8. In the first post natal stage of development, children experience six sub-stages of spatial and sensory learning and growth. Sensorimotor Stage Infancy (0 - 24 months) Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development 1
9. Characteristic Behavior Developmental Stage & Approximate Age Reflexive (0-2 months) Simple reflex activity such as grasping, sucking. Primary Circular Reactions (2-4 months) Reflexive behaviours occur in stereotyped repetition such as opening and closing fingers repetitively. Secondary Circular Reactions (4-8 months) Repetition of change actions to reproduce interesting consequences such as kicking one's feet to more a mobile suspended over the crib. Coordination of Secondary Reactions (8-12 months) Responses become coordinated into more complex sequences. Actions take on an "intentional" character such as the infant reaches behind a screen to obtain a hidden object. Tertiary Circular Reactions (12-18 months) Discovery of new ways to produce the same consequence or obtain the same goal such as the infant may pull a pillow toward him in an attempt to get a toy resting on it. Invention of New Means Through Mental Combination (18-24 months) Evidence of an internal representational system. Symbolizing the problem-solving sequence before actually responding. Deferred imitation. Sensorimotor Stage (0 - 24 months) 1
10. The Preoperational Stage Toddler & Early Childhood (2-7 years) Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development 2 There are 2 sub-stages or phases here: Preoperational 2-4 years Intuitive 4-7 years
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14. Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development 3 Operational thinking develops, moving from the concrete towards the abstract
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18. This stage continues into adulthood. This is the stage where children, entering puberty, begin to think abstractly and create meaning from available data. Formal Operational Stage (11-15+ years) Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development 4 `
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20. This critical fourth stage is responsible for creating global problem solvers and creative thinkers Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development Formal Operational Stage (11-15+ years) who can analyze a situation and not be confined by concrete ideas or previously accepted logic .
22. However cross-sectional studies of adolescents indicate only 30 to 35% of high school seniors attain the cognitive development stage of formal operations
23. For formal operations, it appears that maturation establishes the basis, but a special environment is required for most adolescents and adults to develop fully formed formal operational capacity .
24. The four stages are believed to be universal rather than cultural. Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development The four stages follow the same sequence of development despite the variance of timing or geographic relevance.
25. Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development Sensorimotor Stage (0 - 24 months) The Preoperational Stage (2-7 years) Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years) Formal Operational Stage (11-15+ years) 4 2 3 1
General information regarding the stages These four stages have been found to have the following characteristics: * They apply to thought rather than children * Although the timing may vary, the sequence of the stages does not. * Universal (not culturally specific) * Generalizable: the representational and logical operations available to the child should extend to all kinds of concepts and content knowledge * Stages are logically organized wholes * Hierarchical nature of stage sequences (each successive stage incorporates elements of previous stages, but is more differentiated and integrated) * Stages represent qualitative differences in modes of thinking, not merely quantitative differences
