One of the most widely known perspectives about cognitive development is the cognitive stage theory of a Swiss psychologist named Jean Piaget. Piaget created and studied an account of how children and youth gradually become able to think logically and scientifically.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a renowned psychologist of the 20th century and a pioneer in developmental child psychology. Piaget did not accept the prevailing theory that knowledge was innate or <i>a priori</i>. Instead, he believed a child’s knowledge and understanding of the world developed over ti …

Jean Piaget His theories indicate that humans create knowledge through the interaction between their experiences and ideas. His view of constructivism is the inspiration for radical constructivism due to his idea that the individual is at the center of the knowledge creation and acquisition process.

This article explains Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, key concepts, and how.

Piaget proposed four major stages of cognitive development, and called them (1) sensorimotor intelligence, (2) preoperational thinking, (3) concrete operational thinking, and (4) formal operational thinking. Each stage is correlated with an age period of childhood, but only approximately. The Sensorimotor Stage: Birth to Age 2