Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

Cognition of understanding is dependent on the child’s readiness to understand himself and his environment.  This comes from the Uvel of maturation of the brain and the rest of the nervous system and of his senses development are the intelligence of the child opportunity given to him to explore and manipulate his environment and the conditions of the sense of organs.

Stage of Cognitive Development According to Joan Pacet

1. Sensory Motor

The Sensory Motor is the stage from birth to 2 years wherein the object exists for him only so long as he senses it.  He organizes what he can see, hear, grasp or suck.  What he cannot see or hear or touch does not seem to exist to him.  While in early infancy, he can suck objects brought to his mouth, later he learns to grasp the object and bring it to his mouth. 

2. Prepartional Stage

Prepartional stage is from 2 to 7 years.  This is subdivided into two:

1. Preconceptional stage (2-4)
2. Intuitive stage (4.7)

Here he relies on overt actions.  He cannot think without acting.  He develops a new capacity called “representation”.  He can think some actions even though they are not performed, events when they are not happening; and objects although they are not present.  He begins to be able to represent the external internally with symbols, like words.  The pre-operational child thinking is centered on himself/herself, not because he is selfish, but because he does not know the other viewpoints exists.

3. POS Concrete Operational Stage 

During the POS concrete operational stage (7-11 years).  The child’s thinking is more similar to the adult’s in some ways.  He can retrace his thoughts, correct himself, and start again if necessary.  Thinking at this stage is characterized by three logical operations:

• Combining
• Reversing
• forming association

However, the child still thinks in terms of the concrete not abstract.

4.  Formal operational stage  

The Formal operational stage is at the age of (11-15 years).  The adolescent can search for and reach a general rule through the use of logic.  He learns to understand things through cause and effect and to develop concepts.  Abstract concepts become understandable and child can generalize from one situation to another.