Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development 2
Psychology: AQA A Level, topic 11.1.2
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development: Concrete Operational
Piaget summarised four distinct stages of development of cognition (thinking). They are based on intellectual development and how they correlate with age.
Concrete operational (7-11 years)
- Children in this stage no longer show egocentrism, irreversibility or centration.
- Children’s language and logical thinking continue to solidify.
- They are able to do conservation tasks.
Conservation tasks
- An example of a conservation task is the five penny task:
- Imagine five pennies, even spaced about 1cm apart.
- Then they are arranged 5cm apart.
- The child would understand that there is still the same amount of pennies even though they are further apart.
- A child unable to demonstrate conservation would not understand this.
Class inclusion
- In this stage, children demonstrate class inclusion.
- This is when they are able to classify objects/things in multiple categories and understand that the object can fit in two categories simultaneously.
- For example, a parrot is both a ‘bird’ and an ‘animal’.
- Another example is their mother is both a ‘mother’ and a ‘woman’.
Abstract reasoning
- Children are not yet able to do abstract reasoning.
- This is not seen until the final stage of formal operational.
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development: Formal Operational
Piaget summarised four distinct stages of development of cognition (thinking). They are based on intellectual development and how they correlate with age.
Formal operational (11+ years)
- Logical thinking, vocabulary skills, problem solving and abstract thinking are solidified in this stage.
- Children can understand hypothetical situations, theories and develop hypotheses.
Examples in practice
- For example:
- Children can better understand complex and abstract scientific concepts like atoms and gravity.
- Children can create hypotheses in their science lessons to predict what will happen.
Test yourself on Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development 2
What does a child show by the end of Piaget's concrete operational stage?
At what age did Piaget suggest children go through the concrete operational stage?
At what age did Piaget propose the formal operational stage of development started?
Which of these increases in children during Piaget's formal operational stage?