Human Growth and Development / Unit 1 HGD 0031 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Piaget's Four Stages
The idea
Piaget proposed four stages of cognitive development, each a different way of thinking. The sensorimotor stage, from birth to about two, builds understanding through the senses and action and brings object permanence. The preoperational stage, about two to six, brings pretend play and language but also egocentrism. The concrete operational stage, about seven to eleven, brings conservation and logic about real objects. The formal operational stage, from about twelve, brings abstract logic and moral reasoning.
In practice
The same child at two, five, nine and fourteen, answering one puzzle in four different ways as the stages unfold.
Where people slip
The ages are approximate, and sources differ by a year at the boundaries: some end the preoperational stage at seven and begin formal operations at eleven. Piaget has been criticised for overemphasising maturation and underestimating culture and experience, and research finds considerable overlap between stages. Units three, five, seven and nine teach each stage in turn.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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