Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development in Children

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According to Piaget children go through 4 stages of cognitive development. The stages are; Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years), Preoperational thought (2-7 years), Concrete operations (7-11 years), Formal operations (11years and above). During the sensorimotor stage infants learn by using their senses, there is no abstract thinking. Object permanence which is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be observed and separation anxiety develop in this stage. Stranger anxiety develops at around 8 months which is an infant’s fear of strangers. Infants under two believe other people see the world like they do, this is called egocentrism, being unable to see that the environment looks different to someone else. Temperament …show more content…

They are able of solving problems using reasoning and logic. They can organize facts and events in mature fashion and figure out possible moves and their outcomes. They can also deal with proportions and analogies and reflect on their own thinking. One of the major themes of development is moral development. The most influential research on development was done by Lawrence Kohlberg. It was influenced by Piaget’s cognitive developmental approach. Kohlberg divided Moral development into 6 stages. The first stage is called Preconventional level. During this stage individuals recognize labels of “good” and “bad”, right and wrong, but do not interpret these labels in terms of social standards. The next stage is called Conventional level. During this level individuals make moral judgments based on expectations, whether the expectations are coming from family or society. This level of morality is shown mainly by adolescents and adults. The next level is the post conventional level. During this stage individuals accept and stand by society’s rules and laws but tend to view them in terms of the underlying principles. Individuals may also follow personal ethical principles. This is where they take into account human rights or life and

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