Jean Piaget

Sensorimotor (Birth - 2 yrs)

Children explore the world w/ their senses & learn through physical interactions

• Lack object permanence. The idea that people/things continue to exist even when not seen

Pre-operational (2-7)

Children represent things w/ words & images such as symbolic though, parallel & pretend play

• Egocentrism: Inability to see things from another person’s perspective (Thinking their mom would like toys because they like toys)

• Symbolic thinking: Treating inanimate objects like they have feelings

Concrete Operational (12-14)

Children begin to demonstrate logical thinking. (Forming conclusions based on evidence, deductive logic)

• Conservation: Understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes

Formal Operational (12+)

Gain the ability to think in an abstract manner (outside the box)

• High level of math, creative thinking, can form hypothesis, predict, etc