PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

LEARNING OUTCOME:

1. Describe Piaget’s stages and match the learning activities to the learners’ cognitive
stage (CLO1)

INTRODUCTION

The study of cognitive development is dominated by the theories of two key

psychologists-Piaget and Vygotsky. Other theories have been developed but they usually have
foundations based upon these key theories.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was one of the most influential theorists in the field of
cognitive development. Piaget was a philosopher, biologist, educationalist and psychologist.
He made the decision to study scientifically the way in which children develop knowledge. In
Anonat (2014), Jean Piaget’s account of the processes, experience, and structures involved
in cognition describes how people come to know about their world. The experienced we have
and the schemata we use to construct knowledge from those experiences change as we grow.
Not only does a sixth grader know about more things than the second grader, the sixth grader
knows in a different way. The sixth grader has developed cognitive capabilities that are not
yet in the repertoire of the second grade.

PREPARATION
Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development is truly a classic in the field of
educational psychology as discussed by Lucas (2018). In here, we will focus on how
individuals construct knowledge.
Read and analyze the situations below.
1. It’s Christmas and Uncle Bob is giving “Aguinaldo” the children. Three year-old
Karen did not want to receive the one hundred peso bill and instead preferred to
receive four 20 peso bills. Her ten year-old cousins were telling her it’s better to
get the one hundred bills, but they failed to convince her. Why do you think did
Karen prefer the 20-peso bills?
2. Siblings, Tria, 10; Enzo, 8; and Riel, 4 were sorting out their stuffed animals.
They had 7 bears, 3, 2 cows and 1 dolphin. Mommy, a psychology teacher, enters
and says’ “Good thing you’re sorting those. Do you have more, stuffed animals or
more bears?” Tria and Enzo say, “Stuffed animals.” Riel says, “Bears” Why do
 you think Riel answered “Bears?” What does this say about how she
thought to answer the question?
3. While eating on her high chair, seven-month old Liza accidentally dropped her
spoon on the floor. She saw mommy pick it up. Liza again drops her new spoon,
and she does this several times more on purpose. Mommy didn’t like it at all but
Liza appeared to enjoy dropping the spoons the whole time. Why do you think
baby Liza appeared to enjoy dropping the spoons?
-The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning Principles by Corpus, Lucas, Borabo,
and Lucido (2018).

PRESENTATION

Basic Cognitive Concepts

Schema- This refers to the cognitive structures by which individuals intellectually
adapt to and organize their environment. It is an individual’s way to understand or create
meaning about a thing or experience.
Assimilation-This is the process of fitting a new experience into an existing or
previously created cognitive structure or schema.
Accommodation- This is the process of creating a new schema.
Equilibration- This is a state of achieving proper balance between assimilation and
accommodation.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage1. Sensori-motor stage. The first stage that corresponds from birth to
infancy. This is the stage when a child who is initially reflexive in grasping, sucking and
reaching becomes more organized in his movement and activity. The term sensori-motor
focusses on the prominence of the senses and muscle movement through which the infant
comes to learn about himself and the world.
Object permanence. This is the ability of the child to know that an object still exist
even when out of sight. Object of permanence is an important foundation for later
development. The concept that objects have an existence that is separate from the child and
permanent enables the child to conceive of objects and actions that are not in their immediate
environment.
Sensorimotor intelligence. This is an early stage of intelligence. It is intelligence so
action, the infant “thinks” with action.
 Mental invention. This is the capacity to think out an action before representing it.
The infant is capable of “representation”-that is, he has the capacity for imagining the
environment other than as he directly perceives it.
Imitation. This is the capability to copy behaviors begins with behaviors that are
already part of the child’s repertoire.
https://edugage.com/what-is-the-sensorimotor-stage-of-development/
Stage 2. Pre-Operational stage. The preoperational stage covers from about two to seven
years old, roughly corresponding to the preschool years. Intelligence at this stage is intuitive
in nature. At this stage, the child can now make mental representations and is able to pretend,
the child is now ever closer to the use of symbols.
Symbolic Function. This is the ability to represent objects and events. It is a process
whereby children learn to create their own symbols and to use existing symbol systems to
represent and operate on the environment.
Egocentrism. This is the tendency of the child to only see his point of view and to
assume that everyone also has his same point of view.
Irreversibility. This refers to a person’s inability to mentally reverse actions.
Animism. This is the tendency of children to attribute human like traits or
characteristics to inanimate objects.
Transductive reasoning. This refers to the pre-operational child’s type of reasoning
that is neither inductive nor deductive.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-lifespandevelopment/chapter/piagets-
preoperational-stage-of-cognitive-development/

Stage 3. Concrete-Operational Stage. This is the first stage of operational or logical

thought, in which schemata allow students to realize that there is stability in the physical
world and that reasoning about the physical world can proceed logically. Because the logical
schemata are still new at this stage, students can best see them when considering objects
and events that are concrete. Many educators refer to the concrete operation stage as the
“hands on” period of cognitive development. Although the child can reason, his or her ability
to reason is limited to tangible objects and direct experiences.
Decentering. This refers to the ability of the child to perceive the different features
of objects and situations.
Reversibility. Is the ability to mentally reverse events, the child can now follow
that certain operations can be done in reverse.
Conservation. This is the ability to know that certain properties of objects like
number, mass, volume, or area do not change even if there is a change in appearance.
 Seriation. This refers to the ability to order or arrange things in a series based on one
dimension such as weight, volume, or size.
https://www.verywellmind.com/piagets-stages-of-cognitive-development-2795457

Stage 4. Formal Operational Stage. This is the final stage in Piaget’s theory-begins roughly
around eleven or twelve years of age and continues into and throughout adulthood. Abstract
reasoning is the hallmark of the formal operation stage.
Hypothetical Reasoning. This is the ability to come up with different hypothesis
about a problem and to gather and weigh data in order to make a final decision or judgement.
This can be done in the absence of concrete objects. The individuals can now deal with “What
if” question.
Analogical Reasoning. This is the ability to perceive the relationship in one instance
and then use that relationship to narrow down possible answers in another similar situation
or problem. The individual in the formal operations stage can make an analogy.
Deductive Reasoning. This is the ability to think logically by applying a general rule
to a particular instance or situation.
Summary of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stages Approximate Age Nature of Schemata
Sensorimotor 0-2 Sensations and motor actions
Preoperations 2-7 Illogical operations, symbolic representations,
egocentric, self-centered
Concrete 7-11 Logical, reversible operations, decentered object-
operations bound
Formal 11-adult Abstract-not bound to concrete objects

Source From Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development by B.J.Wadsworth, 1979, New York:
Longman,/Copyright by Longman Publishing Group.Cited by Cown,R.R. and
Roop,Peter.”Educational Psychology and Classroom Practice: A Partnership.1992 by Allyn &
Bacon, Massachussets.*It is important to remember that the stages are cumulative. The
adaptive characteristics of earlier stages are present in later ones.

From Piaget’s findings and comprehensive theory, we can derive the following
principles:

1. Children will provide different explanations of reality at different stages of cognitive

development.
2. Cognitive development is facilitated by providing activities or situations that engage
learners and require adaptation (i.e. assimilation and accommodation)
3. Learning materials and activities should involve the appropriate level of motor or
mental operations for a child of given age; avoid asking students to perform tasks that
are beyond their current cognitive capabilities.
4. Use teaching methods that actively involve students and present challenges.

-Corpus,B.et.al.(2018),The Child and - Learners and Learning Principles, Lorimar

Publishing Inc. 2018
-Anonat,R (2014),Child and Adolescent Development-Updated and Revised
Edition,Books Atbp. Publishing Corp
-Educational Implications of Piaget’s Theory and Activities for Stages of Development
(piaget.weebly.com/educational-implications—activities.html)