Question

Describe the cognitive capabilities associated with each of Piaget’s Cognitive Stages of development.

Answer 1

Jean piaget was the most influential developmental Psychologist of the 20th century. According to her, infants interact with their environment entirely through Reflexive Behaviour and as they begin to grow and learn about their environment through their senses,they begin to engage in intentional,goal-directed behaviour. Moreover,Piaget claims that Cognitive Development is at the center of Human organism and language is contigent on cognitive developement in terms of stages.

PIAGET identifed 4 stages of Cognitive development:-

1. Sensory motor stage (birth-2yrs.) -Infants begin to separate self from others. Explore the physical properties of objects present in the environment. Learns that objects exist even when they are no longer in view. Begins to imitate others and to speak and understand simple words.

2. Pre-operational stage (2-7yrs.)- Language develops rapidly but is often used ego-centrically without an awareness of the listeners perspective. Cognition is limited. Child believes,for example,that the amount of water in a glass changes when the water is poured into a container of a different shape.

3. Concrete-operational(7-11yrs.) - Cogniton becomes more logical and adult like. Child no longer believes for example, that the shape of a container determines the amount it holds.Child reasons about the qualities of objects.

4. Formal Operational stage(11 yrs. through Adulthood)- Cogniton becomes fully flexible. People reasons abstractly. can form hypothesis and evaluate them mentally, somtimes in the absence of concrete objects.

The theory of Cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of Human intelligence.