Piaget: The Four Stages Of Cognitive Development

Bc130401185

The four stages of cognitive development as proposed by Piaget are as follows.

1. The Sensorimotor Stage: (Ages: Birth to 2 Years)
When a baby is born, he or she starts developing both physically and cognitively. Physical skills include crawling, grasping, and pulling, as well as general physical growth. However, as babies develop cognitive skills, they start thinking about their behaviors and reacting to different stimuli such as noises, movement, and emotions. This is what defines the sensorimotor stage.
For example, a baby might giggle or smile because he or she perceived something as funny or interesting. Giggling or smiling is an example of a reaction induced by cognitive development, so it would fall under the sensorimotor

More specifically, children are able to understand that just because an object changes shape or are divided into pieces; the object still retains certain important characteristics, such as mass or volume. Let's look at a couple of examples to help you better understand the definition. For example start with two drinking glasses, which both hold eight ounces of fluid. Place them on a table in front of a child. Let's say that one of the glasses is three inches tall and the other one is six inches tall. Naturally, the glasses look very different from one another even though they are able to hold the same amount of fluid. Next, fill the shorter glass to the brim with orange juice and then pour the juice from the shorter glass into the taller glass. The child is then asked which glass can hold more juice, the tall glass or the short glass. Any response other than 'they hold the same amount of orange juice' is incorrect and thus demonstrates a lack of concrete operational thought. The child who recognizes that even though the shape of the orange juice has changed its volume remains consistent has mastered the conservation task. He has demonstrated the ability to mentally manipulate the orange juice and recognize that even though it looks different, it is

The final stage is known as the formal operational stage and is present when someone reaches about the age of 12 and continues into adulthood. During this stage, the individual will demonstrate the ability to critically analyze situations, taking into consideration reasoning and argument. This stage is also characterized by being able to demonstrate the ability to think in more abstract terms. For example, instead of realizing that there are consequences to actions, such as getting in trouble or being grounded because of yelling at a parent, a person in this stage will begin to realize that consequences are a result of not following directions. More importantly, they will begin to realize that consequences may also result in moral and ethical issues, such as distrust, emotional instability, and dishonor. Additionally, during the formal operational stage of cognitive development, one will begin to draw conclusions based on forming a hypothesis about or the testing of situations. One may also develop a sense of egocentrism - building opinions based off a right/wrong philosophy - and one may also demonstrate ability to plan