Jean Piaget 's Theory Of Cognitive Development

Sub-stage 5-twelve to eighteen months, this stage is characterized by a child’s ability to conceptualize the idea that an object that cannot be seen still exists. The sixth and final sub-stage of the Sensorimotor Period is eighteen to twenty-four months, this stage is characterized by a child’s ability to understand through reasoning and express themselves creatively (Lefmann & Combs-Orme, 2013). Stage 2-Pre-operational Thought (i.e., 2 - 7 years old); the Pre-operational Thought period is defined by a child's ability to create their own form of communication. Sub-stages of the Pre-operational Thought are characterized by a child’s ability to identify characteristics of photographs and their use of an intuitive thought process (Powell & Kalina, 2009). Concrete Operations (i.e., 7 – 12 years old); the Concrete Operational period is defined by a child's ability to reason logically. Formal Operations (i.e., 12 years old - Adulthood); the Formal Operational period is defined by a child's ability to use critical thinking and analytical reasoning to approach new challenges. Children initially enter into action-based (sensorimotor) and progress into a mental (operational) level as they grow older (Powell & Kalina, 2009). A comparison of the theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson is important to gain a holistic point of view of a child’s developmental progress.

Jean Piaget, was a trained biologist who was employed at the Binet Institute, where his main job was to develop a French version of an intelligence test. Piaget was very interested in the reason why children would give wrong answers to questions which called for some type of logical thinking. It was believed by Piaget that these wrong answers showed some very drastic differences between the way children and adults both thought ( McLeod, 2015), this is where his theory of Cognitive Development came in, Piaget’s work is described as being the origins of thinking or genetic epistemology (McLeod, 2015), Genetics is where one studies the origins of something. Epistemology discusses the categories of thinking, basically, it shows the properties of structural intelligence. Piaget’s Cognitive Development theory branched off into three different branches, the first one being Schema, the Adaption Process that allow transitions from one stage to another, and finally the four Stages of Development

Throughout history, many brilliant minds have made impactful contributions in Psychology which have shaped our understandings of the human mind and our behaviors. Jean Piaget was by no means an exception. Piaget was a clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. He was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. Over the course of his later career in child psychology, he identified four stages of mental development that took into account young people 's development from basic object identification to highly abstract thought. This paper will focus on Piaget’s life history and personality, as well as his theory on the cognitive developmental stages, its purpose, and its applications during his lifetime and now.

Piaget, Erikson, Skinner and Vygotsky all have similarities and differences within their approaches in regards to cognitive development. Firstly, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes the changes in logical thinking of children and adolescents. Piaget suggested that children proceed through four stages that are based on maturation and experience. Piaget managed numerous intelligence tests to children and this led to him becoming interested in the types of faults children of different ages were most probable to make. Piaget hypothesized that cognitive development proceeds in four genetically determined stages that always follow the same sequential order (Developmental and Learning Theories, 2011). The four stages in Piaget theory are the Sensorimotor stage (infancy), the Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood), the Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence), and the Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). Furthermore, Piaget’s theory is guided by assumptions of how learners interact with their environment and how they integrate new knowledge and information on existing knowledge. In brief, Piaget proposed that children are active learners who build knowledge from their environments and they learn through assimilation and accommodation, and complex cognitive development occurs through equilibration (Developmental and Learning Theories, 2011). Piaget also believed that the interaction with physical and social

Preoperational stage. Next is the stage referred to as the preoperational stage. Piaget estimated that this stage occurred from two to seven years of age. During this stage children will begin to use language and images to describe objects. Preoperational children are still too young to complete mental operations such as imagining and reversing an action (cite our book 173). At this age children will continue to learn by exploring through playing. Pretend play will help them to practice mental

Throughout ones life, their brain and way of thinking is constantly changing. Jean Piaget is a developmental scientist who studies how a persons thinking may change over time (Calvillo, 2014). There are four stages of stages of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development which include sensorimotor, pre operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. The first stage is sensorimotor which occurs from birth too two years of age. During this stage, the brain realizes there are certain consequences for their actions such as hearing a sound when squeezing a rubber duck. Also they began to to suck on things due to their development of motor skills. Another big part of this stage is object permanence which is when babies start to understand things exist even when they cannot see them. The second stage of cognitive development is pre operational which occurs from the years of two to seven. In this stage, children began to use their language with a purpose star to use their words with a purpose because they can distinguish the names by shapes or colors. Though they can do this, they can still not thing logically or put themselves in someone else's shoes.

First and foremost, children at these stages of development are unable to comprehend abstract reasoning; they are primarily concerned with their direct environment, that is, what is presented before them. Having surpassed the sensorimotor stage, they have achieved object permanence and the ability to create mental representations, and they have a better grasp on how to interact with the world around them. These stages primarily differ in the understanding of a multidimensional environment; children in the concrete operational stage understand this, whereas children in the preoperational stage do not, instead focusing on one aspect of a situation at a

In the concrete operational stage between the ages of seven and twelve, children become capable of logical thought, they also start to be able to think abstractly. However they are best suited to visible or concrete objects and things they can see (Lee and Gupta). Once the child has reached the formal operations stage from twelve years onwards it becomes more practiced at abstract processing, carrying out problem solving systematically and methodically thus completing the cognitive development process.

Jean Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Development represents children as explorers of the environment, trying to make sense of their world, and in doing this, they discover new things and adapt to this world they live in. There are three basic components to Piaget’s theory; adaptation, schemas, and stages of cognitive development. Adaptation refers to adjusting to the demands of the environment, through such things as coping with challenges, problem solving and improving their way of thinking. Assimilation (incorporating some outside event into one’s way of thinking), accommodation (changing or modifying an existing schema to make sense of new or different information) and disequilibrium (state of cognitive conflict occurring when one’s experience is contradicted by their way of thinking) are the processes that enable adaptation to occur. Schemas are the basic building blocks for thinking and organising information. According to Piaget, there are three types of schemas; behavioural (mental representations of physical actions), symbolic (language-based representations of objects and events) and operational (mental action or manipulation used to solve a problem or for logic reasoning). Piaget proposed that all children experience growth in cognitive development in a four-stage sequence; sensorimotor (infancy or 0-2 years), preoperational (preschool/early primary school or 2-7 years), concrete operational

Adolescence is a time of several changes. During adolescence people learn to become more autonomous. They become less reliant on their parents and more on themselves. One way they become more autonomous is cognitively. Many psychologists who study moral development use Piaget’s theory on cognitive development. These studies emphasize the change in reasoning that is used in making moral decisions. Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg did a lot of research on the development of moral reasoning and expanded Piaget’s theory (Steinberg, 2008). He believed that moral development occurs in three levels and within those levels there are two distinct stages.

Jean Piaget is considered to be very influential in the field of developmental psychology. Piaget had many influences in his life which ultimately led him to create the Theory of Cognitive Development. His theory has multiple stages and components. The research done in the early 1900’s is still used today in many schools and homes. People from various cultures use his theory when it comes to child development. Although there are criticisms and alternatives to his theory, it is still largely used today around the world.

The preoperational stage begins at around two years old and ends around seven years old. During this stage, children can think symbolically. They have the ability to see relationships between words, numbers, signs, and

The pre-operational stage is the early childhood development ages between 2 to 7 years old. Children in this stage are very focused on learning their symbolic thought, especially concepts and language. They assume the very stereotypical act of a child, believing in fantastical characters like the Easter bunny and his ilk and believing that the act of locomotion means that something has life. They can imagine to a basic extent and are capable of using items as symbols for other items. Piaget claimed that children in this stage experience “egocentrism, which refers to inability to see the world through anyone else’s eyes” (Ciccarelli, 2012). Children are self-centered and they think that world entirely from their own personal perspective. They also focus mostly on appearances when concerning logic and they basically understand only the things

Jean Piaget was a psychologist who studied the cognitive development of children and explains his theory into four different stages reflecting their thought process. The sensorimotor is the first stage of cognitive development and the age group begins at birth and goes to the age of two. The second stage of cognitive development is known as the preoperational stage which is the age group two to seven years old. This stage is divided into two different stages, preconceptual stage and intuitive thought stage. The preconceptual stage is from two to four years of age and the intuitive is from four to seven years of age. Children begin to engage in symbolic play throughout this age group. Symbolic play is when a child/children play with an object such as a box that is empty and pretend that it is a fort. They use their imagination by creating an image that is not really there. Children love to role play by pretending to be a doctor, coach, or even pretend to be their parents. Children at this age are egocentric meaning that they only see something from their perspective. The intuitive stage is when a child adds logic to thinking. A distinctive characteristic for this stage is centering which is when a child focuses on a single characteristic of an object. An example is when a child has two glasses in front of him/her with one being wide and the other being tall. Both glasses have

Jean Piaget, a cognitivist, believed children progressed through a series of four key stages of cognitive development. These four major stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational, are marked by shifts in how people understand the world. Although the stages correspond with an approximate age, Piaget’s stages are flexible in that if the child is ready they can reach a stage. Jean Piaget developed the Piagetian cognitive development theory. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development proposes that a child’s intellect, or cognitive ability, progresses through four distinct stages. The emergence of new abilities and ways of processing information characterize each stage. Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.