Just as there are physical milestones that we expect children to reach, there are also cognitive milestones. It is helpful to be aware of these milestones as children gain new abilities to think, problem-solve, and communicate. For example, infants shake their head “no” around 6–9 months, and they respond to verbal requests to do things like “wave bye-bye” or “blow a kiss” around 9–12 months.
Cognitive Theory of Development
Jean Piaget’s (1896–1980) theory of cognitive development holds that our cognitive abilities develop through specific stages, which exemplifies the discontinuity approach to development. As we progress to a new stage, there is a distinct shift in how we think and reason.
Piaget said that children develop schemata to help them understand the world.
By the time children have reached adulthood, they have created schemata for almost everything. When children learn new information, they adjust their schemata through two processes: assimilation and accommodation.
assimilation and accommodation
Assimilation is the process of incorporating new information into existing schema, this information aligns with the existing information in the schema.
Accommodation is the process of modifying existing schema to fit new information that does not align with existing schema.
This process continues as children interact with their environment. For example, 2-year-old Blake learned the schema for dogs because his family has a Labrador retriever. When Blake sees other dogs in his picture books, he says, “Look mommy, dog!” Thus, he has assimilated them into his schema for dogs. One day, Blake sees a sheep for the first time and says, “Look mommy, dog!” Having a basic schema that a dog is an animal with four legs and fur, Blake thinks all furry, four-legged creatures are dogs. When Blake’s mom tells him that the animal he sees is a sheep, not a dog, Blake must accommodate his schema for dogs to include more information based on his new experiences. Blake’s schema for dog was too broad, since not all furry, four-legged creatures are dogs. He now modifies his schema for dogs and forms a new one for sheep.
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
Like Freud and Erikson, Piaget thought development unfolds in a series of stages approximately associated with age ranges. He proposed a theory of cognitive development that unfolds in four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.
| Age (years) | Stage | Description | Developmental issues |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Sensorimotor | World experienced through senses and actions | Object permanence Stranger anxiety |
| 2–7 | Preoperational | Use words and images to represent things, but lack logical reasoning | Pretend play Egocentrism Language development |
| 7–11 | Concrete operational | Understand concrete events and analogies logically; perform arithmetical operations | Conservation Mathematical transformations |
| 11– | Formal operational | Formal operations Utilize abstract reasoning |
Abstract logic Moral reasoning |