Psychology Atlas

How The Mind Works
Theories and Concepts

Cognitive Development Theory

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Piaget's theory of cognitive development holds that children progress through four developmental stages, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational, as a progressive reorganization of mental processes from biological maturation and environmental experience. He first became intrigued by children's characteristic mistakes while working at the Alfred Binet Laboratory School in Paris in 1919, and elaborated the full stage theory over subsequent decades.

Facts
Core Claim
Children progress through four qualitatively distinct developmental stages of cognitive reorganization, moving from sensorimotor coordination in infancy to abstract reasoning in adolescence. 1
Origin Year
1919 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

The conservation tasks are the empirical evidence Piaget used to mark the transition from the preoperational to the concrete operational stage of his theory of cognitive development.

Developed By

In Branch

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Wikimedia Foundationlead
Quote, lead
humans progress through four developmental stages: the sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage
1. Wikipedia: Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Wikimedia Foundationbody text
Quote, body text
cognitive development was a progressive reorganisation of mental processes resulting from biological maturation and environmental experience
1. Wikipedia: Piaget's theory of cognitive development
Wikimedia FoundationOrigins/Overview section
Quote, Origins/Overview section
In 1919, while working at the Alfred Binet Laboratory School in Paris, Piaget was intrigued by the fact that children of different ages made different kinds of mistakes while solving problems.
Wikipedia: Jean Piaget
Wikimedia FoundationDeveloped By: Jean Piaget, lead
Quote, Developed By: Jean Piaget, lead
revolutionized developmental psychology by studying how children think differently than adults
Wikipedia: Conservation (Psychology)
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Piaget's Conservation Experiments
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Core Claim

Vygotsky (and later Jerome Bruner) argued Piaget undervalued the role of language and social/cultural interaction in cognitive development, holding that language is more important to cognitive development than Piaget's stage model implies, and that Piaget's theory undervalues the influence culture has on cognitive development.

A dissenting reading, from Lev VygotskyWikipedia: Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Wikimedia Foundation
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