Jean Piaget: Four Stages of Cognitive Development

The Sensorimotor Period (birth to two years old); - lasts for approximately the first two years of life -an important feature of the sensorimotor period is the development of the object concept -at first the child seems to lose interest in an object that disappears from sight -at the end of this stage, children are beginning to recognize symbolic representation

• attentively watch mobiles above their cribs
    -no awareness of where their limbs are in space (will punch the air or a face that is in too close proximity)
• will cry to indicate needs
    -cry when a toy is hidden from their sight as they don’t realize that it still exists once it is out of sight
• good toys for them are shapes that get put into corresponding holes, being read to and spoken to, verbal interactions

The Preoperational Period (two to six years old); -lasts from approximately two years to seven years of age -characterized by rapid development of language ability and the ability to represent things symbolically which he called the symbolic function

• the child arranges toys in new ways to represent other objects (for example, a row of blocks can represent a train
• starts learning to count and manipulate numbers
• good toys for children at this stage are puzzles, books, trains, blocks and lego, bikes, etc.
• physical development also helps intellectual development so learning to ride a bike, ski, play organized sports, etc.

The Concrete Operational Period (seven to eleven years old); -lasts from approximately seven to twelve years of age -characterized by the ability to perform logical analysis by an increase in the ability to empathize with the feelings and attitudes of others and by understanding more complex cause and effect relations -child becomes more skilled at the use of symbolic thought

• They can arrange a series of objects in order of size and can compare any two objects and say which is larger
    -they learn how to read and vocabulary expands rapidly
    -begin to understand how their own behaviour affects others
    -can do math but learn better with manipulatives
• good toys include video games, all sports, books, more complex puzzles, board games, etc.

The Formal Operational Period (twelve years old to adulthood); -twelve years of age and older Includes the use of essentially adult forms of logic and symbolic representation -child is able to think through two possible solutions to a problem and decide which is the most appropriate

• can do more complex math problems
• better problem solving and conceptual understanding
• decision-making improves
• advanced logic skills
• activities/toys for this stage may be video games, books. board games, organized sports e.t.c.