According to Jean Piaget, a well-known psychologist, children grow through a chain of four serious stages of cognitive development. Through observations he made of children, Piaget established a theory of knowledgeable development that included four distinct stages: the sensorimotor stage, from birth to the age 2, the preoperational stage, from age 2 to about the age of 7 and the concrete operational stage, ranging from age 7 to 11. The last stage he established was the formal operational stage, which begins in adolescence and spans into adulthood (The 4 stages). Piaget said the most striking features of children 's behavior happen within the first 2 years of life. The child 's world cannot yet be signified mentally so in a very literal sense, items exist only when the child can physically see them and relate with them. When objects are not seen, then they to fail to even exist to the child. This shows the idea of object permanence to the child, which is a realization of the solidity of objects. The Sensorimotor stage is considered by the child facing the world their through senses. During this stage, the children 's thoughts are egocentric, when means that they cannot perceive the world from someone else’s perspective other than their own (Jean Piaget). Infants start to know the world through their movements and sensations every day. They learn through every day activities such as sucking, grasping, and looking. Children learn that things continue to exist even though they cannot be always be seen. They are separate from the people and items around them, but then again realize that their actions start to cause a change in the world all around them (The 4 Stages). When an infant develops object permanence, they will start enjoying games in which people or objects are hidden and then revealed. Peek-a-boo is a fun and easy game to play, but also offers practice with object permanence. Anyone can play peek-a-boo by covering their faces with their hands or any object of their choice. When infants start to become familiar with the game, they might begin to play the game themselves by covering and uncovering their faces. In the second stage of Piaget’s theory, the Preoperational stage, children learn through imaginary play but still struggle with logic and taking the point of view. Children in this stage are between the ages of 2 to 7 years old. Jean Piaget named this stage of development the Preoperational stage because children are not able to perform mental problem-solving activities. As a child moves through the Preoperational stage, they begin to learn how to complete mental processes. One example of an activity would be showing two short building sticks, a child in this stage could not imagine what the sticks would look like if they were put together as one. The child would actually have to put them together to realize that it would be one long stick. Encouraging children to play with objects
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First, you would take two of the same shape and size containers and pour the same amount into each one. You then would ask the child to identify which has more water and would most likely get a response with them saying the same amount is in both. The next part of the activity would be pouring one container into a different shape container and ask which would have more water. Although the containers would still have the same amount, the height different in the containers would differ due to sizes and shapes. The child would see the different amounts and height difference in the container perceive that as being a greater amount of water although it is the same.
The third stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development is the Concrete Operational stage. This usually involves children 7 through 11 years old. Children at this point of development start to think more realistically, but their thinking can also be very rigid. They tend to struggle with nonconcrete and hypothetical concepts. At this point, children become less selfish and start thinking about how people might think or feel. Children in the Concrete Operational stage also begin to comprehend that their thoughts are unique to them and that everyone does not share the same feelings or thoughts (The 4
First, you would take two of the same shape and size containers and pour the same amount into each one. You then would ask the child to identify which has more water and would most likely get a response with them saying the same amount is in both. The next part of the activity would be pouring one container into a different shape container and ask which would have more water. Although the containers would still have the same amount, the height different in the containers would differ due to sizes and shapes. The child would see the different amounts and height difference in the container perceive that as being a greater amount of water although it is the same.
The third stage of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development is the Concrete Operational stage. This usually involves children 7 through 11 years old. Children at this point of development start to think more realistically, but their thinking can also be very rigid. They tend to struggle with nonconcrete and hypothetical concepts. At this point, children become less selfish and start thinking about how people might think or feel. Children in the Concrete Operational stage also begin to comprehend that their thoughts are unique to them and that everyone does not share the same feelings or thoughts (The 4