Piaget's Developmental Stage Theory

Deandra Limandibhrata
Jan 28, 2023
4 min read

In the world of cognitive development, Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget is considered to have established one of the most influential theories in 1936 regarding the journey of child development and the factors that determine how children would view the world.

Background

When developing his theory on cognitive development, Piaget had also coined and defined certain terms that are vital in understanding this theory as a whole such as schemas and the theory of adaptation.

Schemas: Knowledge categories that eventually turn into concepts
Operations: Ability to combine several schemas together
Assimilation: Adopting new experiences and information into existing schemas
Accommodation: Ability to change existing schemas after exposure to new knowledge
Equilibration: Balance between assimilation and accommodation to move to different stages of thought

Sensorimotor Stage (0 - 2)

The sensorimotor stage occurs between birth to 2 years old, where the most dramatic increase in growth and learning occurs. During this stage, children start to grasp new knowledge mostly through sensory experiences such as through touch, looking, chewing or listening.

Through the different tiers of circular reactions, children also start to develop new skills such as reflexes, repeating actions that are pleasurable or trigger a response and begin to observe the behaviour of others through trial-and-error.

This stage of development also results in the development of object permanence, which is the understanding that even when an object can no longer be seen or heard, the object still continues to exist.

A classic way to observe is by playing “peek-a-boo”, where a young infant will react when the supposed object “disappears” and “reappears” but on the other hand, an older infant may not react as that have understood that the object continues to exist even if it is not directly observable. Piaget conducted a simple experiment where he hid an object underneath a blanket and found that older infants would actively search for the object but younger infants would not.

Preoperational Stage (2 - 7)

The next stage occurs between the ages of 2 and 7, where the majority of language development occurs and traits of egocentrism and the lack of understanding conservation begin to be observable.

At this stage, children present metacognition traits such as being able to recognise and use symbols, typically in the form of pretend play but are unable to materialise logic. For example, they may be more logical in solving problems, but they may not be able to explain their thought process on how they arrived at their conclusion.

In the same essence, children at this stage also showcase egocentric traits as they are still unable to understand the world from another’s perspective. As showcased in the famous “Three Mountain Task'', children were tasked to draw a mountain from their perspective and to then draw a mountain from someone else's perspective with a different viewpoint. However, children are unable to do the latter, proving egocentric occurrence.

On the other hand, the lack of understanding on the concept of conservation is shown in an experiment whereby two cups of different heights were filled with the same amount of liquid. When asked to choose which cup contains the most liquid, most children would choose the taller cup as it appears “more full”.

However, other studies have shown that children may be able to overcome egocentrism by the age of four, which is much earlier than what Piaget had concluded.

Concrete Operational Stage (7 - 11)

In the third stage which develops between the ages of 7 and 11, the child has begun to develop logical thought and become more sophisticated in their thinking, however, they still might struggle with abstract thoughts and concepts.

As Piaget had observed, children start to use inductive reasoning, where they induce certain conclusions from what they observe as a generalisation, even if it may not be completely true. For example, all the cats I have observed are brown. Therefore, all brown animals that I observe are cats. At the same time, children may still struggle with deductive reasoning, where they use general statements to apply to specific occasions. For example, all pigeons have wings. All birds have wings. Thus, pigeons are birds.

Progressing from earlier stages, children are also beginning to understand concepts of conservation and become less egocentric and may begin to use these new observations and information during decision making or during problem solving, and thus having a more developed thought process. By becoming more sociocentric, they develop to become more empathetic and consider that others may have unique perspectives of their own, although they may experience some difficulty in understanding exactly.

Formal Operational Stage (>12 and up)

In the final stage of development, adolescents experience an increase in logic, able to think more abstractly and gain the capacity for higher-order understanding and reasoning. They are thus able to engage in more abstract topics such as philosophy, ethics and politics and are able to think more scientifically as well.

Previously, children typically question the world via trial-and-error, but adolescents are able to use logic to create hypotheses and test their observations in a logical process before arriving at a conclusion or completing their task. This is why exposure to science and abstract concepts may help them to hone their critical thinking skills, especially to deal with problems that they may face.

At this stage, adolescence will also come to realise that certain actions come with many possible outcomes and consequences and this concept is also crucial in long-term planning and decision making skills.

Piaget believes that such cognitive development is not fixed but is moulded through the child’s personal experience, environment and education. It is important to note that although obtaining such skills.

References

Casper, S. (2019, November 25). An objective perspective. Medium. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://medium.com/@thestephencasper/an-objective-perspective-3ca4a692b2eb

Cherry, K. (2022, December 16). What is Piaget's theory of cognitive development? Verywell Mind. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457

Cognitive development activities for primary school children. Cognitive Development Activities for Primary School Children. (2022, December 21). Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://cambrilearn.com/blog/cognitive-development-activities-primary-school-children

Jean Piaget. Historica Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://historica.fandom.com/wiki/Jean_Piaget

Mcleod, S. (2020, December 7). Jean Piaget's theory and stages of cognitive development. Jean Piaget's Theory and Stages of Cognitive Development - Simply Psychology. Retrieved January 28, 2023, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html