Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development

Piaget's Four Stages of Cognitive Development
Jean Piaget's cognitive theory of development consists of four main stages, including the sensorimotor (0-2 years), preoperational (2-6 years), concrete operational (7-11 years), and formal operational (12 years and above) (Wood et al., 2010). In his more than 50 years of investigating development among children, Piaget focused his research on cognitive development rather than the psychosocial and psychoanalytical approach. He was convinced that children are inherently inquisitive and thinking plays a critical role in their development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development defines that the human cognitive abilities develop during the four stages exemplifying the discontinuity in development. In discontinuous development, psychologists perceive growth and development in terms of discrete stages that occur at certain ages and times. Unlike continuous development, discontinuous changes and growth are more abrupt (Wood et al., 2010). For instance, adults' conception of object p...