piagets stages of intellectual development

Question 1

What are Piaget’s four stages of intellectual development?

Answer 1

1. Sensorimotor stage (0–2 years) – Focus on sensory exploration and object permanence.
2. Pre-operational stage (2–7 years) – Egocentrism, lack of conservation, and difficulty with class inclusion.
3. Concrete operational stage (7–11 years) – Logical thinking develops, conservation is understood.
4. Formal operational stage (11+ years) – Abstract reasoning and hypothesis testing.

Question 2

What happens in the sensorimotor stage?

Answer 2

Babies develop basic physical coordination and trial-and-error learning. By around 8 months, they develop object permanence (understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight).

Question 3

What are the key features of the pre-operational stage?

Answer 3

• Egocentrism – Difficulty seeing the world from others’ perspectives.
• Lack of conservation – Struggle to understand that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance.
• Class inclusion – Difficulty recognizing that subcategories belong to a larger category.

Question 4

What develops in the concrete operational stage?

Answer 4

• Logical reasoning improves.
• Conservation is understood (e.g., water in different shaped glasses remains the same amount).
• Class inclusion skills develop (understanding hierarchical categories).
• Thinking is still concrete, relying on direct experiences rather than abstract reasoning.

Question 5

What characterizes the formal operational stage?

Answer 5

• Abstract thinking – Ability to solve hypothetical problems.
• Scientific reasoning – Thinking about possible future events and testing hypotheses systematically.
• Problem-solving skills develop fully.

Question 6

What is a criticism of Piaget’s conservation tasks?

Answer 6

P: Piaget’s tasks may have been flawed because children misunderstood the experimenter’s intent.

E: McGarrigle & Donaldson (1974) used a “naughty teddy” knocking counters together and found younger children could conserve when the change appeared accidental.

E: This suggests Piaget underestimated children’s abilities.

L: Piaget’s methodology may have led to incorrect conclusions about the age at which conservation develops.

Question 7

What research challenges Piaget’s view on class inclusion?

Answer 7

P: Piaget claimed children under 7 struggle with class inclusion.

E: Siegler & Svetina (2006) found that when given proper explanation, 5-year-olds could understand that some animals belong to two categories at once (e.g., dogs and animals).

E: This contradicts Piaget’s view that young children cannot grasp class inclusion.

L: Piaget may have underestimated children’s ability to learn with instruction.

Question 8

How did Hughes challenge Piaget’s findings on egocentrism?

Answer 8

P: Piaget’s three mountains task may have been too difficult for children.

E: Hughes (1975) used a more child-friendly police doll task, and found that 90% of 4-year-olds could take another person’s perspective.

E: This suggests Piaget’s method was too artificial, rather than egocentrism lasting until 7 years old.

L: Piaget may have overestimated the age at which egocentrism disappears.