What are Piaget's stages of cognitive development?

Psychology

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Jean Piaget proposed that children develop thinking abilities in four stages:

1. Sensorimotor (0–2 years): Learn through senses and movement. Key milestone: object permanence (understanding objects exist even when hidden).

2. Preoperational (2–7 years): Develop language and imagination, but thinking is egocentric (can't see others' perspectives). Struggle with conservation (understanding quantity stays the same despite appearance changes).

3. Concrete Operational (7–11 years): Think logically about concrete events. Master conservation, classification, and reversibility. Can't yet think abstractly.

4. Formal Operational (12+ years): Abstract and hypothetical thinking. Can reason about possibilities, test hypotheses, and think about thinking (metacognition).

Important note: ages are approximate — children develop at different rates. Modern research has also shown some abilities emerge earlier than Piaget suggested.

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Jean Piaget proposed that children develop thinking abilities in four stages: 1. Sensorimotor (0–2 years): Learn through senses and movement.

What are Piaget's stages of cognitive development?
Psychology

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Jean Piaget proposed that children develop thinking abilities in four stages: 1. Sensorimotor (0–2 years): Learn through senses and movement. Key milestone: object permanence (understanding objects exist even when hidden). 2. Preoperational (2–7 years): Develop language and imagination, but thinking is egocentric (can't see others' perspectives). Struggle with conservation (understanding quantity stays the same despite appearance changes). 3. Concrete Operational (7–11 years): Think logically about concrete events. Master conservation, classification, and reversibility. Can't yet think abstractly. 4. Formal Operational (12+ years): Abstract and hypothetical thinking. Can reason about possibilities, test hypotheses, and think about thinking (metacognition). Important note: ages are approximate — children develop at different rates. Modern research has also shown some abilities emerge earlier than Piaget suggested.