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Jean Piaget Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development: (1) sensorimotor stage from birth to age 2 where infants learn through senses and actions; (2) preoperational stage from ages 2 to 7 where children are egocentric and unable to see perspectives other than their own; (3) concrete operational stage from ages 7 to 11 where children can think logically about concrete events; and (4) formal operational stage from age 12 on where abstract reasoning ability emerges. Piaget's theory focuses on how children construct an understanding of the world through processes of assimilating new experiences into existing mental structures and accommodating those structures based on new information.

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78 views21 pages

Jean Piaget Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development: (1) sensorimotor stage from birth to age 2 where infants learn through senses and actions; (2) preoperational stage from ages 2 to 7 where children are egocentric and unable to see perspectives other than their own; (3) concrete operational stage from ages 7 to 11 where children can think logically about concrete events; and (4) formal operational stage from age 12 on where abstract reasoning ability emerges. Piaget's theory focuses on how children construct an understanding of the world through processes of assimilating new experiences into existing mental structures and accommodating those structures based on new information.

Uploaded by

Virginie Prn
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Jean Piaget stages of cognitive development

Aim: to explain Jean Piaget stages of cognitive development and


how his findings can be applied in clinical areas.
Learning outcomes: (i) The learners will understand Piaget’s
stages of cognitive development and relate his findings to their
nursing practice.
(ii) Learners working in paediatrics unit will have a better
understanding of children’s behaviour.
(iii) Learners will have an understanding of individuals reason and
think.
Jean Piaget : Stages of Cognitive Development.

Piaget’s work focuses on the intellectual development of the


individual and his/her adaptation to the environment
( Piaget and Inhelder, 1969 cited in Quinn p.63).

Piaget sees the child as an organism adapting to its environment,


as well as a scientist constructing its own understanding of the
world.
Research into the area of bio- and neuropsychology
understanding is developing. Cognitive psychologists – the brain
is an information processing unit like a computer. Brain – hard
drive, mind – software.

Key influential areas in the development of the cognitive


perspective are ( Anderson 2000).
▪ Information theory
▪ Artificial intelligence
▪ Linguistics
▪ Neuroscience.
Cognitive Psychology

The cognitive perspective can be seen as an extension of the


behaviorist perspective in that there is an acceptance that behaviour
is learnt and that in any situation there is a stimulus and a respond.
The cognitive psychologists seek to understand what happens
between stimulus and response because they recognize that there is
not always a predictable automatic response to any given stimulus.
Schemas

The internal organization of an individual consists of schemas,


which ways of giving meaning to, and dealing with, aspects of the
environment that are encountered.

Assimilation - the process by which a person takes material into


their mind from the environment, which may mean changing the
evidence of their senses to make it fit. Dealing with the
environment by making it fit with one’s own existing mental
structures, Piaget refers to as assimilation.
If the sucking reflex is taken as an example, then modification
would include the adjustments made by the baby when he is
fitting his mouth to the shape and size of the nipple or teat.
Piaget refers to such adjustment as accommodation.

Accommodation - the difference made to one’s mind or


concepts by the process of assimilation. Note that assimilation
and accommodation go together : you can’t have one without
the other.
A Schema

A schema for giving an injection would have fixed components:

• Needle

• Syringe

• Person to give injection to, etc.

• But it could also have flexible components :

• What medication is being injected ?

• Which part of the person the injection is being given into ?

• Environment in which injection is being given, etc.


The child’s knowledge of the world is modified and extended by
the processes of assimilation and accommodation and these
processes are in balance with one another; Piaget calls this
balancing process equilibration – a dynamic process that
prepares the child for new learning.

Piagetian theory – motivation is intrinsic and arises from the


application of schemas to the environment.
Stages of cognitive development

Cognitive development is seen by Piaget as consisting of four


stages.

1. Sensorimotor stage ( birth - 2 years )

2. Pre-operational stage ( 2-7 years)

3. Concrete operational stage ( 7 – 11 years)

4. Formal operational stage ( 12 years and up ).


Sensorimotor stage ( birth – 2 years )

At birth - infant is equipped only with basic reflexes and these


serve as the first schemas – thinking = with doing.

Object permanence – demonstrates that a mental representation of


the object must be present.

It indicates the beginnings of a move away from the egocentric


focus of early infancy.
Pre-operational stage ( 2-7 years)
This stage is called pre-operational because the child is unable to
use mental rules or operations for transforming information.

The child is still egocentric – focusing on general aspects instead of


on the individual aspects of a situation.
Child’s lack of conservation
Child ‘s lack reversibility – that is the ability to understand that if
an operation is reversed it reverts back to its original state.
Concrete operation stage ( 7-11 years)

In this stage, the child develops conservation, and the ability to


undertake mental operations. However, these operations are
limited to the here-and-now; in other words, the child cannot
reason hypothetically.
Formal operational stage ( 12 years and up)

This final stage is characterized by the ability of the child to


reason hypothetically.

At each of these stages children think in quite different ways.


They move from one stage to another through a maturational
process.
Schema theory is a cognitive theory of how people might store
information – memory.

It is suggested that new information is attached or becomes part


of existing memory. A schema is a collection of information on a
certain topic/area/thing. It has a fixed component but also has a
flexible component.

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