Theory & Stages of Cognitive Development

He is famous for disputing the existing theories of cognitive development of his time, which asserted that children’s knowledge was innate. Instead, he thought that a child’s comprehension and awareness of the world evolved as a result of the child’s interactions with it.​

​Child Psychology

Before Piaget, the study of cognition was mainly on adults. During that time, psychologists saw children as “mini adults” and believed they thought in the same way adults do. However, Piaget’s work showed that children think very differently from adults and that their thinking changes in a predictable way as they mature. 

His theory has changed the way we evaluate children in different age groups. For example, with a 6-year-old, a clinician won’t be alarmed that the child can’t grasp abstract concepts. However, if an adolescent can’t understand others’ viewpoints or hypothetical situations, it’s probably cause for concern (Scott & Cogburn, 2023). This understanding also helps to determine if a child has issues with cognitive development such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, or a learning disability (Malik & Marwaha, 2023).

​​Education

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development influenced our understanding of children’s learning by emphasizing the importance of age-appropriate, child-centered education. It emphasizes the importance of tailoring educational practices to the cognitive abilities of children at different developmental stages. His work has been cited in over 20,000 studies, and it has been used to develop new curricula and teaching methods.

Piaget’s theory is based on the idea that children actively construct their knowledge through interactions with their environment. Because of this, his ideas have had a profound impact on education, emphasizing the importance of active learning, hands-on experiences, and exploration to foster cognitive development. Educators often design activities that encourage students to actively engage with and manipulate their environment to construct their understanding (Rabindran & Madanagopal, 2020).

Piaget believed that schemas are the building blocks of our understanding. We use them to make sense of new information, solve problems, and make predictions about the world. Schemas are also important for memory, as they help us to encode and retrieve information.

Schemas play an important role in learning and development. They help us make sense of the world around us, remember information, and, again, solve problems. They are also essential for language development, as they allow us to understand and produce sentences.

Examples of schemas:
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• Schema for a dog: A dog has four legs, fur, and a tail, and it barks.
• Schema for riding a bike: You need to balance, pedal, and steer.
• Schema for a birthday party: There is a cake, there are presents, and there is singing.
• Schema for a job interview: You need to dress professionally, answer questions about your experience, and be polite.

Piaget believed that children are motivated to seek equilibrium, or a state of balance, and that they will actively seek out new information and experiences that challenge their existing schemas. When new information cannot be easily assimilated into an existing schema, it creates cognitive dissonance, which is a state of discomfort or tension. Cognitive dissonance motivates children to try to resolve the inconsistency by either modifying their existing schema or creating a new one.

There are two main types of equilibration: assimilation and accommodation. Let’s take a look at those next.​

However, in order to learn, assimilation operates in conjunction with accommodation. This is because sometimes we encounter something that doesn’t quite fit in with our existing schema. For example, imagine a child who has always associated birds with flying. Upon encountering an ostrich—a large, flightless bird—the child’s schema of “bird” is challenged. To accommodate this new information, the child must modify their understanding of birds, recognizing that not all birds have the ability to fly.

So the two processes work together. Assimilation creates structure and a way to interpret things, and accommodation allows us to modify that structure when needed. The interplay between the two lets us make sense of the world.​

Here is an example of how accommodation might occur:

A young child has a schema for a dog that consists of a four-legged, furry animal that barks. One day, the child sees a hairless dog for the first time. The child’s existing schema for a dog does not include hairless dogs, so the child must accommodate this new information by modifying their schema. The child might create a new subcategory of dogs that includes hairless dogs, or they might simply expand their existing schema to include both furry and hairless dogs.

Of course, we all use accommodation throughout our lives. As we encounter new information and experiences, we are constantly modifying and updating our schemas. This process is essential for our cognitive growth and allows us to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the world.​

Piaget’s constructivism has significant implications for education, emphasizing the importance of hands-on, experiential learning that allows students to actively construct their own knowledge. Teachers should provide opportunities for students to engage with their environment, explore new ideas, and make connections between different concepts. By fostering active learning, educators can promote meaningful and lasting understanding.

Before children reach the age of about 6 months, if you hide something they will believe it no longer exists (Malik & Marwaha, 2023). You can see this in experiments when researchers place a desired toy under a screen: Infants don’t make any attempts to look for it. 

However, more recent research shows that the concept of object permanence develops in stages. In addition, it seems to depend on how you hide something. When you hide something by moving a screen (or cloth or whatever) over the toy, infants understand that it’s still there at an earlier age than when you leave the screen where it is and move the toy under it (Moore & Meltzoff, 1999).

• Focusing on one dimension: For example, a child who is asked to compare two rows of blocks may only focus on the length of the blocks and not on the number of blocks in each row. 
• Focusing on one attribute: For example, a child who is asked to compare two objects of the same size but different colors may only focus on the color of the objects and not on their size.
• Focusing on one perspective: For example, a child who is asked to explain how two people can see the same object from different perspectives may only be able to explain their own perspective.

Centration is a common characteristic of children’s thinking during the preoperational stage of development, which lasts from about 2 to 7 years of age. During this stage, children are still developing their ability to think logically and abstractly. They may have difficulty understanding that objects can have multiple properties or that different perspectives can exist.

As children develop, they gradually overcome centration and become able to think more flexibly. This is known as decentration. Decentration allows children to consider multiple aspects of a situation or object at the same time. It also allows them to understand that different perspectives can exist.

Heteronomous morality (Ages 4 to 7):

• Characteristics:
  • Also known as the morality of constraint.
  • Children in this stage tend to view rules as absolute and unchangeable.
  • They believe that rules are handed down by authorities (parents, teachers) and must be followed rigidly.
  • Punishment is seen as immediate and inevitable if a rule is broken.
• Example:
  • If you ask a child in this stage about the morality of stealing, they might say it’s wrong simply because there’s a rule against it, without considering the reasons behind the rule.

Autonomous morality (Ages 7 and older):

• Characteristics:
  • Also known as the morality of cooperation.
  • Children in this stage begin to understand that rules are created by people and can be changed through consensus.
  • Moral judgments are more flexible, taking into account intentions and context.
  • They understand that rules can be modified through social agreement.
• Example:
  • If you ask a child in this stage about the morality of stealing, they might consider factors like why someone stole, if it was justified in a particular situation, and whether the rules could be changed.

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Piaget believed that as children’s thought processes develop, their understanding of morality progresses from the heteronomous stage to the autonomous stage. However, not all children progress at the same rate, so the age where the different stages are seen can vary. 

Also, more recent research has suggested that moral development is a more complex and ongoing process, involving not only cognitive factors but also social and emotional factors. In fact, one study suggests that children as young as 3 can consider the motives behind behaviors when the situation is presented in the right way (Nelson, 1980). 

For example, if a child pours water from one glass into a taller, narrower glass, they might initially think there is more water in the taller glass because the water level looks higher. However, as the child develops the concept of reversibility, they understand that they can mentally reverse the action and recognize that the amount of water remains the same.

A child’s understanding of reversibility is an important milestone in cognitive development. It allows children to think more logically and solve problems more effectively. It plays a fundamental role in various cognitive abilities, including:
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• Conservation: The ability to recognize that the quantity or value of a substance remains constant despite changes in its appearance or arrangement.
• Logical reasoning: The ability to mentally retrace steps and consider alternative solutions, essential for problem-solving and decision-making.
• Serial order: The ability to understand the sequence of events and recognize that actions can be undone or reversed.
• Mathematical reasoning: The ability to comprehend mathematical operations and their inverse relationships, such as addition and subtraction.

Here’s a description of the different stages:

• Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years): During this initial stage, infants and toddlers primarily engage in functional play, exploring the world through their senses and actions. They manipulate objects to understand their properties and how they can be used. For instance, an infant might repeatedly bang a rattle on the floor to observe the sound it produces (Scott & Cogburn, 2023).
• Symbolic or pretend play (2 to 7 years): Preschoolers enter the world of symbolic play, using objects and actions to represent something else. They engage in imaginative play, pretending to be animals, characters, or superheroes. They also practice symbolic representation, using objects to symbolize something else, like a stick as a sword or a blanket as a cape (Scott & Cogburn, 2023).
• Games with rules (7 to 11 years): As children progress into middle childhood, they begin to understand and follow rules in games. They engage in rule-governed play, participating in games with established rules and structures. They also practice cooperation and social interaction, playing with others and taking turns (Malik & Marwaha, 2023).
• Social or cooperative play (11 years and beyond): During adolescence and beyond, children engage in social or cooperative play, focusing on teamwork, collaboration, and strategic thinking (Ahmed et al., 2016). They participate in team sports, cooperative games, and group activities. They also practice social skills, communication, and conflict resolution. ​

Piaget proposed that children develop a theory of mind through a series of stages:
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• Sensorimotor stage (0 to 2 years): Infants and toddlers are egocentric, meaning they believe that everyone sees the world from their own perspective. They cannot distinguish between their own thoughts and feelings and those of others.
• Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years): Children begin to understand that other people have different perspectives, but they still have difficulty understanding false beliefs. They may believe that someone will continue to see an object as they last saw it, even if the object has been moved.
• Concrete operational stage (7 to 12 years): Children develop the ability to understand false beliefs and can reason about hypothetical situations. They can also understand that people can have different desires and intentions.
• Formal operational stage (12 years and older): Adolescents and adults develop the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically. They can understand complex social situations and can reason about multiple perspectives.

Piaget’s theory of mind has been criticized for a few reasons. Some researchers argue that Piaget’s stages are too rigid and that children’s understanding of theory of mind is more fluid and variable. Others argue that Piaget’s theory does not adequately explain how children develop social-cognitive skills.

Despite these criticisms, Piaget’s theory of mind remains an influential theory in developmental psychology. It has helped to shape our understanding of how children learn to understand the minds of others.

While Piaget’s theory has been highly influential, it has also been criticized for its emphasis on stages and its lack of attention to individual differences. Critics argue that children’s cognitive development is not as linear as Piaget suggests and that children may exhibit characteristics of more than one stage at a time.

Despite these criticisms, Piaget’s theory remains an important contribution to our understanding of cognitive development. His work has helped us to appreciate the complexity of child development and the important role that interaction plays in learning.​

• Ahmad, S., Ch, A. H., Batool, A., Sittar, K., & Malik, M. (2016). Play and cognitive development: Formal operational perspective of Piaget’s theory. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(28), 72–79.
• Malik, F., & Marwaha., R. (2023, April 23). Cognitive development. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537095/ 
• Miller, P. H. (2011). Piaget’s theory: Past, present, and future. In U. Goswami (Ed.), The Wiley-Blackwell handbook of childhood cognitive development (pp. 649–672. Wiley Blackwell.
• Moore, M. K., & Meltzoff, A. N. (1999). New findings on object permanence: A developmental difference between two types of occlusion. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17(4), 623–644.
• Nelson, S. A. (1980). Factors influencing young children’s use of motives and outcomes as moral criteria. Child Development, 823–829.
• Pakpahan, F. H., & Saragih, M. (2022). Theory of cognitive development by Jean Piaget. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 55–60.
• Patanella, D. (2011). Piaget’s theory of moral development. In S. Goldstein and J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Encyclopedia of child behavior and development. Springer. 
• Rabindran, M. D., & Madanagopal, D. (2020). Piaget’s theory and stages of cognitive development-An overview. Scholars Journal of Applied Medical Sciences, 8(9), 2152–2157.
• Scott H. K., & Cogburn M. (2023, January 9). Piaget. StatPearls. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK448206/