The Four Stages Of Jean Piaget's Theory On Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist well recognised for his work in child development created a theory on the cognitive development in children which to this day still influences many educators, schools and communities. His theory explored the nature and development of human intelligence and in particular how children construct an understanding based on the world around them. Piaget’s theory is more commonly known as the “developmental stage theory” and he has distinguished nature of intelligence based on four stages in which children are assembled into based on age and ability. Additionally, Piaget believed that language, knowledge and understanding are all associated and acquired through cognitive development. This essay will explore the stages

The four stages: Piaget’s theory of cognitive development advances from an understanding that there are a series of stages which children are specific to. The four stages are: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational, the four stages are divided up into age brackets that are birth to two-year-old, two to seven years old, seven to eleven years old and twelve and up. Each stage has a set of skills that children will acquire as they progress in age and cognitive ability and development

As a future early primary teacher, I focused primarily on sensorimotor and preoperational as early education ranges from birth until six, meaning that the age bracket branches over two stages. The sensorimotor is from birth until two years old and is based on children learning, growing and developing based on understanding an influence from the world around them, this time is considered a time of tremendous grow and change.

Children in this stage are developing motor functions and cognitive perceptions as well as becoming aware of certain schemas, such as an object existing in more than one place, which could include children taking a toy from day care or kindy home. They are discovering relationships between the body relationships between their peers, families and those around

In this situation a new interest, object or experience stimulates the child but cannot be totally assimilated to create a new schema. An example of this appropriate to a young child would be seeing an older man with a white beard and glasses and assuming that he is Santa Clause. The child has an existing schema that Santa Clause has a white beard and wears glasses.

Accommodation is where an existing schema is changed or altered based on new knowledge and understanding. The child’s schema that Santa has a beard and glasses and the schema is then assimilated to understand that Santa lives in the north pole and wears a red suit and has reindeers with him. Furthermore, when the child sees a man with a white beard and glasses his can identify that that man is not Santa as he does not have these certain things that make Santa who he is.

Following from Accommodation in cognitive development, equilibrium is met. According to Piaget equilibrium is a state of cognitive balance and drives the learning process. When equilibrium is met the child has the capability to truthfully represent the object through their