Jean Piaget's Cognitive Stages From Birth To Old Age

From birth to old age, we are going through changes. At the time, we feel like we are the only ones going through them and that no one else can share our story. Because of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson, we now have a better understanding of our development through each stage. Piaget 's four cognitive stages: sensorimotor, birth to two, preoperational, ages two to six, concrete operational, ages seven to eleven, and formal operational, ages twelve to adult. Erikson 's eight psyhcosocial stages: trust versus mistrust, birth to one, autonomy versus shame and doubt, ages one to three, initiative versus guilt, ages three to six, industry versus inferiority, ages six to twelve, identity versus role confusion, ages thirteen to eighteen, intimacy versus isolation, ages eighteen to twenty-five, generativity versus stagnation, ages twenty-five to thirty-five, and ego integrity versus despair, ages thirty-five to fifty. All stages have an important factor that shapes how we will be as adults. With the help of Piaget and Erikson, we understand that not everyone goes through these stages and that we do not all go through them at the same time. We begin with birth. Piaget describes this as our sensorimotor phase. In this phase, we learn through our senses and develop our reflexes. We also develop our …show more content…

Here, our logical thinking, our ability to consider multiple scenarios and the idea that objects remain the same even if they change in appearance. This coincides with Erikson 's stage where we find our sense of mastery and our personal values and beliefs. For an example, think of how in middle and high school everyone seems to form cliques but as they near the end of high school most have grown out of them. Cliques are a major part of this growth because they represent the main archetypes and the child uses these formats to find their own sense of self. It is the beginning of finding our