Cognitive Development Theory

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY
Cognitive development means the development of a child’s mental abilities in reasoning,

problem solving recalling, language perception and understanding.
In case of theory
Theory is a set of ideas or propositions that helps to organize or explain the observable
phenomenon.
Cognitive theory is a set of ideas that deal with the development of a child’s mental ability
that help us in creation and decision making.
JEAN PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
INTRODUCTION
Jean Piaget’s was a French, born in Neuchâtel in 1886 – 1980. He is Biologist and
Psychologist. He look on child’s cognitive development, main concern after birth as being
that of trying to understand his/her environment and how to cope with it.
Jean Piaget’s recognize that the cognitive development of a child lies in his constant
interaction with an adaptation to his physical and social environment. The task of such
adaptation is carried out through the process of assimilation and accommodation.
Secondly through organization of the internal rearrangement of schemes so that they

form a strong cognitive system.
Assimilation: The interpretation of new facts in the light of existing knowledge.
Accommodation: Is the process of modifying of existing knowledge in light of new

information.
Example: When a child who gets a new understanding that bat is a mammal and not bird.
: Also may change his or her earlier knowledge which are only bird can fly but also
some mammals can fly like bat.
Piaget assumed that there are four major stages of cognitive development.
1
The four stages of cognitive development
1. The Sensory – Motor stage (Birth – 3 years)

2. The Pre-operational stage (2 – 6 years )
3. The Concrete operational stage (7 – 11 years)
4. The Formal operational stage (11 – 14 years)
THE SENSORY – MOTOR STAGE (Birth – 3 years)
This stage the infant obtain information (acquire knowledge) through the sense and actions
that the child understand this environment through excessive use of his five sense (tongue,
skin, eye, ear, and nose).
Child use this sense to obtain information about their environment and the infant learn that
objects exist even when they are not visible. Also changes their way of thinking.
Example: Child who live in remote in rural area use his sense organ and assume that all house
are round and grass that. But when visit on urban area can also use his/her sense organ and
discover that house are in different shape and size, But commonly know that through his
sense organ eye, ear, skin (for touching) and other.
THE PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE (2 – 6 years)
This period affects mainly pre-school going children aged between 2-7 years. In this stage
children display three behaviors that affects their use of symbols to represent thought.
Include
i. Differed imitation
Here child imitate the earlier observed behavior.
ii. Symbolic play
Here child use objects to stand for something else. Example Children use sand to
stand for food, or stick for spoon.
iii. Use of language
Children acquire language skills quickly during pre-school year.
2
Some of the main characteristics of pre-operational stage include Egocentricism, Animism,
Centration, and Lack of conservation and Overgeneralization.
THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE (7 – 11 years)
In this stage the child now can capable of making logical statement and hence deal with
physical present, real object situations that they have experience for logical thing and also
allow the child to concrete on class, relation and quality and can able to develop the
following skills
i. Classification
Is the process of sorting and grouping, matching and pairing corresponding number,
symbols, in objects.
ii. Serialization
Is the ability to arrange objects in an orderly series. Example Longest to shortest,
lightest to darkness.
iii. Conservation
This is the same as Conservation of quantity.
iv. Information process
In this stage children have ability to make selective attention, organize information,
memorizing and remembering.
THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE (11 – 14 years)
This is the stage of thinking at which adolescents and an adults operate. It is the highest level
of cognitive development. Children begin to think logically about the world in abstract terms.
They can think in a number of ways, test hypothesis and deal with problem that are not
physically present in their environment.
These stage is characterized by
i. Hypothetically thinking (deductive thinking).

ii. Abstract thinking
iii. Planning
iv. Meta cognition.
3
References
1. "Cognitive Development - Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Reference for the

Education of Children, Adolescents, and Adults with Disabilities and Other
Exceptional Individuals - Credo Reference". search.credoreference.com.
2. Franzoi, Stephen. Essentials of Psychology. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-5178014-2-7.
3. McLeod, S. A. "Piaget | Cognitive Theory". Simply Psychology. Retrieved 18
September 2012.
4. "JEAN PIAGET - Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language -
Credo Reference". search.credoreference.com.
5. Great Lives from History: The Twentieth Century; September 2008, p1–3
6. Singer-Freeman, Karen E. (30 November 2005). "Concrete Operational
Period". Encyclopedia of Human Development. 1.
7. Piaget, J. (1977). The role of action in the development of thinking. In Knowledge
and development (pp. 17–42). Springer US.
8. Maréchal, Garance (30 November 2009). "Constructivism". Encyclopedia of Case
Study Research. 1.
9. Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1973). Memory and intelligence. London: Routledge and
Kegan Paul.
10. Furth, H. G. (1977). The operative and figurative aspects of knowledge in Piaget's
theory. B. A. Geber (Ed.). London, England: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

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What are the four stages of cognitive development according to Piaget?

What are some characteristics of the pre-operational stage?

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT THEORY

Cognitive development means the development of a child’s mental abilities in reasoning,

JEAN PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Secondly through organization of the internal rearrangement of schemes so that they

Assimilation: The interpretation of new facts in the light of existing knowledge.

Accommodation: Is the process of modifying of existing knowledge in light of new

1. The Sensory – Motor stage (Birth – 3 years)

THE SENSORY – MOTOR STAGE (Birth – 3 years)

THE PRE-OPERATIONAL STAGE (2 – 6 years)

THE CONCRETE OPERATIONAL STAGE (7 – 11 years)

THE FORMAL OPERATIONAL STAGE (11 – 14 years)

These stage is characterized by

i. Hypothetically thinking (deductive thinking).

1. "Cognitive Development - Encyclopedia of Special Education: A Reference for the

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