Cognitive
Level Study
Age/ stage picture – Piagetian model
Stages of cognitive
development
Cognitive level
Age (years)
Sensori-motor
0/2
Pre-operational
2/7
Concrete operational
Early concrete (2A)
5/6
Mid concrete (2A/2B)
7/9
Late concrete (2B)
10/11
Concrete generalisation (2B*)
Formal operational
Early formal (3A)
11/13
Late formal (3A/3B)
Formal generalisation (3B)
14/15
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development.
Piaget identified four stages in cognitive development:
■■
Sensorimotor stage (Infancy). In this period (which has 6 stages), intelligence is demonstrated
through motor activity without the use of symbols. Knowledge of the world is limited (but
developing) because it is based on physical interactions / experiences. Children acquire object
permanence at about 7 months of age (memory). Physical development (mobility) allows the child
to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Some symbolic (language) abilities are developed at
the end of this stage.
■■
Pre-operational stage (Toddler and Early Childhood). In this period (which has two sub-stages),
intelligence is demonstrated through the use of symbols, language use matures, and memory and
imagination are developed, but thinking is done in a non-logical, non-reversible manner. Egocentric
thinking predominates
■■
Concrete operational stage (Elementary and early adolescence). In this stage (characterized
by 7 types of conservation: number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, volume), intelligence is
demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects.
Numbers can be manipulated. People can deduce from 3+4=7 that 7-3=4. Operational thinking
develops (mental actions that are reversible). Egocentric thought diminishes.
■■
Formal operational stage (Adolescence and adulthood). In this stage, intelligence is demonstrated
through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. People can handle abstract
mathematics, algebra. If x + a = y + b, then x – y = b - a etc. They can handle the concept without
using numbers. Early in the period there is a return to egocentric thought. Only 35% of high school
graduates in industrialized countries obtain formal operations; many people do not think formally
during adulthood.
Profile of cognitive levels of 6th class, 1st and 2nd Year students
Profile of cognitive levels of 1st and 2nd Year
University science students
60
52
50
44
40
40
6th class (Primary level)
1st Year (Second level)
30
2nd Year (Second level)
20
10
9
5
0
0
2B
2B
2B*
0
3A
1
1
3A/3B
25
20
17
15
2
1
0
2B
2B
2B*
3A
3A/3B
3B
Piagetian level
Piagetian level
Section 1 - Page 7
Sensors Tutor Guide (FINAL)2.indd 15
30
10
7
4
3
% of cohort (N=162)
38
40
% of cohort
50
47
46
44
Facilitator Handbook Autumn 2009
16/10/2009 17:00:46