Jean Piaget
Theory of
Cognitive
Development in
Children
Patricia Engel-Bunch
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_e9dRqFHRdzY/S1ZxSkDiQkI/AAAAAAAAAAU/1WL
YkdNIUxg/S755/JeanPiaget.jpg
Jean Piaget
• 1896-Born in Switzerland
• 1918- Earned Doctoral Degree
• 1919-Started to study language
development in children
• 1921-Started work in child
psychology
• 1922- Met and married
Valentine Chatenay
• 1925, 27, 31- birth of two
daughters and a son
• 1980-Died
Published his first scientific paper at age 10!
• Also published much more:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
The Language and Thought of the Child 1924
The Child’s Conception of the World 1926
The Child’s Conception of Casualty 1927
Judgment and Reasoning in the Child 1928
The Moral Judgment of the Child 1932
The Origins of Intelligence in Children 1936
Play, Dreams and Imitation in Children 1951
The Growth o Logical Thinking from Childhood to
Adolescence 1958
– Manual of Child Psychology 1970
– Biology and Knowledge 1971
– The Grasp of Consciousness 1974
Jean Piaget studied the intellectual
development of children and
concluded that children were not
less intelligent than adults, they
simply think differently!
http://pequebebes.com/la-teoria-del-desarrollo-cognitivo-de-jean-piaget/
Four Stages of Development
http://edu.glogster.com/media/15/37/30/97/37309761.gif
STAGE ONE: Sensorimotor Stage
• Birth to age 2
• Infants try to make sense of their world through
their sensory perceptions and motor activities
(skills they are born with)
– looking
sucking grasping listening
Object Permanenceunderstanding an object
exists even though it cannot
be seen or heard (important
accomplishment at this stage)
Six Sub-stages
of the Sensorimotor Stage
1. Reflexes (0-1 month)
- infant learns through inborn reflexes such
as looking and sucking
Six Sub-stages
of the Sensorimotor Stage
2. Primary Circular Reactions (1-4 months)
- infant coordinates sensations and new
schemas (categories/classifications).
A child may unintentionally suck his thumb at
first and then repeat the action because it
brings him pleasure.
Six Sub-stages
of the Sensorimotor Stage
3. Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months)
-Child becomes more aware of world around
him and interacts with it.
The child will intentionally pick up a toy to
put it in his mouth.
Six Sub-stages
of the Sensorimotor Stage
4. Coordination of Reactions (8-12 months)
-actions are more intentional, child explores
environment and imitates behaviors, has an
understanding of objects.
A child realizes that when you shake a rattle,
it will make a sound.
Six Sub-stages
of the Sensorimotor Stage
5. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months)
-trial and error experimentation. The child
will repeat sounds and/or behaviors in order
to get desired results.
A child will try out different sounds/actions to
get mother’s attention
Six Sub-stages
of the Sensorimotor Stage
6. Early Representational
Thought (18-24 months)
-Child develops symbols to
represent events or objects in
the world
-moving toward mental
understanding of the world
instead of just actions.
http://bryanking.net/sensorimotor-stage/
STAGE TWO: Preoperational Stage
• Ages 2-6
• Language development is
very important
• Use of symbols (a broom for
a horse)
• Increase in playing and
pretending (to be mommy,
daddy, doctor…)
• Conservation-cannot
understand the concept of
numbers, length, mass,
weight, volume and quantity)
•Egocentrism!
Only understand
their own point of
view
http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/devel/ibank/early-c.htm
STAGE THREE: Concrete Operational Stage
• Ages 7-11 (approximately)
• Better understanding of
mental operations
• Logical thinking about
concrete events
• Difficulty with abstract or
hypothetical concepts
• Inductive Logic- a specific
experience to a general
principal NO DEDUCTIVE
(general principal to an
outcome)
http://www.childtime.com/our-schools/Manassas-VA-1052/
•Reversability- actions
can be reversed
(reversing the order of
relationships between
mental categories)
STAGE FOUR: Formal Operational Stage
• Ages 12-adulthood
(approximately)
• Abstract concepts-less
concrete, not relying on
experience alone,
consider possible
outcomes and
consequences of
actions
• Logical thought,
deductive reasoning
and systematic planning
(hypothetical situations,
predicting outcomes,
science, math)
•Problem solvingplanned, logical,
methodical, organized
(as opposed to trial and
error when younger)
http://naldzgraphics.net/tips/creative-mental-blocks-solution/
Criticisms
• Piaget’s Research-much was based on
observing his 3 children, others were from
well educated parents and of higher
socioeconomic status.
• Research also showed that environmental
factors play a role in child’s movement
between the stages, not only age
Piaget’s Influence and Legacy
Educational
Contributions• Children should be
taught at their
appropriate cognitive
level,
developmentally
ready
• Many educational
programs are based
on Piaget’s theory
• Excellent “guideline”
Technology tools can easily
support any of the stages
through presentation or
product.
What have you learned?
1. Check your understanding of Piaget’s
four stages of cognitive development.
2. On the next slide, click on a stage
and a point value to answer the
questions.
3. After you check your answer, you will
be brought back to the table to
answer another question.
4. Good Luck!
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete
operational
Formal
operational
100
100
100
100
200
200
200
200
300
300
300
300
400
400
400
400
Sensorimotor 100
How do infants
make sense of
their NEW world?
Answer!
Sensorimotor 200
What is object
permanence?
Answer!
Sensorimotor 300
What sensorimotor substage is an infant in if
they purposefully pick
up a toy and put it in
their mouth?
Answer!
Sensorimotor 400
A child will repeat sounds
and/or behaviors in order to
get desired results. This type
of experimentation is called
___________ _____
____________.
Answer!
Preoperational 100
What is the
approximate age a
child passes through
this stage?
Answer!
Preoperational 200
What is
egocentrism?
Answer!
Preoperational 300
This stage can be very
playful and imaginative.
What are some behaviors
you may witness?
Answer!
Preoperational 400
Children in this stage have
difficulty understanding
the concept of
conservation. What is
conservation?
Answer!
Concrete Operational 100
What is the
approximate age a
child will enter this
stage?
Answer!
Concrete Operational 200
Children in this stage
think more logically about
concrete events. They
still have difficulty with
_______________________.
Answer!
Concrete Operational 300
Children have a grasp on this
kind of logic. They
understand how a specific
experience, action, details
would lead to the same
outcome (generalization).
What is this kind of logic?
Answer!
Concrete Operational 400
A child is able to understand
that his dog is a beagle and
a beagle is a dog and a dog
is an animal. What is this
reversing of relationships
called?
Answer!
Formal Operational 100
What is the
approximate age a
child will enter this
stage?
Answer!
Formal Operational 200
Children in earlier stages
solved problems through
trial and error. How do
children in this stage
tend to solve problems?
Answer!
Formal Operational 300
Children think more
________________. Everything is
less concrete. They can
consider possible outcomes
and consequences of actions!
Answer!
Formal Operational 400
Which subjects involve
a lot of hypothetical
situations and
predicting outcomes?
Answer!
Sensorimotor 100
Through their sensory
perceptions and motor
activities.
Skills they are born with
(sucking, looking,
grasping, listening) BACK
Check
your
Answer!
Sensorimotor 200
The understanding that an
object exists even though it
cannot be seen or heard!
An important
accomplishment at this
stage.
BACK
Sensorimotor 300
Secondary Circular
Reactions
4-8 months
BACK
Sensorimotor 400
trial and error
BACK
Preoperational 100
Ages 2-6 years
BACK
Preoperational 200
Egocentrism is when a
child can only see and
understand from his/her
point of view.
BACK
Preoperational 300
Use of symbols, like using a
broom as a horse.
Pretending to be mommy,
daddy, a doctor…
BACK
Preoperational 400
Conservation-the understanding of the
value of numbers, length, mass, weight,
volume and quantity…
It was difficult for many at this age to
understand that 1 cup of water in a
short glass is the same as 1 cup of water
in a tall skinny glass, even when the
water is poured from one to the other in
front of them.
BACK
Concrete Operational 100
Ages 7-11 years
BACK
Concrete Operational 200
abstract or
hypothetical
concepts
BACK
Concrete Operational 300
Inductive
Logic
BACK
Concrete Operational 400
Reversibility!
BACK
Formal Operational 100
Age 12adulthood
BACK
Formal Operational 200
Problem solving is more
planned, logical
methodical and/or
organized!
BACK
Formal Operational 300
Abstractly
BACK
Formal Operational 400
Math and
Science
BACK
Resources
Atherton J S (2011) Learning and teaching; Piaget's developmental
theory [On-line: UK]retrieved 25 June 2012 from
http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/piaget.htm
Cherry, K. (n.d.). Jean piaget biography. Retrieved from
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/piaget.
htm
Jean piaget: Champion of children’s ideas. (2001). Scholastic Early
Childhood Today, 15(5), 43-43.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/217927844?accountid=231
McLeod, S. A. (2009). Piaget cognitive stages of development.
Retrieved from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html