Piaget’s Theory And

Stages Of Cognitive
Development
PIAGET BELIEVED THAT CHILDREN TAKE AN AC TIVE ROLE IN THE
LEARNING PROCESS, AC TING MUCH LIKE LIT TLE SCIENTISTS AS THEY
PERFORM EXPERIMENTS, MAKE OBSERVATIONS, AND LEARN ABOUT THE
WORLD.
JEAN PIAGET
Jean Piaget (1896–1980) was a psychological
constructivist. He believed children take an active role in
the learning process. Piaget observed children
continuously constructing knowledge and mental
models (schemas) of understanding based on their
experiences.
Piaget introduced the theory that children learn and
develop through experimenting and interacting with the
world around them. His theories of cognitive
development reinforce the idea that children learn
through play.
This cognitive growth occurs through three inter-related processes:
organization, adaptation, and equilibration.
Organization is the tendency to create categories, such as birds, by
observing the characteristics that individual members of a category.
SCHEMES - Piaget’s term for organized patterns of thought and
behavior used in particular situations. A a mental model of connected
ideas.
Adaptation is Piaget’s term for how children handle new information in light of
what they already know. Adaptation occurs through two complementary processes:
ASSIMILATION - Attempting to interpret new information within the framework of
existing knowledge.
ACCOMMODATION - Making small changes to that knowledge in order to cope
with things that don't fit those existing frameworks.
EQUILIBRATION - Eventually adjusting existing schemas or forming new ones in
order to adjust to a new understanding
 PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
• Piaget's theory of cognitive development proposes 4 stages of development.
• Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
• Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
• Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
• Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up

•Piaget suggested these stages occur in this order and children will not skip a stage
but progressively move through each one. He observed visible changes in children as
they pass through each stage. The Piagetian stages are like a staircase. Each stage
builds on the stage before it.
THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE:
Birth to 2 years
Piaget chose to call this stage the 'sensorimotor' stage because it is through the senses
and motor abilities that infants gain a basic understanding of the world around them.
The abilities that an infant is born with—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—
combined with physical capabilities that continue to develop—including touching,
grasping, and tasting—allow infants to interact and build awareness of themselves and
what is around them.
Stages of the
Sensorimotor
Stage
THE SENSORIMOTOR STAGE CAN BE DIVIDED INTO SIX SEPARATE SUB-
STAGES THAT ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW
SKILL:
REFLEXES (0-1 MONTH)
During this substage, the child understands the environment purely through
inborn reflexes such as sucking and looking.
A prominent example is the rooting reflex: when a baby’s cheek or mouth is
gently touched, the infant will reflexively turn their head toward the source and
begin to suck. This reflex aids in breastfeeding and showcases the neonate’s
innate response mechanisms during this early stage of development.
PRIMARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS
(1-4 MONTHS)
This substage involves coordinating sensation and new schemas. The term “circular” denotes
the repeated nature of an action that a baby finds pleasurable or interesting.
For example, a child may suck his or her thumb by accident and then later intentionally repeat
the action. These actions are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable.
The actions in primary circular reactions are centered on the baby’s own body, rather than the
external environment.
SECONDARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS
(4-8 MONTHS)
During this substage, the child
becomes more focused on the world
and begins to intentionally repeat an
action in order to trigger a response in
the environment. For example, a child
will purposefully pick up a toy in order
to put it in his or her mouth.
This phase represents the child’s
growing awareness and interaction
with the environment, as they begin to
understand cause-and-effect
relationships with objects around
them.
COORDINATING SECONDARY
SCHEMES
In this stage, infants begin to combine and coordinate separate actions into more complex
sequences, marking the start of intentional and goal-directed behavior.
The understanding of objects also begins during this time and children begin to recognize
certain objects as having specific qualities. For example, a child might realize that a rattle will
make a sound when shaken.
TERTIARY CIRCULAR REACTIONS (12-
18 MONTHS)
Children begin a period of trial-and-error experimentation during the fifth
substage. For example, a child may try out different sounds or actions as a way
of getting attention from a caregiver.
EARLY REPRESENTATIONAL THOUGHT (18-
24 MONTHS)
Children begin to develop symbols to represent events or objects in the world
in the final sensorimotor substage. During this time, children begin to move
towards understanding the world through mental operations rather than purely
through actions.
 OBJECT PERMANENCE
According to Piaget, developing object
permanence is one of the most important
accomplishments at the sensorimotor stage of
development.
Object permanence is a child's understanding
that objects continue to exist even though they
cannot be seen or heard.
 Imagine a game of peek-a-boo, for example. A
very young infant will believe that the other person
or object has actually vanished and will act shocked
or startled when the object reappears
 THE PREOPERATIONAL
STAGE OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
IN THIS STAGE, PIAGET NOTICED CHILDREN CONTINUE TO BUILD ON THEIR
CONCEPTS OF HOW AN OBJECT IS REPRESENTED. THEY BEGIN TO THINK
SYMBOLICALLY AND CAN USE SYMBOLIC WORDS AND PICTURES TO
REPRESENT OBJECTS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGE BEGAN IN THE
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE, BUT THE GROWTH OF LANGUAGE IS ONE OF THE
MA JOR MILESTONES OF THE PREOPERATIONAL STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT.
Piaget’s preoperational stage is the second stage of his theory of cognitive development. It begins
around age two and lasts until approximately age seven. During this stage, children can think
symbolically and engage in make-believe play. However, their thinking is still egocentric and lacks logic.
The child’s development consists of building experiences about the world through adaptation and
working towards the (concrete) stage when it can use logical thought.
During the end of this stage, children can mentally represent events and objects (the semiotic
function), and engage in symbolic play.
During the preoperational stage, children also become increasingly adept at using symbols, as
evidenced by the increase in playing and pretending. For example, a child is able to use an object to
represent something else, such as pretending a broom is a horse.
CENTRATION and DECENTER
CENTRATION - the tendency to focus
on only one aspect of a situation at one
time. It is the tendency to focus on one
aspect of a situation and neglect others.
When a child can focus on more than one
aspect of a situation, at the same time,
they have the ability to decenter.
DECENTER - In Piaget’s terminology,
to think simultaneously about several
aspects of a situation.
EGOCENTRISM
Egocentrism is a form of
centration. According to Piaget,
young children center so much on
their own point of view that they
cannot take in another’s.
Egocentrism-Piaget’s term for
inability to consider another person’s
point of view; A characteristic of
young children’s thought.
THE THREE MOUNTAINS TASK
Jean Piaget used the three mountains task to test whether children
were egocentric. Egocentric children assume that other people will
see the same view of the three mountains as they do.
CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION - Piaget’s term for awareness that two objects that are equal
according to a certain measure remain equal in the face of perceptual alteration
so long as nothing has been added to or taken away from either object.
Piaget found that children do not fully grasp this principle until the stage of
concrete operations and that they develop different kinds of conservation (e.g.,
liquids, solids) at different ages.
Their responses are influenced by two immature aspects of thought:
centration and irreversibility.
IRREVERSIBILITY
Piaget’s term for a preoperational child’s failure to understand that
an operation can go in two or more directions.
ANIMISM
This is the belief that inanimate objects (such as toys and teddy bears) have human feelings
and intentions. By animism Piaget (1929) meant that for the pre-operational child the world of
nature is alive, conscious and has a purpose.
 THE SYMBOLIC FUNCTION
SYMBOLIC FUNCTION - Children who have
attained symbolic function can use symbols, or mental
representations, such as words, numbers, or images to
which a person has attached meaning.
Language is perhaps the most obvious form of
symbolism that young children display.
Example: “I want ice cream!” announces Amalia, age
4, trudging indoors from the hot, dusty backyard. She
has not seen or smelled or tasted anything that
triggered this desire—no open freezer door, no
television commercial, no bowl of sweet ice cream
temptingly sitting on the counter waiting to be eaten.
Rather, she has called up the concept from her
memories.
 PRETEND (OR SYMBOLIC) PLAY
Toddlers often pretend to be people they are
not (e.g. superheroes, policeman), and may play
these roles with props that symbolize real life
objects. Children may also invent an imaginary
playmate.
As the pre-operational stage develops
egocentrism declines and children begin to enjoy
the participation of another child in their games
and “lets pretend “ play becomes more
important.
THE CONCRETE
OPERATIONAL
STAGE
THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE IS THE THIRD STAGE IN PIAGET'S THEORY
OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. THIS PERIOD SPANS THE TIME OF MIDDLE
CHILDHOOD—IT BEGINS AROUND AGE 7 AND CONTINUES UNTIL APPROXIMATELY
AG E 1 1 —AND I S C HARACTERIZED BY T HE D EVELOPMENT O F LO GICAL T HOUGHT.
By the beginning of the concrete operational stage, the child can use
operations (a set of logical rules) so they can conserve quantities, realize
that people see the world in a different way (decentring), and
demonstrate improvement in inclusion tasks. Children still have
difficulties with abstract thinking.
Piaget considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the
child’s cognitive development because it marks the beginning of logical
or operational thought. This means the child can work things out
internally in their head (rather than physically try things out in the real
world).
CONSERVATION IS THE UNDERSTANDING THAT SOMETHING STAYS
THE SAME IN QUANTITY EVEN THOUGH ITS APPEARANCE CHANGES.
THE FORMAL
OPERATIONAL STAGE
THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE IS THE FOURTH AND FINAL STAGE
OF JEAN PIAGET'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT. IT BEGINS
AT APPROXIMATELY AGE 12 AND LASTS INTO ADULTHOOD.
In the formal operational stage, children's thinking becomes much more
sophisticated and advanced. Kids can think about abstract and theoretical concepts
and use logic to come up with creative solutions to problems.
Skills such as logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning also
emerge during this stage.
ABSTRACTION
In another experiment on formal operational thought, Piaget asked children to imagine where
they would want to place a third eye if they had one.
Younger children said that they would put the imagined third eye in the middle of their
forehead. Older children, however, were able to come up with a variety of creative ideas about
where to place this hypothetical eye and various ways the eye could be used.
CREATIVE IDEAS REPRESENT THE USE OF ABSTRACT AND HYPOTHETICAL THINKING, BOTH
IMPORTANT INDICATORS OF FORMAL OPERATIONAL THOUGHT.
 FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE SKILLS
Important skills that emerge during the formal operational stage include the
following:
Deductive Logic
Deductive logic requires the ability to use a general principle to determine a particular outcome.
Abstract Thought
Instead of relying solely on previous experiences, children begin to consider possible outcomes and
consequences of actions. This type of thinking is important in long-term planning.
Problem-Solving
◦ Children at the formal operational stage of cognitive development are often able to plan quickly an organized
approach to solving a problem.
Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning
◦ Piaget believed that what he referred to as "hypothetical-deductive reasoning" was essential at this stage of
intellectual development. At this point, teens become capable of thinking about abstract and hypothetical ideas.
They often ponder "what-if" type situations and questions and can think about multiple solutions or possible
outcomes.