Piaget's stage theory
- Piaget said children's thinking develops through four stages in a fixed order.
- Sensorimotor (0 to 2 years): learning through senses and actions; object permanence develops (knowing objects still exist when out of sight).
- Pre-operational (2 to 7 years): using symbols and language, but egocentric (unable to see things from another's view) and unable to conserve.
- Concrete operational (7 to 11 years): can conserve and think logically about concrete objects.
- Formal operational (11 years and over): can think abstractly and hypothetically.
Key ideas and studies
- Conservation: understanding that quantity stays the same when appearance changes, such as liquid poured into a taller glass.
- Egocentrism was tested with the three mountains task: young children chose their own view, not the doll's.
- Hughes' policeman doll study found children could take another's view at a younger age when the task made sense to them.
- McGarrigle and Donaldson's "Naughty Teddy" study found more young children could conserve when the change seemed accidental.
Piaget and education
- Readiness: children should be taught things when they are ready for their stage.
- Discovery learning: children learn best by exploring and doing.
- Evaluation: the theory has been very influential in education, but Piaget may have underestimated young children, as later studies showed.
Key terms
- Object permanence
- Knowing an object still exists when it can't be seen.
- Egocentrism
- Being unable to see things from another person's viewpoint.
- Conservation
- Understanding that quantity stays the same when appearance changes.
- Readiness
- The idea that children can only learn when they reach the right stage.
- Discovery learning
- Learning by exploring and doing.
- Schema
- A mental framework built from experience.