Jean Piaget's Stages Of Cognitive Development

This essay will discuss the life and the work of theorist Jean Piaget (1896-1980).
Jean Piaget was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. During late adolescence, Piaget developed an interest in molluscs, he became a well-known malacologist and he published many successful papers in this field. After graduating from high school, he studied natural sciences at the University of Neuchatel where he obtained a Ph.D. He then progressed to the University of Zurich, and after spending a semester here he developed an interest in the psychology sector. He left Switzerland for France in 1919 and he worked for one year in an all-boys school called the Alfred Binet Laboratory School. While working here, he really focused on the children and their actions. Many things about the children intrigued Piaget and pushed him to look further into the reasons in which children do what they do. Piaget and his wife had three children, and Piaget carried out most of his studies on his children as they grew up.

Piaget’s interest in psychology led to his close study of the psychology and development of children. This interest prompted him to come up with a set of stages of cognitive development in children, and to create theories such as constructivism, open ended activities, and schemata.

Piaget’s ‘Stages of Cognitive Development’ consisted of four stages: the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operational stage. These stages basically just