Outline the stages of cognitive development as set forth by Jean Piaget

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Piaget was a cognitive theorist and was interested in how people obtain, process, and use information—that is, in how we think. Cognitive development relates to changes over time in how we think.

According to Piaget, in each stage of human development (from birth through adolescence), children's activities are governed by their perception of the world around them. His four stages of cognitive development are organized around specific tasks that, when mastered, lead to the acquisition of new mental capacities, which then serve as the basis for the next level of development. (1) Sensorimotor stage (birth to age two): Children understand the world only through sensory contact and immediate action; they cannot engage in symbolic thought or use language. (2) Preoperational stage (age two to seven): Children begin to use words as mental symbols and to form mental images. They have limited ability to use logic to solve problems or to realize that physical objects may change in shape or appearance while still retaining their physical properties. (3) Concrete operational stage (age seven to eleven): Children think in terms of tangible objects and actual events. They can draw conclusions about the likely physical consequences of

an action without always having to try the action out. Children begin to take the role of others and start to empathize with the viewpoints of others. (4) Formal operational stage (age twelve through adolescence): Adolescents are able to engage in highly abstract thought and understand places, things, and events they have never seen. They can think about the future and evaluate different options or courses of action.