzing it according to Jean Piaget’s cognitive stages and their respective ages. Currently, technology is even more present in childhood, since the most recent generations now have contact with a range of electronic devices that can accompany them anywhere, with much greater exposure to stimuli compared to decades when access to technology was mostly restricted to television; it is common for most parents to now use technology to keep children in front of screens, seeking to keep them calm while they attend to their tasks.  A literature review was used as the method, employing articles with the following criteria: those written in portuguese; that described the symptoms generated by technology in childhood; studies that reported on children aged 0 to 6 years; in addition to literature, exclusively on Piagetian theory. As a result, it was observed that excessive use of these devices affects the development of speech, memory, and attention, disrupts sleep hormones, and affects children’s socialization-aspects that are analyzed primarily from the Sensor motor and Preoperational Stages. In conclusion, it is observed that distancing children from these devices in childhood prevents delays in language development, which evolves by observing the family environment, and consequently, there is na improvement in social and cognitive skills when there is greater emphasis on physical and intellectual activities that avoid screens.