Cognitive Stages of Development by Jean Piaget

The Sensorimotor Stage

The Sensorimotor Stage is the first stage Piaget uses to define cognitive development. During this period, infants are busy discovering relationships between their bodies and the environment. Researchers have discovered that infants have relatively well developed sensory abilities. The child relies on seeing, touching, sucking, feeling, and using their senses to learn things about themselves and the environment. Piaget calls this the sensorimotor stage because the early manifestations of intelligence appear from sensory perceptions and motor activities. Countless informal experiments during the sensorimotor stage led to one of the important achievements. They enable the infant to develop the concept of separate selves, that is, the infant realizes that the external world is not an extension of themselves. The sensorimotor stage is also marked by the child's increasing ability to coordinate separate activities. An example of the fundamental importance of this is coordination between looking and reaching, without this an action as simple as picking up an object is not possible. Infants realize that an object can be moved by a hand (concept of causality), and develop notions of displacement and events. An important discovery during the latter part of the sensorimotor stage is the concept of "object permanence". After a child has mastered the concept of object permanence, the emergence of directed groping" begins to take place. With directed groping, the child begins to perform motor experiments in order to see what will happen. During directed groping, a child will vary his movements to observe how the results will differ. The child learns to use new means to achieve an end. The child discovers he can pull objects toward himself with the aid of a stick or string, or tilt objects to get them through the bars of his playpen. The child begins to recognize cause-and-effect relationships at this stage, allowing the development of intentionally. Once a child knows what the effects of his activities will be, he can intend these effects.

The Preoperational Stage

In the preoperational stage a child will react to all similar objects as though they are identical (Lefrancois, 1995). At this time all women are 'Mummy' and all men 'Daddy'. While at this level a child's thought is transductive. This means the child will make inferences from one specific to another (Carlson & Buskist, 1997). This leads to a child looking at the moon and reasoning; 'My ball is round, that thing there is round; therefore that thing is a ball' . From the age of about 4 years until 7 most children go through the Intuitive period. This is characterized by egocentric, perception-dominated and intuitive thought which is prone to errors in classification. Most preoperational thinking is self-centered, or egocentric. According to Piaget, a preoperational child has difficulty understanding life from any other perspective than his own. In this time, the child is very me, myself, and I oriented. Egocentrism is very apparent in the relationship between two preschool children. Imagine two children are playing right next to each other, one playing with a coloring book and the other with a doll. They are talking to each other in sequence, but each child is completely oblivious to what the other is saying. Julie: "I love my dolly, her name is Tina" Carol: "I'm going to color the sun yellow" Julie: "She has long, curly hair like my auntie" Carol: "Maybe I'll color the trees yellow, too"

Julie: "I wonder what Tina's eyes are made of?" Carol: "I lost my orange crayon" Julie: I know her eyes are made of glass." These types of exchanges are called "collective monologues". This type of monologue demonstrates the "egocentrism" of children's thinking in this stage. According to Piaget, egocentrism of the young child leads them to believe that everyone thinks as they do, and that the whole world shares their feelings and desires. This sense of oneness with the world leads to the child's assumptions of magic omnipotence. Not only is the world created for them, they can control it. This leads to the child believing that nature is alive, and controllable. This is a concept of egocentrism known as "animism", the most characteristic of egocentric thought.

The Concrete Operational Stage

During this stage, children begin to reason logically, and organize thoughts coherently. However, they can only think about actual physical objects, and cannot handle abstract reasoning. They have difficulty understanding abstract or hypothetical concepts. This stage is also characterized by a loss of egocentric thinking. During this stage, the child has the ability to master most types of conservation experiments, and begins to understand reversibility. Conservation is the realization that quantity or amount does not change when nothing has been added or taken away from an object or a collection of objects, despite changes in form or spatial arrangement. The concrete operational stage is also characterized by the childs ability to coordinate two dimensions of an object simultaneously, arrange structures in sequence, and transpose differences between items in a series. The child is capable of concrete problem-solving. Categorical labels such as "number" or "animal" are now available to the child. Logic: Piaget determined that children in the concrete operational stage were fairly good at the use of inductive logic. Inductive logic involves going from a specific experience to a general principle. On the other hand, children at this age have difficulty using deductive logic, which involves using a general principle to determine the outcome of a specific event. Reversibility: One of the most important developments in this stage is an understanding of reversibility, or awareness that actions can be reversed. An example of this is being able to reverse the order of relationships between mental categories. For example, a child might be able to recognize that his or her dog is a Labrador, that a Labrador is a dog, and that a dog is an animal. A large portion of the defining characteristics of the stage can be understood in terms of the child overcoming the limits of stage two, known as the pre-operational stage. The pre-operational child has a number of cognitive barriers which are subsequently broken down, and it is important to note that overcoming these obstacles is not due to gradual improvement in abilities the child already possesses. Rather the changes are genuine qualitative shifts, corresponding to new abilities being acquired. The first, and most discussed, of these limitations is egocentrism. The pre-operational child has a 'self-centred' view of the world (Smith, Cowie and Blades, 2003, p. 399), meaning that she has difficulty understanding that other people may see things differently, and hence hold a differing point of view. Piaget's classic test for egocentrism is the three mountains task (Piaget and Inhelder, 1956), which concrete operational thinkers can complete successfully.

A second limitation which is overcome in the concrete operational stage is the perceptual domination of one aspect of a situation. Before the stage begins, the child's perception of any situation or problem will be dominated by one aspect; this is best illustrated by the failure of pre-operational children to pass Piaget's conservation tasks (Piaget and Inhelder, 1974). Perhaps the most important limitation, yet the most difficult to describe and measure, is that of the turn to logical operators. A pre-operational child will use mostly simple, heuristic strategies in problem solving. Once a child reaches the concrete operational stage, they will be in possession of a completely new set of strategies, allowing problem solving using logical rules. This new ability manifests itself most clearly in children's justifications for their answers. Concrete operational thinkers will explicitly state their use of logical rules in problem solving (Harris and Butterworth, 2002). This area also indicates the way in which the concrete operational stage can be negatively defined; although children can now use logical strategies, these can only be applied to concrete, immediately present objects. Thinking has become logical, but is not yet abstract. These shifts in the child's thinking lead to a number of new abilities which are also major, positively defined characteristics of the concrete operational stage. The most frequently cited ability is conservation. Now that children are no longer perceptually dominated by one aspect of a situation, they can track changes much more easily and recognise that some properties of an object will persevere through change. Conservation is always gained in the same order, firstly with respect to number, followed secondly by weight, and thirdly by volume. A second new ability gained in the concrete operational stage is reversibility. This refers to the ability to mentally trace backwards, and is of enormous help to the child in both their problem solving and the knowledge they have of their own problem solving. For the former this is because they can see that in a conservation task, for example, the change made could be reversed to regain the original properties. With respect to knowledge of their own problem solving, they become able to retrace their mental steps, allowing an entirely new level of reflection. Concrete operational children also gain the ability to structure objects hierarchically, known as classification. This includes the notion of class inclusion, e.g. understanding an object being part of a subset included within a parent set, and is shown on Piaget's inclusion task, asking children to identify, out of a number of brown and white wooden beads, whether there were more brown beads or wooden beads (Piaget, 1965). Seriation is another new ability gained during this stage, and refers to the child's ability to order objects with respect to a common property. A simple example of this would be placing a number of sticks in order of height. An important new ability which develops from the interplay of both seriation and classification is that of numeration. Whilst pre-operational children are obviously capable of counting, it is only during the concrete operational stage that they become able to apply mathematical operators, thanks to their abilities to order things in terms of number (seriation) and to split numbers into sets and subsets (classification), enabling more complex multiplication, division and so on. Finally, and also following the development of seriation, is transitive inference. This is the name given to children's ability to compare two objects via an intermediate object. So for instance, one stick could be deemed to be longer than another by both being individually compared to another (third) stick.

The Formal Operational Stage

The Formal Operational stage is the final stage in Piaget's theory. It begins at approximately 11 to 12 years of age, and continues throughout adulthood; although Piaget does point out that some people may never reach this stage of cognitive development. The formal operational stage is characterized by the ability to formulate hypotheses and systematically test them to arrive at an answer to a problem.

The individual in the formal stage is also able to think abstractly and to understand the form or structure of a mathematical problem. Another characteristic of the individual is their ability to reason contrary to fact. That is, if they are given a statement and asked to use it as the basis of an argument they are capable of accomplishing the task. For example, they can deal with the statement "what would happen if snow were black".

Psychosexual Stages of Development by Sigmund Freud

According to Freud, the libido, or the sex drive, energy, desire, whatever you may call it, causes us to seek pleasure in different parts of our body during the different stages of our development. Every stage can be characterized by being sensitive in an erogenous zone, or the part of the body the gives pleasure. If an individual develops normally through a certain stage, and have been successful in resolving conflict, little libido remains in each stage. However, if one failed in resolving the conflict in a certain stage, he/she will have the tendency to fixate, or to stay or focus on that certain stage of development. There are five stages of psychosexual development: Stage I: Oral Stage In this stage, the pleasure giving part is the mouth. Infants, for example, derive pleasure from their sucking reflex. This is important in developing trust and comfort between the infant and the caregiver. The primary conflict is said to be the "weaning process". The issue is for the infant to become dependent or less dependent. If unresolved, he/she may have problems relating to dependency, aggression or gullibility. Individuals will tend to be fixated in this stage if there oral needs were not met. This will project in their later life as overeating, nail biting, smoking, fellatio/cunnilingus etc.

Stage II: Anal Stage Erogenous zone is elimination of body wastes, both defecation and bladder elimination. The conflict is in toilet training and the resolution lies on how the parents handle the situation, whether they will take it positively or negatively. Too lenient parents will lead to anal expulsive personality characterized by being messy, wasteful, destructive, coprophilia, etc. On the other hand, too strict parent will lead to anal retentive personality characterized by obsession with organization, neatness and frugality.

Stage III: Phallic Stage The genitals are the pleasure giving parts in this stage as children become aware of their bodies and discover the difference between males and females. Boys experience Oedipus complex (the desire to posses the mother and replace the father) and girls experience Electra complex (sees mother as a rival of the father's attention). According to Freud, conflict among women is never fully resolved. This is the reason why women seek empowerment and equality with men. Of course, this is not acceptable on the part of women and has resulted to some controversy. Stage IV: Latency Stage The erogenous zone in this stage is said to be latent or calm. This is because the libido is directed into school work, hobbies and activities with peer.

Stage V: Genital Stage The libido is now directed towards the other person. Its role is also for the purpose of reproduction. However, the

drives are more developed since they allow symbolic gratification and are not only limited to physical gratification. Symbolic gratification includes love relationship and family, or acceptance of responsibility associated with adulthood.

Psychosocial Stages of Development by Erik Erikson

Psychosocial Stage 1 - Trust vs. Mistrust

The first stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development occurs between birth and one year of age and is the most fundamental stage in life. Because an infant is utterly dependent, the development of trust is based on the dependability and quality of the child's caregivers. If a child successfully develops trust, he or she will feel safe and secure in the world. Caregivers who are inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or rejecting contribute to feelings of mistrust in the children they care for. Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world is inconsistent and unpredictable.

Psychosocial Stage 2 - Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

The second stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development takes place during early childhood and is focused on children developing a greater sense of personal control. Like Freud, Erikson believed that toilet training was a vital part of this process. However, Erikson's reasoning was quite different then that of Freud's. Erikson believe that learning to control one's bodily functions leads to a feeling of control and a sense of independence. Other important events include gaining more control over food choices, toy preferences, and clothing selection. Children who successfully complete this stage feel secure and confident, while those who do not are left with a sense of inadequacy and self-doubt.

Psychosocial Stage 4 - Industry vs. Inferiority

This stage covers the early school years from approximately age 5 to 11. Through social interactions, children begin to develop a sense of pride in their accomplishments and abilities. Children who are encouraged and commended by parents and teachers develop a feeling of competence and belief in their skills. Those who receive little or no encouragement from parents, teachers, or peers will doubt their abilities to be successful.

Psychosocial Stage 5 - Identity vs. Confusion

During adolescence, children explore their independence and develop a sense of self. Those who receive proper encouragement and reinforcement through personal exploration will emerge from this stage with a strong sense of self and a feeling of independence and control. Those who remain unsure of their beliefs and desires will feel insecure and confused about themselves and the future.

Psychosocial Stage 6 - Intimacy vs. Isolation

This stage covers the period of early adulthood when people are exploring personal relationships. Erikson believed it was vital that people develop close, committed relationships with other people. Those who are successful at this step will form relationships that are committed and secure. Remember that each step builds on skills learned in previous steps. Erikson believed that a strong sense of personal identity was important for developing intimate relationships. Studies have demonstrated that those with

a poor sense of self tend to have less committed relationships and are more likely to suffer emotional isolation, loneliness, and depression. Psychosocial Stage 7 - Generativity vs. Stagnation

During adulthood, we continue to build our lives, focusing on our career and family. Those who are successful during this phase will feel that they are contributing to the world by being active in their home and community. Those who fail to attain this skill will feel unproductive and uninvolved in the world.

Psychosocial Stage 8 - Integrity vs. Despair

This phase occurs during old age and is focused on reflecting back on life. Those who are unsuccessful during this stage will feel that their life has been wasted and will experience many regrets. The individual will be left with feelings of bitterness and despair. Those who feel proud of their accomplishments will feel a sense of integrity. Successfully completing this phase means looking back with few regrets and a general feeling of satisfaction. These individuals will attain wisdom, even when confronting death.

Moral stages of Development by Lawrence Kohlberg

Level 1. Preconventional Morality

Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment The earliest stage of moral development is especially common in young children, but adults are also capable of expressing this type of reasoning. At this stage, children see rules as fixed and absolute. Obeying the rules is important because it is a means to avoid punishment. Stage 2 - Individualism and Exchange At this stage of moral development, children account for individual points of view and judge actions based on how they serve individual needs. In the Heinz dilemma, children argued that the best course of action was the choice that best-served Heinzs needs. Reciprocity is possible at this point in moral development, but only if it serves one's own interests.

Level 2. Conventional Morality

Stage 3 - Interpersonal Relationships Often referred to as the "good boy-good girl" orientation, this stage of moral development is focused on living up to social expectations and roles. There is an emphasis on conformity, being "nice," and consideration of how choices influence relationships. Stage 4 - Maintaining Social Order At this stage of moral development, people begin to consider society as a whole when making judgments. The focus is on maintaining law and order by following the rules, doing ones duty and respecting authority.

Level 3. Postconventional Morality

Stage 5 - Social Contract and Individual Rights At this stage, people begin to account for the differing values, opinions and beliefs of other people. Rules of law are important for maintaining a society, but members of the society should agree upon these standards. Stage 6 - Universal Principles Kolhbergs final level of moral reasoning is based upon universal ethical principles and abstract reasoning. At this stage, people follow these internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules.