Jean Piaget - Swiss physiologist whose theory of cognitive development suggests that children
move through four different stages of mental developments. His theory focuses on there nature
of intelligence as well as how children acquire knowledge
Sensorimotor Stage
• from birth to 2 yrs old
• Infants know their world through their movements
• Learn through basic actions like sucking and grasping etc.
• Will learn object permanence (things continue to exists even when they cannot be seen)
• Learn that they are separate beings from the people and objects around them
• Realise their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them
Preoperational stage
• from 2 to 7 yrs old
• Children begin too think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent
objects
• Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others
• Although they are learning more and more about language and thinking, they still tend
to think in very concrete terms (very literal ; black & white), even though they can be
very skilled at pretend play.
• The birth of permeative knowledge
• Lots of questions
Concrete Operational Stage
• from 7 to 11 yrs. old.
• Begin to think logically about concrete events
• Begin to understand more and more about the concept of of conversations
• Thinking becomes more logical and organised, but still very concrete and literal
• Become more aware of how other might view a situation
• Develop logic and deductive knowledge
• Brain learns to rearrange thoughts
Formal Operational Stage
• age 12+
• Begin to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
• Abstract thoughts emerge e.g. love and hate
• Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues
that need theoretical and abstract reasoning
• Begin to use deceptive reasoning
• Understand why people act in different ways
move through four different stages of mental developments. His theory focuses on there nature
of intelligence as well as how children acquire knowledge
Sensorimotor Stage
• from birth to 2 yrs old
• Infants know their world through their movements
• Learn through basic actions like sucking and grasping etc.
• Will learn object permanence (things continue to exists even when they cannot be seen)
• Learn that they are separate beings from the people and objects around them
• Realise their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them
Preoperational stage
• from 2 to 7 yrs old
• Children begin too think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent
objects
• Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the perspective of others
• Although they are learning more and more about language and thinking, they still tend
to think in very concrete terms (very literal ; black & white), even though they can be
very skilled at pretend play.
• The birth of permeative knowledge
• Lots of questions
Concrete Operational Stage
• from 7 to 11 yrs. old.
• Begin to think logically about concrete events
• Begin to understand more and more about the concept of of conversations
• Thinking becomes more logical and organised, but still very concrete and literal
• Become more aware of how other might view a situation
• Develop logic and deductive knowledge
• Brain learns to rearrange thoughts
Formal Operational Stage
• age 12+
• Begin to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
• Abstract thoughts emerge e.g. love and hate
• Teens begin to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social and political issues
that need theoretical and abstract reasoning
• Begin to use deceptive reasoning
• Understand why people act in different ways
