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Cognitive Development Stages Explained

Cognitive development refers to how humans acquire and organize knowledge over time. It involves processes like assimilation, where new information is incorporated into existing knowledge structures called schemas, and accommodation, where schemas change to adapt to new information. Jean Piaget identified four main stages of cognitive development: sensory-motor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each stage is characterized by new cognitive abilities that emerge like object permanence, symbolic thought, logical reasoning, and hypothetical-deductive thinking.

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35 views4 pages

Cognitive Development Stages Explained

Cognitive development refers to how humans acquire and organize knowledge over time. It involves processes like assimilation, where new information is incorporated into existing knowledge structures called schemas, and accommodation, where schemas change to adapt to new information. Jean Piaget identified four main stages of cognitive development: sensory-motor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Each stage is characterized by new cognitive abilities that emerge like object permanence, symbolic thought, logical reasoning, and hypothetical-deductive thinking.

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COGNITIVE

development
Definition Terms
It is the process by which human beings acquire, organize, and Schema - the person’s way of organizing knowledge.
learn to use knowledge.
Assimilation - a process of taking new information into the
existing schema.

Accommodation - changing or altering existing schemas to the


new information provided or learned.

Watch: Schemas, assimilation, and accommodation |


Children’s cognitive development is influenced by biological Processing the Environment | MCAT | Khan Academy
maturation - Jean Piaget
STAGES of Cognitive
development
Sensory-motor Preoperational stage
Sensory-motor (Birth - 2 Years) - Children think through what
they see, hear, move, touch and taste. There are two major
accomplishments at this stage: permanence and goal-directed Preoperational stage (ages 2 - 7) - The child’s thinking during
actions. this stage is pre- (before) operations. This means the child
cannot use logic or transform, combine, or separate ideas
Permanence - belief that an object still exists even if not within (Piaget, 1951, 1952). An ability was demonstrated at this stage -
sight of the child. semiotic function.
Example: Even when the mother leaves for work, the child is
aware that the mother comes home in the afternoon. Semiotic function - children’s ability to form and use symbols to
represent physical action or reality.
Goal-directed actions - actions that are instinctive and Example: Identifying a bird from a book
involuntary
Example: Getting food & family attention
STAGES of Cognitive
development
Concrete operational stage Formal operational stage
Concrete operational stage (ages 7 - 11) - characterized by Formal operational stage (ages 12 and up) - adolescence can
organized and rational thinking. A major ability at this stage is engage in mental processes. At this stage, hypothetico-
reversible thinking (thinking backward, from the end to the deductive reasoning and adolescent egocentrism are featured.
beginning) that involves conservation, decentration and Hypothetico-deductive reasoning - giving deductions as they
classification. systematically evaluate their observations as well as their
answers.
Conservation - children acquire logical reasoning skills and the
ability to understand that things stay in the same quantity even Adolescent egocentrism - the assumption that amidst diversity
if they appear to be different. (perceptions and beliefs), every individual shares other’s
thoughts, feelings, and concerns. (opposite to to earlier stages,
Decentration - ability to focus on more than one dimension of wherein children think what they and others think are similar to
an object at a time. theirs)

Classification - ability to group similar objects in terms of color,


shape, use, etc.
THANK YOU!
Source/s:

https://www.simplypsychology.org/preoperational.html
https://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Decentering+%2528Decentration%2529
https://optimistminds.com/concrete-operational-stage/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/cognitive-development

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