An Overview of Piaget's Theory
of Cognitive Development
Piaget studied children from infancy to adolescence, and carried out many of his own investigations using his three children. He used the following research methods:
7 principles central to Piaget's Theory:
Key Terms
- Naturalistic observation: Piaget made careful, detailed observations of children. These were mainly his own children and the children of friends. From these he wrote diary descriptions charting their development.
- Clinical interviews and observations of older children who were able to understand questions and hold conversations.
7 principles central to Piaget's Theory:
- Children are active motivated learners
- Children organize what they learn from their experiences
- Children adapt to their environment through the processes of assimilation and accommodation
- Interaction with the physical environment is critical for cognitive development
- Interaction with other people is equally critical
- The process of equilibration promotes increasingly complex forms of thought
- Children think in qualitatively distinct ways at different age levels
Key Terms
- Schemes: the basic building block of intelligent behavior – a way of organizing knowledge
- Assimilation: using an existing schema to deal with a new object or situation
- Accommodation: this happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work, and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation
- Equilibration: This is the force, which moves development along. Piaget believed that cognitive development did not progress at a steady rate, but rather in leaps and bounds.
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage
0 - 2 yrs
Preoperational Stage
2 - 7 yrs
Concrete Operational Stage
7 – 11 yrs
Formal Operational Stage
11yrs +
0 - 2 yrs
- During the sensorimotor stage infants learn mostly through trial and error learning. Children initially rely on reflexes, eventually modifying them to adapt to their world.
- This stage is characterized by extreme egocentrism, where the child has no understanding of the world other than her own, current point of view.
- Object Permanence: the realization that objects continue to exist even when removed from view.
Preoperational Stage
2 - 7 yrs
- Children in this stage can mentally represent events and objects and engage in symbolic play.
- Egocentrism: refers to the child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view.
Concrete Operational Stage
7 – 11 yrs
- Marks the beginning of logical or operational thought.
- The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e. rules) but can only apply logic to physical objects (hence concrete operational).
- Conservation: The understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes.
Formal Operational Stage
11yrs +
- As adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in an abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning.
- At about age 11+ years, the child begins to manipulate ideas in its head, without any dependence on concrete manipulation. He or she can do mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions.