Answer to Question #223360 in Management for Esko

Question

Discuss piaget cognitive development theory

Answer 1

The theory revolves around the nature and development of human intelligence. This theory was originated by a swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget. The theory revolves around the nature of knowledge and how humans come to acquire, contract, and make good use of it. According to Piaget, there are four stages of cognitive development theory. The stages include the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and lastly the formal operational stage.

• The sensorimotal stage.

This is the first stage of the theory and it occurs between birth to two years old. At this stage, the infants get to learn their surroundings by manipulating objects and by their sensory experiences. The learning is mainly through basic actions such as sucking, crawling, listening, and crying.

• Preoperational stage.

This is the second stage of the theory and it occurs between two to seven years. At this stage, the children begin to think and learn to use words and pictures representing objects. It is also at this stage where they struggle to see the world from other people's perspectives. Lastly, they get better with language and thinking although not fully.

• Concrete operational stage.

This is the second last stage of the theory whereby it occurs between seven to eleven years. At this stage, the children begin to fully think logically about concrete events and understand the concept of conservation for example they get to understand that one kilo of stone is equal to one kilo of feathers. It is also at this stage whereby the children start reasoning from specific pieces of information to a general principle.

• Formal operational stage.

This is the last stage of the theory and it occurs from twelve years to a grown-up. At this stage, the abstract thoughts emerge and the young adult begins to think about hypothetical problems. They think about morals, ethical, social, and political issues that require abstract reasoning. They reason from a general principle to specific information.