Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Concrete Operational Stage 7-11 years old
 The Concrete Operations Stage is the transition between pre-logical thought and abstract logical thought
 Children make reasoning-based decisions, rather than perceptual decisions (Logical operations)
 Children are able to reverse mental operations, understand transformations, and ‘decenter’ (as opposed to centration); thus they
are able to solve conservation problems
The Development of
 Children are able to successfully put things into a logical order (Seriation)
Seriation
 Children are able to understand that objects can be a part of multiple categories (Classification)
Seriation
≈ AGE
 Children develop a ‘theory of mind’ as they move away from egocentrism – this allows them to
Length
7-8
develop a real understanding of social situations as they begin to perceive the viewpoints of
Weight
9
others
Volume
11-12
Logical Operations
EX: Conservation; Transformations; Reversibility; Decentration
Seriation
EX: Lining up sticks by size; Putting items in a logical order (This is steadily improves throughout the pre-operational stage)
Classification
EX: Brown and white beads= wooden beads; apples, oranges, and fruit. Grouping books by many different characteristics
Theory of Mind
EX: Morality emerges as children begin to understand the motives of others;
Major Changes: Pre-logical thought begins to develop into more logical thought. Great strides in language along with diminishing
egocentrism allows children to truly begin to become social beings; understanding that the perspectives of others can be quite
different from their own, allows for the assimilation and accommodation of new, more complex schema – socialization creates the
disequilibrium! Thoughts and feelings grow more autonomous.
PLAY: Rules are no longer simply ‘there’; it is understood that there are reasons for rules and that they can indeed be changed. Play
also becomes much more social. It is not only motor physical development, but social and affect (feelings) development.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Formal Operational Stage 11+ years old
 Schema structures become qualitatively mature
 Increasing capability to apply logical operations in reasoning to all classes of problems
 The logic of an argument can be considered regardless of its content (Hypothetical reasoning)
 A new form of egocentrism appears as adolescents struggle to coordinate their ideals with what is real – What “Ought to be” vs.
what “Is”
 Adaptation to the adult world
 *** Piaget would note that the ability to think in abstract and logical ways does not always ensure that adolescents or adults do
so all of the time. In this way, he would argue that some adults do not qualitatively enter or remain in the formal operations
stage.
Deductive Reasoning:
Hypothetical-Deductive Reasoning:
EX: A feather can break a glass if the rule says it can
Inductive Reasoning:
Combinatorial Reasoning:
EX: Isolating the variable on the pendulum test; Exploring the many factors that might contribute to ‘dropout factories’
Reflective Abstraction:
EX: Mr. Zika imagining that radio transmissions travel by light, so he could potentially send sound through a laser
Major Changes: In this stage, children are transitioning into an adult way of thinking. As they gain the ability to use abstract and combinatorial
reasoning, they can begin to grapple with issues presented in the adult world. They become aware of the hypocrisy of the adult world; identifying
illogical reasoning, they struggle with disequilibrium created by their idealism and reality. However, the formulation of increasingly complex
schemata continues throughout their lives into adulthood, and while adolescents have the qualitative thinking abilities of adults, they do not have
the same range of experiences in which to apply those reasoning powers.
PLAY: Rules of activities are not only there for a reason and understood as things that can be changed, but new-found ideas about justice begin to
emerge. Affect (likes and dislikes) become more pronounced, and ‘play’ begins to be centered around pursuits that may contribute to future
aspirations in their adult lives. (The ‘future’ is an abstract concept; thus only in this stage can people truly plan for all of their future aspirations
and the multiple variables needed to reach those future goals)