Stages of cognitive development - Piaget Flashcards
Small Pigs Can Fly.
S - Sensorimotor stage
P - Preoperational stage
C - Concrete operational stage
F - Formal operational stage
STAGES OF COGNITIVE
SENSORI-MOTOR STAGE
- Age 0-2
- Rely on senses to explore and
understand the world. - They develop motor skills and
movement coordination. - They start understanding objects by
coordinating senses and movements.
Key accomplishments of the Preoperational stage
Overcoming egocentrism – Learning to understand others’ perspectives.
Overcoming centration – Recognizing multiple features of an object.
Reversibility – Understanding that objects can change and return to their original state.
Key accomplishments of the sensory-motor stage
Object permanence – Knowing objects exist even when unseen (e.g., peek-a-boo).
Goal-directed behaviour – Planning actions to achieve a goal (e.g., crawling to mum).
PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
- Age 2-7
- Children develop and extend
cognitive skills. - They learn to represent objects,
events, and ideas with images and
symbols. - They acquire language and other
skills.
PERIOD OF CONCRETE
OPERATIONS
- Age 7-12
Children develop more sophisticated thinking in the concrete operational stage.
They better represent, organize, and understand concepts.
They can perform mental operations on tangible objects but struggle with abstract ideas.
FORMAL OPERATIONS
- Age 12+
Individuals develop abstract and sophisticated thinking.
They use reasoning and higher-order thinking skills.
Key accomplishments of the Concrete of operational stage
Conservation – Understanding that an object’s properties remain the same despite changes in appearance (e.g., water in different glasses).
Classification – Grouping objects or concepts based on common features (e.g., a beagle is a dog).
Simple mental operations – Performing basic math skills (e.g., addition, subtraction, multiplication).
Key accomplishments of Formal operations
Abstract thought – Thinking about intangible concepts and hypothetical scenarios (e.g., the Trolley Problem).
Use of reason and logic – Objectively analyzing problems and solving complex tasks (e.g., algebra).
Concrete vs Symbolic Thinking
The ability to produce concrete thought is developed first, with symbolic thought being
produced later in development.
Concrete thought
developed during the sensorimotor stage and continually used across
the lifespan
Symbolic thought:
Develops in the preoperational stage and becomes more complex in later stages.
LIMITATIONS OF PIAGET’S
RESEARCH
- Underestimating children’s abilities
- Lack of representation of cultures
Underestimating children’s abilities
Earlier cognitive abilities – Research shows children can perform tasks earlier than Piaget suggested.
Testing limitations – Piaget’s tests may have underestimated abilities due to motor and memory constraints.
Lack of representation of cultures
Cultural bias – Piaget’s research focused on white, Western children.
Cultural applicability – Results may not be valid for children from all cultures.
