AP Psychology Unit 10: Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget

cognitive development

cognitive development

the development of thinking, problem solving, and memory, biologically universial

What did Jean Piaget propose?

- all children pass through a fixed sequence of universal stages of cognitive development approximately at the same age, regardless of cultural & and demographic variables

- all stages follow a sequential oarder, no stage can be bypassed or skipped

the sensorimotor stage

stage 1, birth to 2 years

- sensory development & stimuli exploration, developed of rudimentary schemas

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived "out of sight, out of mind"

When does object permanence typically get mastered?

8-9 months

object permanence example

- hiding a toy under a blanket, thinking it is now gone

- peek-a-boo

the preoperational stage

stage 2, 2-7 years

- development of symbols & language (critical period hypothesis)

development of operational cognition

(sequential mental processing)

- comprehension of patterns & symmetry

- arranging thoughts/tasks in order

egocentric cognition

(egocentrism) inability to understand concepts through a perspective other than their own, general inability to empathize

- assuming everyone sees, hears, feels, thinks, the same way they do

egocentric cognition example

Why is the grass green?

"because it's my favorite color"

animistic cogition

- believing all things are living & have human characteristics, feelings, & emotions

- attributing life & consciousness to inanimate objects

animistic example

Why is it raining?

"because the clouds are sad & crying"

artificialistic cognition

assuming that environmental events are due to human actions & technology they're familiar with

artificialistic example

What happens to the sun when it goes down?

"someone is probably changing the light bulb"

the concrete operational stage

stage 3, 7-11 years. children able to think logically

reversibility

reversing the sequential operations developed via Operation Cognition

reversibility example

counting backwards, subtraction

conservation

undertstanding the concept that the value of an object remains constant despite changes in form

conservation example

Aware that the liquid is the same amount regardless of the container

the formal operation stage

stage 4, (cognitive maturity) able think logically about abstract concepts, 11 to adulthood

cognitive maturity

understand abstract concepts, make rational decisions

metacognition

thinking about thinking

- understanding one's own perferred learning styles