Cognitive development, like physical development, plays a huge role in a child's life. After all, it means the development of such important thought processes as perception, memory, logic, problem solving and imagination. That's why he gets so much attention.
The Swiss philosopher and psychologist Jean Piaget also became interested in the formation of intellectual abilities. He developed the theory of cognitive development. According to it, a person develops, passing through certain stages.
About what this concept represents and what stages of development the child goes through, the Internet edition estet-portal.com will tell you.
1. Piaget's theory of cognitive development: what is
2. Period from birth to 2 years: development of sensorimotor intelligence
3. Period 2 to 7 years: preoperative presentations
4. Period from 7 to 11 years – development of specific operations
5. The period of cognitive development from 11 to 15 years: formal operations
Piaget's theory of cognitive development: what is it
The concept of the Swiss psychologist is about development of thought processes. This theory is considered constructivist, since, according to its author, a person himself can create cognitive abilities and develop them by performing certain actions when interacting with the environment.
Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development served as a source for some of the concepts that later began to figure actively in developmental psychology. Also, the concept has made a huge contribution to educational psychology.
In order to understand it, you do not need to strain your brains too much. According to the legendary theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, it is very simple.
According to the theory, a child goes through four stages of development in his life, starting from his birth and ending at the age of fifteen.
Below, we will consider the main stages of child development in more detail.
The period from birth to 2 years: development of sensorimotor intelligence
This age is different in that the baby begins to interact with the outside world through movement and perception. Despite the fact that the baby can contact certain objects, he has not yet developed the ability of imagination and interaction with symbols.
For a better understanding of this period, let's look at its main 6 stages:
1. Birth to 1 month – the child has only innate reflexes: he sucks his finger, looks for his mother's breast, pulls his lips forward, grabs his hands and firmly holds his mother's hair, a rattle, a piece of clothing, and so on.
2. From 1 to 4 months – during this period, the reflexes change and coordinate based on the experience gained.
3. From 4 to 8 months – random movements previously made through constant repetition are fixed. The child actively interacts with external objects.
In the period from 1 to 4 months, the baby acquires its first skills. He begins to hold his head in the position lying on his stomach, perceive the world around him through sight and sounds, gurgle, and also roll over from his stomach to his back and vice versa.
4. From 8 months to 1 year – at this age, the baby begins to make premeditated actions. He coordinates and unites them. For example, if a baby wants to take a toy that is behind a big book, he first removes the last one in order to get the desired item.
5. From 1 to 1.5 years – baby's actions become different. During this period, he experiments, and also looks for new actions and means.
6. From 1.5 to 2 years – mental actions are connected to experimentation.
Period 2 to 7 years: preoperative presentations
During this period of cognitive development sensorimotor functions are replaced by work with representations. The kid begins to distinguish the designation from the designated and uses it. In addition, children at this age can focus on one thing, on what catches their eye. In doing so, they ignore other items.
Children also have developed egocentrism. They cannot consider their point of view from different angles and do not even try to substantiate their judgments, look for contradictions and get rid of them. At this age, babies do not think about their thoughts. In addition, during this period, children learn objects and phenomena through the game.
Period from 7 to 11 years – development of specific operations
This is a new level of cognitive development. Indeed, during this period, more opportunities appear than the usual associative association.
A child can not only perform certain actions, but also think logically and analyze. He combines his actions and coordinates them, creating entire systems. The little man takes certain objects, sorts them into groups, and qualifies them according to several attributes.
Despite the fact that during this period the child can already think logically, abstract and hypothetical concepts he does not master.
Cognitive development period 11 to 15 years: formal operations
In this age interval, the child learns to think in a different way. He thinks hypothetically, analyzes abstract ideas, and is also capable of deductive reasoning.
In a word, a child, faced with a certain situation or task, puts forward several hypotheses and tests them, and after receiving feedback, concludes the final conclusion.
Young children use several combinations to solve a particular problem or question. At the same time, the child, who is in the period of formal operations, systematically goes through combinations. And if the kid is gifted, he can do it earlier.
If you know all these periods of cognitive development according to Piaget, their features and comparison with age, you will surely have an answer to the question: "How to help your child in the development of his intellectual abilities and the transition from one stage to another?
You can also use various educational games: soft cubes with letters, mosaics, puzzles and so on. They stimulate the baby to acquire new skills and pump the brain well. But they must be selected based on the age of your child.
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