What aspect of cognitive development does Piaget's theory emphasize?

Piaget's theory of cognitive development emphasizes the importance of environmental interaction as children learn and develop cognitive abilities. According to Piaget, cognitive growth occurs through a process of adaptation, which includes assimilation and accommodation. This means that children actively engage with their surroundings, explore, and manipulate objects, which helps them construct knowledge of the world.

For Piaget, cognitive development is not something that is simply pre-wired or entirely reliant on social interactions; rather, it is through the active exploration and interaction with their environment that children develop their understanding of various concepts. This engagement with the world around them enables them to build mental models and progressively move through distinct stages of cognitive development, such as the sensorimotor stage and the concrete operational stage.

The other aspects like innate knowledge, social learning, and memory retention play roles in cognitive processes but do not capture the central theme of Piaget's emphasis on how children construct understanding through interactions with their environment.