History:

Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

Jean William Fritz Piaget was a Swiss psychologist known for his work on child development. He
developed the first major theory of cognitive development. He is known as the father of the
development of psychology.

He viewed little children as “Little Scientists” for the very first time.

Definition (Cognitive Development)

The ability to learn, think, communicate and remember.

 Stage Development; Continuous Development

 Domain-General Theory; Domain-Specific Theory
 Differences in the proposed source of learning (Causes of Cognitive Development)

Stages of cognitive development

 Sensorimotor Stage
 Pre-Operational Stage
 Formal Operational Stage
 Concrete Operational Stage

Sensorimotor Stage:
However, as babies develop cognitive skills, they start thinking about their behaviors and reacting to
different stimuli such as noises, movements, and emotions. This is what defines the sensorimotor
stage.

For example, a baby might giggle or smile because he or she perceived something as funny or
interesting.
Age (0-2) years

 No Mental operations.
 Lock of Object Permanence.
 Experience through senses and actions
Pre-Operational Stage
Age (2-6) years

 Mental representation
 Children are limited by egocentrism
 Use words and images to representation

For Example, They also begin symbolic play (“playing pretend”), drawing pictures, and talking
about things that happened in the past.

Concrete operational Stage

Age (7-11) years

 Lock Moral Reasoning abilities

 Understand Cognitive Events
 Lock Abstract Logics
 Analogies Logically

For Example, Children learn logical, concrete (physical) rules about objects, such as height, weight, and
volume. They also learn that an object’s properties stay the same, even if the appearance changes (e.g.,
modeling clay).

Formal Operational Stage

Age (12 Or Above) years

 Think Abstractly
 Reason Hypnotically

Adolescents learn logical rules to understand abstract concepts and solve problems.

For example, they may understand the concept of justice.

Limitations
 Development is more continuous than Piaget Believed
 His Tests had high task demands
 His Theory was based on his observations of his three children.