Piaget’s Cognitive
Development Theory
Who was Piaget?
• Jean Piaget was born in 1896 in
Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and died in 1980
in Geneva, Switzerland.
• At age 11, he wrote a paper on an albino
sparrow, which was published and was the
start of his famous career.
Who was Piaget? (cont.)
• After graduating high school, he attended the
University of Zurich, where he became
interested in psychoanalysis.
• He married in 1923 and had three children,
Jacqueline, Lucienne and Laurent.
• Piaget studied his children’s intellectual
development from infancy.
Theory of Cognitive Development
• While studying his children,
Piaget developed theories
concerning how children learn.
• His theory of Cognitive
Development consists of four
stages of intellectual
development.
Theory of Cognitive Development
Click on link to hear Piaget speaking about his theory Jean Piaget Davidsonhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEam9lpa6TQ
Stage 1—Cognitive Development Theory
Sensorimotor Stage
Birth to age 2
During this stage, the child begins to develop:
• Reflexes
• Habits
• Hand-eye coordination
• Object Permanence (knowing something exists,
even though it can’t be seen)
• Experimentation and creativity. Piaget referred
to the children in this stage as “little scientists.”
• Trial and error experiments
Sensorimotor Stage
Click on link to see demonstration of
Sensorimotor Stage.
YouTube - Piaget - Stage 1 - Sensorimotor, Object Permenence
Stage 2—Cognitive Development Theory
Preoperational Stage
Age 2-7
During this stage, the child begins to develop:
• Ability to represent objects with images and words
• Language skills
• Imagination
Children learn through imitation and play during this
stage. They begin to use reasoning, however it is
mainly intuitive, instead of logical.
Preoperational Stage
Click on link to see demonstration of the
Preoperational Stage.
YouTube - Piaget - Stage 2 - Preoperational - Lack of Conservation
Stage 3—Cognitive Development Theory
Concrete Operational Stage
Age 7-12
During this stage, the child begins to develop:
• The fundamentals of logic
– Ability to sort objects
– Ability to classify objects
– Understanding of conservation (physical quantities do
not change based on the arrangement and/or
appearance of the object)
Concrete Operational Stage
Click on link to see a demonstration from the
Concrete Operational Stage.
YouTube - Piaget - Stage 3 - Concrete - Reversibility
Stage 4—Cognitive Development Theory
Formal Operational Stage
Age 11-15
During this stage, the child begins to develop:
• Ability to hypothesize, test and reevaluate
hypotheses
Children begin thinking in a formal
systematic way
Formal Operational Stage
Click on link to see a demonstration of a
child in the Formal Operational Stage.
YouTube - Piaget - Stage 4 - Formal - Deductive Reasoning
How does this information apply to
my teaching?
Here are some practical ways to teach
children in each of the four stages of
Cognitive Development.
Sensorimotor Activities
(infant to Toddler)
In the later steps of this stage, a child learns
by trial and error. Therefore, providing a
rich stimulating environment (rattles,
blocks, etc.) is helpful. Peek-a-boo is also
a helpful learning game in this stage.
Preoperational Activities
(Toddler and Early Childhood)
Use illustrative visual aids to help children
understand presentations.
• Use physical props.
• Use illustrations and artwork
Preoperational Activities
(Toddler and Early Childhood)
Students have difficulty seeing the world
from another perspective, other than their
own.
• Avoid lessons about worlds very different
from the child’s.
Preoperational Activities
(Toddler and Early Childhood)
Children need physical, hands-on practice
with facts and skills needed for
development.
• Use cut-out letters to build words.
• Do not use workbooks or paper and pencil
activities very often.
Preoperational Activities
(Toddler and Early Childhood)
Encourage hands-on activities with physical
objects that change shape. This moves the child
toward understanding conservation and two-way
logic.
• Have students play with clay, water, sand or
play-dough.
• Talk with students about what they are
experiencing as they play with these objects.
Concrete Operational Activities
(Middle Childhood)
Continue using visual aids and hands-on
activities.
• Give time lines for history lessons
• Use 3-D models when teaching science.
Concrete Operational Activities
(Middle Childhood)
Give students opportunities to manipulate
objects and test out ideas.
• Do simple science experiments, letting the
students participate
• Show craftwork to help students
understand the occupations of people from
earlier periods.
Concrete Operational Activities
(Middle Childhood)
Students should not deal with more than
three or four variables at a time.
• Reading selections should have a limited
number of characters.
• Experiments should have a limited number
of steps.
Concrete Operational Activities
(Middle Childhood)
Explain complex ideas by using familiar
examples, giving the students a way to
understand and process new information.
• Compare the lives of characters in a story
with the students’ lives.
• Use story problems when teaching math.
Concrete Operational Activities
(Middle Childhood)
Give students opportunities to group and classify
objects and ideas on complex levels.
• Give students sentences on pieces of paper,
have them group into paragraphs.
• Use outlines and analogies to show the
relationship of new material to already acquired
knowledge.
Concrete Operational Activities
(Middle Childhood)
Give students problems that require logical
and analytical thinking in order to solve.
• Use mind twisters, brain teasers and
riddles.
• Give students open-ended questions in
order to stimulate their thinking.
Formal Operational Activities
(Adolescence)
At the beginning of this stage, continue
using the teaching strategies and
materials used in the concrete operational
stage.
• Use visual aids, like charts and
illustrations, but also incorporate a few
more sophisticated graphs and diagrams.
• Give step by step explanations and
materials.
Formal Operational Activities
(Adolescence)
Students need the opportunity to explore
various hypothetical questions.
• Students should discuss social issues.
• Have students discuss hypothetical “other
worlds.”
Formal Operational Activities
(Adolescence)
Students should explain how they solve problems.
• Students work in pairs, one is the listener, one is
the problem solver. The problem solver works
problem out loud, the listener checks to see that
all steps are followed and seem logical.
• Put a few essay questions on tests, which
requires the student to give more than one final
answer or simply answer from rote memory.
Formal Operational Activities
(Adolescence)
Try and teach broad concepts, rather than just
facts, and use material and ideas relevant to the
students.
• When teaching about Civil War, discuss other
issues which have divided our country.
• Use lyrics from popular music to teach poetry, to
discuss social problems, etc.
Theory of Cognitive Development
Conclusion
Keep in mind that children don’t always
move from one stage to another at the
same time.
They will always move from one stage to the
next in the same order, but you may have
students in your classroom on different
levels.
Conclusion (cont.)
There are many practical applications that
can be made from Piaget’s theory.
By using these in our teaching, we can
hopefully teach students in a way that will
help them be the most effective learners.
References
Giles, T. W. (March 1995). A Piagetian View of Learning Styles. 1-4.
Huitt, W. (1997). Cognitive development: Applications. Retrieved
November 15, 2008, from Educational Psychology Interactive:
http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piagtuse.html
Miller, S. A. (2007). Developmental Research Methods. In S. A. Miller,
Developemental Research Methods (p. 405). SAGE.
Nderu-Boddington, D. E. (May 2008). Theories of Intelligence,
Learning, and Motivation as a Basis for Praxis. 1-17.
Society, J. P. (2008, November 13). Jean Piaget Society About Piaget.
Retrieved November 15, 2008, from Jean Piaget Society:
www.piaget.org/aboutPiaget.html
Thomas, W., & Kingma, J. (1996). Three Theories of Cognitive
Representation and Their Evaluation Standards of Training Effects.
1-49.