Piaget's theory of cognitive development explains how children's thinking progresses through four universal stages - sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational - as their mental abilities develop due to biological and environmental factors. Children construct knowledge through assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration as they interact with the world. Piaget's stages describe children as active learners who develop object permanence, symbolic thought, logic, and abstract reasoning over time.

1. Piaget's Theory of Cognitive
Development
Helena Stegawski
TDC31F- 2/2015

2. Piaget's theory aims to explain the mechanisms and processes by
which infants develop into adults who can reason and think using
hypotheses.
Cognitive Development
=
progressive reorganization of
mental processes due to
biological maturation &
environmental experiences.
Children construct
knowledge.

3. Four factors interact to influence changes
in thinking:
1. Biological maturation - growing up
2. Activity - act on the environment (explore, test, observe)
3. Social experiences - learning from others (transmission)
4. Equilibrium - the search for balance between the basic
tendencies in thinking.

4. Basic Tendencies in Thinking A.K.A Invariant Functions
1. Organization - tendency to organize thinking
processes into psychological structures which
become our systems to understand & interact
with the world. In other words, our
ALL species inherit two
tendencies that influence
cognition:
1. Organization
2. Adaptation
SCHEMA
Ways of organizing
knowledge - basic
building block of
intelligent behavior

5. Basic Tendencies in Thinking A.K.A Invariant Functions
1. Assimilation – the use of an existing schema to
deal with a new object or situation. Trying to fit
something new in what we already know.
2. Accommodation – the existing schema does not
work and needs to be changed to deal with a new
object or situation.
3. Equilibration – the force which drives the learning
process. The constant adjustment of our schemas
through assimilation & accommodation to keep us
motivated to keep learning.
2. Adaptation - ability to adapt
mental representations to fit the
environmental demands
through the basic processes of :
1. Assimilation
2. Accommodation
3. Equilibration

7. Stages of Development
There are four universal stages of cognitive
development:
Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete Operational
Formal Operational

8. Learn through movements they make and sensations they result
Begin to make use of imitation, memory and thought
Move from reflex actions to goal – directed activity
Sensoriomotor Stage – 0 to 2 years old
Learn that things still exist
even if they can’t see them.
(Object permanence)

9. Language development
Fantasy play
Symbolic gestures
Preoperational Stage – 2 to 7 years old
Has difficulties seeing
another person’s point of
view. (Egocentrism)

10. Able to solve concrete problems in logical fashion
Understand reversibility
Able to classify and seriate
Concrete Operational – 7 to 11 years old
Understands laws
of Conservation

11. Able to solve abstract problems in logical fashion
Becomes more scientific in thinking and can think hypothetically & systematically
Develops concerns about social issues, identity
Formal Operational – 11 to adult
Manipulates ideas in
the head – abstract
reasoning

12. Application of Piaget’s Theory to the classroom
 Discovery learning – children learn best through doing and
actively exploring
 Focus on the process of learning, rather than the end product of it
 Use active methods that require rediscovering or reconstructing
“truths”
 Use both collaborative and individual activities, so they can learn
from each other
 Provide situations that present useful problems and create
disequilibrium in the child
 Evaluate the level of the child’s development, so suitable tasks
can be provided
 The role of the teacher is to facilitate learning, and not direct it
Piaget did not explicitly
related his theory to
education, but his theories
can be applied to teaching
and learning:

13. Evaluation of Piaget’s Theory
Support
• Changed how people viewed the
child’s world
• Changed methods to study
children
• Increased our understanding of
cognitive development
Criticism
• Are the stages real? Isn’t
development a continuous
process?
• Failed to consider social setting
and culture have on cognitive
development
• His methods (observation & clinical
interviews) are more opened to
biased interpretation
• Underestimate children - difficult &
confusing tests