Two Piaget Developmental Stages
Running head: Two of Piaget’s Developmental Stages
Significant Developments
Sensorimotor and Preoperational Cognitive Development Stages
Piaget
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Two Piaget Developmental Stages
2
Sensorimotor and Preoperational Stages
Stage of
Development
Substage
(Piaget’s
Description)
Appropriate
Age Range
Additional
Description
Example
1. Simple
Reflexes
Birth to 1
month
(A child sucks at the breast of
the mother. This is a purely
inborn reflex).
2. First Habits
and Primary
Circular
Reactions
1 – 4 months
Modification of
reflexes in order
to naturally make
them more
adaptive as the
infant tries to
make sense of the
world
Child coordinates
actions to repeat a
sensation.
3. Secondary
Circular
Reactions
4 – 8 months
Sensorimotor (0
to 1 years)
4. Coordination
of secondary
circular
reactions
5. Tertiary
circular
reactions,
novelty, and
curiosity
6.
Internalization
of schemes
The child
intentionally uses
an object outside
their own body to
initiate and
experience
sensory reaction.
8 – 12 months Child possibly
combines more
than one action to
bring about
remembered
experience.
12 – 18 months This is a stage of
experimentation;
trial and error
18 – 24 months Beginning true
mental
representations.
(A child may suck their
thumb by accident and then,
at a later time, the child may
intentionally sucks his/her
thumb, having found sensory
pleasure in the action.)
(While still seeking sensory
awareness, the child may
actively seek a toy to put in
their mouth. This is a
repetitious action which they
know will give them a
sensory pleasure.)
(Child recognizes the sensory
results of shaking a rattle and
intentionally shakes the rattle
to obtain the desired noise.)
(Experimentation with
different sounds will help a
child to meet their basic
needs, such as getting the
attention of a parent through
a high pitched scream.)
(A baby may change the
heights from which they drop
items. This is the basic
Two Piaget Developmental Stages
3
Deferred imitation
beginnings of understanding
through cognitive recognition
rather than through actions
alone.)
Preoperational
(2 – 7 years)
1. Preconceptual
4 to 7 years
Good language
and mental
imagery skills are
developing. The
child focuses on
single perceptual
dimensions while
observing.
(If a child is shown three
different views of an object
and then asked what another
person might see at different
angles, the child chooses
their own perspective rather
than what the other person
might actually be seeing.)
2. Intuitive
thought
2 to 4 years
There is
development of
symbolic
capacities.
Children exhibit a
growth of
language and
mental imagery.
They are
egocentric in their
communication.
(Children use symbols as
they develop pretend games.
For example, they may use a
broom to represent a horse.
Children like to imitate
persons such as mommy or
daddy while role playing.)
References
General information and guidance was obtained from the following sources
1. Cherry, Kendra, Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development (n.d.). Retrieved October
2012 from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/preoperational.htm
2. Cherry, Kendra, Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development, (n.d.). Retrieved October
2012 from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/sensorimotor.htm
3. Piaget’s Substages of Sensorimotor Development, (n.d.). Retrieved October 2012 from
http://www.angelfire.com/magic/piaget/
4. Santrock, John, Life-Span Development (1995), pages 209-212. Wm. C. Brown
Communications, Inc., Dubuque, IA 52001