Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Development as a Succession of Fixed Stages

Jean Piaget is famous for his theory of cognition, which views development as occurring through four specific, sequential stages.

According to his theory, children progress through these four distinct stages in a fixed order, each representing a different cognitive ability.

Cognitive development is the result of a constant interaction between a person's innate abilities and the various influences they receive from their environment.

Piaget proposed that as people develop their cognitive abilities, their understanding of moral issues also becomes much more sophisticated over time.

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years)

The first stage, known as the sensorimotor stage, spans from birth to approximately two years of age and is a period of physical and sensory exploration.

During this phase, infants build their first understanding of the world through their senses and movements, such as touching, feeling, listening, and observing.

The most important cognitive achievement of this period is the development of object permanence, which is the understanding that things continue to exist.

Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

The preoperational stage, which lasts from ages two to seven, is the time when both language and abstract thinking emerge.

This phase of children's cognitive development is mainly characterized by the emergence and importance of symbolic play in their daily lives.

Although thinking advances, it is still very egocentric, and children find it difficult to see things from other people's perspective during this stage.

Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)

At approximately seven years of age, children enter the concrete operational stage, which lasts until eleven years of age.

It is during this period when logical and concrete thinking comes into play, allowing children to solve problems in a more systematic way.

However, concrete operations, as the name suggests, are carried out on things, that is, on objects and events in the real world.

Children at this stage can understand concepts such as conservation and performing mathematical operations, but only if they are linked to physical objects and not ideas.

Formal Operations Stage (11+ years)

Finally, the formal operations stage begins at eleven or twelve years of age and extends for the rest of the individual's life.

Here, adolescents gain the ability to think in an abstract way and to reason about what could be, as well as what is.

Thinking becomes completely free from physical and perceptual constraints, as formal operations are performed on ideas and not things.

This stage sees the emergence of scientific thinking, allowing people to formulate abstract theories and the ability to logically test hypotheses.