Module 6
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Overview
Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of
Development is truly a classic in the field of
educational psychology. This theory fueled
other researches and theories of development
and learning. Its focus is on how individuals
construct knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module, you should be able
to:
1. Describe Piaget’s stages in your own words.
2. Conduct a simple Piagetian Task interview
with children.
3. Match learning activities to the learner’s
cognitive stage.
Abstraction
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
For 60 years, Jean Piaget’s research on
cognitive development involved
observing a small number of
individuals as they responded to
cognitive tasks that he designed and
called Piagetian tasks.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
He called his framework “genetic
epistemo-logy” because he was
interested in how knowledge
developed in human organisms. He
examined the implications of his
theory not only to aspects of
cognition but also to intelligence
and moral development.
Basic Cognitive Concepts
Schema – refers to the cognitive
structures by which individuals
intellectually adapt to and organize
their environment.
Assimilation – the process of fitting a
new experience into an existing or
previously created cognitive structure
or schema.
Basic Cognitive Concepts
Accommodation – the process of creating a
new schema.
Equilibration – means achieving proper
balance between assimilation and
accommodation.
Cognitive disequilibrium – a discrepancy
between what is perceived and what is
understood.
Basic Cognitive Concepts
Cognitive development involves a
continuous effort to adapt to the
environment in terms of
assimilation and accommodation.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage 1. Sensori-motor Stage (birth to
infancy). The child becomes more
organized in his movement and
activity. This stage focuses on the
prominence of the senses and
muscle movement through which
the infant comes to learn about
himself and the world.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Object permanence – the ability of the
child to know that an object still
exist even when out of sight.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage 2. Pre-Operational Stage (2 to 7
yrs.). Intelligence at this stage is
intuitive in nature. The child can
now make mental representations,
is able to pretend, and is closer to
using symbols. This is a period
dominated by a rapid development
of language.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Symbolic Function – the ability to
represent objects and events. A
symbol is a thing that represents
something else.
Egocentrism – the tendency of the
child to only see his point of view
and to assume that everyone also
has his same point of view.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Centration – the tendency of the child
to only focus on one aspect of a
thing or event and exclude other
aspects.
Irreversibility – the inability to reverse
thinking.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Animism – the tendency of children to
attribute human like traits or
characteristics to inanimate objects.
Transductive reasoning – a child’s tendency
to draw conclusions from about specific
events based on other specific events
rather than understanding cause-and-
effect relationship. (Ex. If A causes B, then
B causes A.)
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage 3. Concrete-Operational Stage
(8-11 yrs) – characterized by the
ability of the child to think logically
but only in terms of concrete
objects. Mathematical operations
develop.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Decentering – the ability of the child to
perceive the different features of
objects and situations.
Reversibility – the child can now follow
that certain operations can be done
in reverse. (Ex. They can comprehend
that subtraction is the reverse of
addition.)
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Conservation – the ability to know that
certain properties of objects like
numbers, mass, volume, or area do
not change even if there is a change
in appearance. (Ex. The amount of
water in a glass of 2 different
shapes)
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Seriation – the ability to order or
arrange things in a series based on
one dimension such as weight,
volume or size.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Stage 4. Formal Operational Stage (12
to 15 yrs). Thinking becomes more
logical. They can now solve abstract
problems and can hypothesize. He
learns to understand things through
causes and effects. Logical and
scientific reasoning is possible.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Hypothetical reasoning – the ability to
come up with different hypothesis
and to gather and weigh data in
order to make a final decision or
judgment.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Analogical reasoning – the ability to
perceive the relationship in one
instance and then use that
relationship to narrow down
possible answers in another similar
situation or problem.
Ex. If UK is in Europe, then Philippines is
in ____.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Deductive reasoning – the ability to
think logically by applying a general
rule to a particular instance or
situation.
Ex. All countries near the north pole
have cold temperatures. Greenland is
near the North pole. Therefore,
Greenland has cold temperature.
Principles that can be derived from the
findings of Piaget’s theory
1. Children will provide different
explanations of reality at different
stages of cognitive development.
2. Cognitive development is
facilitated by providing activities or
situations that engage learners and
require adaptation.
Principles that can be derived from the
findings of Piaget’s theory
3. Learning materials and activities
should involve the appropriate
level of motor or mental
operations for a child of a given
age.
4. Use teaching methods that actively
involve students and present
challenges.
Summary
Piaget’s theory of cognitive
development is a comprehensive
theory about the nature and
development of knowledge and
intelligence. This will aid parents
and teachers in understanding
children better, helping them match
learning activities to the learner’s
cognitive stage.
Application
1. Read a research that is related to Piaget’s
theory, then fill out the matrix below.
Problem Research Methodology
Findings Conclusions
Source: (bibliographical entry format)
Application
2. From the module on Piaget’s Stages of
Cognitive Development, I realized
that…..
Thank you.