Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor stage

• Experiencing the world through senses and actions

• 0-2 years old

Pre-operational stage

• Representing things with words and images but lacking logical reasoning

• 2-7 years old

Concrete operational stage

• Thinking logically about real events

• 7-11 years old

Formal operational stage

• Abstract reasoning

• 11+ years old

Egocentrism

Inability to perceive things from another person’s point of view

Accommodation

The process of taking in information that causes a person to modify an existing schema

Object Permanence

The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived

Conservation

The knowledge that a substance’s number or amount does not change even when its shape or form does

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand someone else’s point of view

Assimilation

The process of taking in information that adds to a schema

Schemas

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information