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Piaget 's Stages Of Cognitive Development

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Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget was born on August 8th, 1896 in Switzerland. He was a very bright student, who had his PhD by the age of twenty-two. Piaget studied child psychology and concrete operations which lead to his theory of the four stages of cognitive development. These stages are still used now in preschool and elementary grade set-ups. The first stage in his theory is the sensorimotor stage which last roughly from birth to about two years of age. This stage actually has several sub-stages. The first sub-stage is “reflexes” which last for the first month. In this sub-stage, all the child knows is purely what reflexes the child was born with, such as sucking and grasping. The next sub-stage is “primary circulation reactions” which if from one to four months. New schema’s and coordinating sensation are involved in this sub-stage. An example of this would be if a child accidently sucked on his or her thumb and then later intentionally repeat the action. These actions are repeated because the infant finds them pleasurable. The third sub-stage is the “secondary circulation reactions” which last from four to eight months. This is where the child becomes more focused on the world and sees how an action can cause a response and will continue to do it. The fourth sub-stage is “coordination of reactions” lasting from eight to twelve months. Here the child begins to show actions that were clearly intentional. To achieve a desired effect the child may

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