PIAGETS THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget introduced concepts of cognitive

development or the way children learn and think
that they have roots similar to those of both Freud
and Erickson and yet separate from each
( Wadsworth, 2003). Piaget defined four stages of
cognitive development: within each stage are finer
units of schemas. Each period is an advance over
the previous one. To progress from one period to
next, children reorganize their thinking process to
bring them closer to adult thinking.

A. The Infant*(SENSORIMOTOR STAGE)

Piaget referred to the infant stage as the

Sensorimotor Stage. Sensorimotor intelligence is
practical intelligence, because words and symbols
for thinking and problem solving are not yet
available at this early age. At the beginning of
infancy, babies relate to the world through their
senses, using only reflex behavior. The term
secondary refers to activities that are separate
from the childs body. An example of secondary
schema learning is when a baby hits a mobile,
notices that this makes it move, and so hit it again.
During this secondary schema, infants also learn
the objects in the environment- bottle, blocks, bed,
or even though they are out of sight or changed in
some way. For example: (Infants will search for a
block hidden by a blanket, knowing the block still
exist.) During the final phase of the infant year
(coordination of secondary reactions), infants begin
to demonstrate goal directed behavior. After
noticing that hitting a mobile makes it move,
infants then reach for and hit a music box nearby,
in these way actively seeking new experiences. It is
important for infants to have stimulating objects
around for exploring in this way so that
experimenting and learning can proceed.

B. The Toddler *(PREOPERATIVE PERIOD)

The Toddler period is one of transition as

children complete the final stages of the
Sensorimotor period and begin to develop some
cognitive skills of the Preoperative period, such as
symbolic thought and ego-centric thinking. And the
tertiary circular reaction schema, children use trial
and error to discover new characteristics of objects
and event. A Toddler sitting in a high chair who
keeps dropping objects over the edge of the tray is
exploring both permanents and different action of
toys. During the schema of Inventions of new
means children become able to think through
actions and mentally project the solution to a
problem. If given a box, a Toddler will investigate
how the top of the box can be removed; if given a
second box, even one that varies in shape, the child
can foresee how the top can be removed. Toddlers
following a ball that has rolled under a coffee table
no longer have to follow the balls path to retrieve
it but can project where it will have rolled and
walked around the coffee table to find it again.
During the period of Preoperational thought,
children relearn on a conceptual level some of the
lessons
they
mastered
as
infants
at
the
Sensorimotor level, before having language. Now,
children are able to use symbols to represents
objects. They may have difficulty viewing one object
as being different from another, However, on a walk
through a department store decorated with teddy
bears, for example, children are not sure whether
they are seeing a succession of bears or if the same
bear keeps reappearing as if it is following them,
asking to be taken home.

C. The
Preschooler
STAGE)

*(PREOPERATIONAL

Piaget saw preschool children as moving on to a

sub stage of preoperational thought termed
intuitive thought. During this time children tend to
look at an object and see only one of its
characteristics (referred to as centering). For
example they see that a banana is yellow not to
notice it is also long. Centering is noticeable when
children are learning about medicine (they observe
that it tastes bitter but cannot understand it is also
good for them).
Centering contributes to the preschoolers lack of
conservation (the ability to discern truth, even
though physical properties change) or reversibility
(ability to retrace steps). Egocentrism or perceiving
that ones thought and needs are better or more
important than those of others, is also strong
during this period. Preschoolers cannot believe that
not everyone knows facts they know: if ask, What
is your name? they may reply, Dont you know my
name? as a part of this, children define objects
mainly in relation to themselves, so that a spoon is
What I eat with, not just a curved metal object.

D. The
School-Age
OPERATIONAL STAGE)

Child*(CONCRETE

Piaget viewed school age as a period during

which concrete Operational Thought begins as
school-age children can discover concrete solutions
to everyday problems and recognize cause-andeffect relationships. A child who understands water
does change in amount just because it is poured
from one glass to another has grasped the concept
of conservation. Conservation of numbers is learned
as early as 7 years, conservation of quantity at age
7 or 8 years, conservation of weight at age 9 years
and conservation of volume at age 11 years.
Reasoning during school age tends to be inductive,
proceeding specific to general: school-age children
tends to reason that a toy they are holding is
broken, the toy is made of plastic, so all plastic toys
break easily.

E. The Adolescent* (FORMAL OPERATIONAL

STAGE)

Piaget saw adolescence as the time when

cognition achieves its final form, that a formal
operational thought. When this stage is reached,
adolescents are capable of thinking in terms of
possibility- what could be (abstract thought) rather than being limited to thinking about what
already is (concrete thought). This makes it
possible for adolescents to use scientific reasoning
or also understand deductive reasoning, or
reasoning that proceeds from general to specific
(plastic toys break easily, the toy they are holding
are plastics, it will break easily.

PIAGETS THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Jean Piaget introduced concepts of cognitive

development or the way children learn and think
that they have roots similar to those of both Freud
and Erickson and yet separate from each
( Wadsworth, 2003). Piaget defined four stages of
cognitive development: within each stage are finer
units of schemas. Each period is an advance over
the previous one. To progress from one period to
next, children reorganize their thinking process to
bring them closer to adult thinking.

A. The Infant*(SENSORIMOTOR STAGE)

Piaget referred to the infant stage as the

Sensorimotor Stage. Sensorimotor intelligence is
practical intelligence, because words and symbols

for thinking and problem solving are not yet

available at this early age. At the beginning of
infancy, babies relate to the world through their
senses, using only reflex behavior. The term
secondary refers to activities that are separate
from the childs body. An example of secondary
schema learning is when a baby hits a mobile,
notices that this makes it move, and so hit it again.
During this secondary schema, infants also learn
the objects in the environment- bottle, blocks, bed,
or even though they are out of sight or changed in
some way. For example: (Infants will search for a
block hidden by a blanket, knowing the block still
exist.) During the final phase of the infant year
(coordination of secondary reactions), infants begin
to demonstrate goal directed behavior. After
noticing that hitting a mobile makes it move,
infants then reach for and hit a music box nearby,
in these way actively seeking new experiences. It is
important for infants to have stimulating objects
around for exploring in this way so that
experimenting and learning can proceed.

B. The Toddler *(PREOPERATIVE PERIOD)

The Toddler period is one of transition as

children complete the final stages of the
Sensorimotor period and begin to develop some
cognitive skills of the Preoperative period, such as
symbolic thought and ego-centric thinking. And the
tertiary circular reaction schema, children use trial
and error to discover new characteristics of objects
and event. A Toddler sitting in a high chair who
keeps dropping objects over the edge of the tray is
exploring both permanents and different action of
toys. During the schema of Inventions of new
means children become able to think through
actions and mentally project the solution to a
problem. If given a box, a Toddler will investigate
how the top of the box can be removed; if given a
second box, even one that varies in shape, the child
can foresee how the top can be removed. Toddlers
following a ball that has rolled under a coffee table
no longer have to follow the balls path to retrieve
it but can project where it will have rolled and
walked around the coffee table to find it again.
During the period of Preoperational thought,
children relearn on a conceptual level some of the
lessons
they
mastered
as
infants
at
the
Sensorimotor level, before having language. Now,
children are able to use symbols to represents
objects. They may have difficulty viewing one object
as being different from another, However, on a walk
through a department store decorated with teddy
bears, for example, children are not sure whether
they are seeing a succession of bears or if the same
bear keeps reappearing as if it is following them,
asking to be taken home.

C. The
Preschooler
STAGE)

*(PREOPERATIONAL

Piaget saw preschool children as moving on to a

sub stage of preoperational thought termed
intuitive thought. During this time children tend to
look at an object and see only one of its
characteristics (referred to as centering). For
example they see that a banana is yellow not to
notice it is also long. Centering is noticeable when
children are learning about medicine (they observe
that it tastes bitter but cannot understand it is also
good for them).
Centering contributes to the preschoolers lack of
conservation (the ability to discern truth, even
though physical properties change) or reversibility
(ability to retrace steps). Egocentrism or perceiving
that ones thought and needs are better or more
important than those of others, is also strong
during this period. Preschoolers cannot believe that
not everyone knows facts they know: if ask, What
is your name? they may reply, Dont you know my
name? as a part of this, children define objects
mainly in relation to themselves, so that a spoon is
What I eat with, not just a curved metal object.

D. The
School-Age
OPERATIONAL STAGE)

Child*(CONCRETE

Piaget viewed school age as a period during

which concrete Operational Thought begins as
school-age children can discover concrete solutions
to everyday problems and recognize cause-andeffect relationships. A child who understands water
does change in amount just because it is poured
from one glass to another has grasped the concept
of conservation. Conservation of numbers is learned
as early as 7 years, conservation of quantity at age
7 or 8 years, conservation of weight at age 9 years
and conservation of volume at age 11 years.
Reasoning during school age tends to be inductive,
proceeding specific to general: school-age children
tends to reason that a toy they are holding is
broken, the toy is made of plastic, so all plastic toys
break easily.

E. The Adolescent* (FORMAL OPERATIONAL

STAGE)

Piaget saw adolescence as the time when

cognition achieves its final form, that a formal
operational thought. When this stage is reached,
adolescents are capable of thinking in terms of
possibility- what could be (abstract thought) rather than being limited to thinking about what
already is (concrete thought). This makes it
possible for adolescents to use scientific reasoning
or also understand deductive reasoning, or
reasoning that proceeds from general to specific
(plastic toys break easily, the toy they are holding
are plastics, it will break easily.