Jean Piaget's theory that children's thinking develops through four qualitatively distinct stages in a fixed sequence: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational, each marked by different capacities for reasoning about objects, categories and abstract ideas. Piaget began publishing the framework in the 1930s, and it became foundational to developmental and educational psychology.
Facts
Core ClaimChildren actively construct their understanding of the world by passing through the same sequence of cognitive stages, though not every individual reaches the final, formal operational stage. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
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Additional Source WikipediaPiaget's theory of cognitive development, lead section In Approach
Additional Source WikipediaPiaget's theory of cognitive development, lead section Sources
1. Simply Psychology
Simply Psychologysimplypsychology.org/Piaget.html, stages sectionQuote, simplypsychology.org/Piaget.html, stages section
Piaget proposed that all children pass through the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational stages in the same sequence, though not everyone reaches the final stage.
1. Simply Psychology
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In developing his cognitive theory, Piaget engaged in significant intellectual debates, notably with contemporaries Susan and Nathan Isaacs.
1. Simply Psychology
Simply PsychologyPiaget's Theory and Stages page, overviewQuote, Piaget's Theory and Stages page, overview
The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.
1. Simply Psychology
Simply PsychologyPiaget's Theory and Stages page, critique sectionQuote, Piaget's Theory and Stages page, critique section
Piaget likely underestimated young children: when researchers removed the repeated question and the adult-led transformation from the classic conservation task, much younger children conserved correctly.
1. Simply Psychology
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Piaget was employed at the Binet Institute in the 1920s, where his job was to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests.
1. Simply Psychology
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Piaget's (1936, 1950) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world.
1. Simply Psychology
1. Simply Psychology
Simply PsychologyIn Category: Learning Theory and Concepts, Piaget's Theory and Stages pageQuote, In Category: Learning Theory and Concepts, Piaget's Theory and Stages page
Jean Piaget's theory describes cognitive development as a progression through four distinct stages.
1. Simply Psychology
Simply PsychologyDeveloped By: Jean Piaget, Piaget's Theory and Stages page, attributionQuote, Developed By: Jean Piaget, Piaget's Theory and Stages page, attribution
Jean Piaget's theory describes cognitive development as a progression through four distinct stages.
1. Simply Psychology
Simply PsychologyIn Approach: Constructivism, Piaget's Theory and Stages page, constructivist framingQuote, In Approach: Constructivism, Piaget's Theory and Stages page, constructivist framing
Children actively build up their knowledge about the world. They are not passive creatures waiting for someone to fill their heads with knowledge.
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationPiaget's theory of cognitive development, lead sectionQuote, Piaget's theory of cognitive development, lead section
The theory deals with the nature of knowledge itself and how humans gradually come to acquire, construct, and use it.
Wikipedia
Wikimedia FoundationPiaget's theory of cognitive development, StagesQuote, Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Stages
In 1919, while working at the Alfred Binet Laboratory School in Paris, Piaget was intrigued by the fact that children of different ages made different kinds of mistakes while solving problems.
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