FRANKENSTEIN
Piaget’s Theory of
Cognitive Development
JEAN PIAGET


(1896-1980)
Swiss Development
Psychologist
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Concerned with the growth of intelligence

Ability to understand the world and perform logical
operations based on societal standards


Based on perceptions of the world acquired during
developmental stages
Abilities developed through self-motivated action
in the world
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Four Stages
Sensorimotor period
 Preoperational period
 Concrete operational period
 Formal operational period
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
These stages apply to the development of thought
process and the age ranges are approximate
SENSORIMOTOR STAGE
Birth to 2 years of age
SENSORIMOTOR


Born with instinctual reflexes for survival and a
drive to explore
Six sub-stages
SENSORIMOTOR
Sub-stage
Age Range
Developing Skills
Reflexive Stage
Birth – 1 month
Development of reflexes
Primary Circular Brest
Stage
1 – 4 months
Development of habits
Secondary Circular
Reactions Stage
4 – 8 months
Development of
coordination between
vision and physicality
Co-ordination of
secondary Reactions
Stage
8 – 12 months
Understanding of object
permanence
Tertiary Circular
Reactions Stage
12 – 18 months
Understanding through
active experimentation
and creativity
Beginnings of Symbolic
Representation
18 – 24 months
Understanding on how
to reach a goal without
“trial-and-error” process
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
2 – 7 Years of age
PREOPERATIONAL

Procedure for mentally acting on objects
Sparse and logically inadequate mental operations
 Use intuitive rather than logical reasoning


Children learn to use and to represent objects by
images and words


Learn through imitation and play
Thinking is egocentric
Difficulty taking viewpoints of others
 Literally cannot “see” the other point of view


Two parts to this stage
PREOPERATIONAL
Sub Stage
Age Range
Developing Skills
Preconceptual Stage
2 – 4 years old
Marked by
egocentric thinking
and animistic
thought
Intuitive Stage
4 – 7 years old
Start to employ
mental activities to
solve problems and
obtain goals, but are
unaware of how they
come to their
conclusions
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE
7 – 11 years of Age
CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE

Characterize by the appropriate use of logic
Dealing with concrete (actual) events and objects
 Cannot solve problems related to the abstract or
hypothetical tasks

CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE

Important learning processes at this time:
Process
Characteristics
Seriation
Ability to sort objects based on similar
characteristics
Classification
Ability to name and identify objects based on
characteristics, including that one set of objects
can include another
Decentering
Ability to take into account multiple aspects of a
problem to solve it
Reversibility
Ability to understand that objects can be
changed, and then returned to their original
state
Conservation
Understanding the quantity, length or number of
items is unrelated to arrange or appearance of
the object
Elimination of
Egocentrism
Ability to view things from another’s perspective
FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE
11 Years of age and up
FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE

Characterized by:
Ability to think abstractly
 Ability to reason logically
 Ability to draw conclusions from information


This allows for young adults to understand
things such as love “shades of gray,” logical
proofs and values/morals
GENERAL INFORMATION
REGARDING THE STAGES
ALL FOUR STAGES:



Apply to thought process rather than physically
development of children
Timing may vary (ages are approximate) but the
order does not
These are universal and not specific to any one
culture