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Explain The Stages Of Cognitive Development

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As children grow they adapt to their surrounds and process information differently than adults. Cognition is thinking and memory process and cognitive development is the long-term changes in these processes. Cognitive development was a theory established by Jean Piaget that has four different stages. These stages include: sensorimotor stages ages birth to 2, preoperational stage age 2 to 4, concrete operations age 7 to 11, and finally formal operations age 11 to 15. Piaget studied how children and youth became able to think logically and scientifically. Stage one is sensorimotor and includes birth to the age of 2. After a child is born that child is busy discovering the relationship between their bodies and their environment. The newborn relies …show more content…

After a one month to four months babies they learn new sensations and schemas and eventually learn more actions and become more focused this is secondary circulation. From 8 to 12 months the child will begin exploring the world around them and imitating behaviors. After the child turns one year old they start experiencing trial and error during the tertiary circulation reactions. The final substage is early representation thought and the children begin understanding the world through mental operations rather than just actions. Preoperational stage begins around the age of 2 and lasts till approximately 4. A big milestone is this stage is language development. Children cannot mentally manipulate information nor take the point of view of other people which is called egocentrism. When a child is able to take in another's point of view it is call theory of mind and rapidly increases during this stage. The third stage is concrete operational and spans throughout the middle childhood ages 7 to 11. This stage the child learns logical thought but still struggle with abstract ideas. Children this age are fairly good at inductive reasoning such as having itchy eyes and a runny nose around a horse may mean an allergy to horses. An

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