Jean Piaget
Stages of Cognitive Development
His Theory
Jean Piaget believed that children didn't learn just from their parents or teachers, they could teach themselves. His theory is in stages that are throughout your life. The sensorimotor stage is from birth to age 2. From age 2-7 we are in the pre-operational stage. When we are in the ages 7-11 we are in the concrete operational stage. The formal operational stage begins in the adolescent years into the adult years.
Early Life
Before Piaget studied children he was a biologist that studied mollusks. Piaget was a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher. He learned about the way children learn by watching and talking to them while they were working on an exercise he made for them.
The Stages of Cognitive Development
Sensorimotor Stage
Infants act on the world with their senses. They learn to figure out and solve sensorimotor problems such as finding hidden toys.
Pre-Operational Stage
In the early ages of this stage children use symbols to represent their earlier sensorimotor discoveries.
Concrete Operational Stage
Children gain a better understanding of mental operations and start to think more logically. They still have trouble understanding hypothetical concepts.
Formal Operational Stage
The final stage of Piaget's theory says, children's thinking becomes more complex and advanced. Children begin to use logic to figure problems out.