UNIVERSIDAD MONTRER

MASTER DEGREE IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

APRENDIZAJE DEL IDIOMA EN NIÑOS

Chart: Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development

Professor: Alejandra Palacio

Student: Julia Estefanía Alfaro Hurtado

Sunday, March 8th 2020

 Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development

Stage Age Range Description
Sensorimotor Birth to 2 years Infants like to explore. They learn about their environment by sensation.
They coordinate their senses with motor responses. They use language
for demands and cataloguing.

During the late sensorimotor stage, children begin to learn the concept
of object permanence. They know that an object will continue to exist
even if they can no longer see it.

The practical knowledge developed during this stage will form the
basis for children’s ability to form mental representations of objects in
later stages.
Preoperational 2 years to 7 years Children learn abstract thinking, symbolic concepts understanding
and more sophisticated language use. They learn to use words to
describe people, their feelings and their environments.

They become insatiably curious. They can imagine people or objects

that don’t exist.

Thinking is egocentric. They believe everyone else shares their view of

the world.
Concrete 7 years to 11 years Children can understand much more complex abstract concepts, like
operational time, space and quantity. They can learn rules easily but they may
have trouble understanding the logical implications of those rules in
unusual situations.
 They are able to use inductive logic and now they can distinguish facts
from fantasies. In addition, they can formulate judgments about cause
and effect.
They develop the idea of reversibility. They understand that some
objects can be altered and then shaped back to their original shape.
Formal operational 11 years and up Children are capable of more abstract, hypothetical, and theoretical
reasoning. They can approach and resolve problems systematically by
formulating hypotheses and methodically testing them out.

They can apply their reasoning to a variety of situations including “if-

then” situations.

Formal logic becomes possible and verbal explanations of concepts

are usually enough without demonstration. They know are aware of
possible outcomes and consequences of their actions without having
to actually perform them.

Strategy and planning become possible. Concepts learned in one

context can be applied to another.

References:

HQ, P. (2020). The Piaget Stages of Cognitive Development - The Psychology Notes Headquarters. [online] The Psychology Notes
Headquarters. Available at: https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/piagetstheory/ [Accessed 8 Mar. 2020].
Lourenço, O.; Machado, A. (1996). "In defense of Piaget's theory: A reply to 10 common criticisms". Psychological Review. 103 (1): 143–
164. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.103.1.143.
Piaget, J. (1977). The role of action in the development of thinking. In Knowledge and development. Springer US.
Rice, K. (2020). Piaget's 4 Stages. [online] Theneurotypical.com. Available at: https://www.theneurotypical.com/piagets-four-
stages.html [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].
Wood, K. C., Smith, H., Grossniklaus, D. (2001). Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on
learning, teaching, and technology. Available at: http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2020].