Which progression represents the correct order of Piaget s stages of cognitive development?

Which progression represents the correct order of Piaget s stages of cognitive development?

a. preoperational, concrete operations, sensorimotor, formal operations

b. sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations

c. formal operations, concrete operations, sensorimotor, preoperational

d. concrete operations, sensorimotor, formal operations, preoperational

Answer: b. sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operations

Jean Piaget categorized children in one of the four developmental stages making the student progress in a sequence. The first developmental stage is the sensorimotor stage which takes from the baby’s birth- up to the age of 2 years main learning which occurs at this stage depends on the senses and motor skill development. This is followed by the preoperational stage which spans between the ages of 2 years to 7 years, the children develop speech and symbolic thoughts although they cannot perform concrete logical thought processes. This stage is characterized by concrete operational development from the age of 7 to 11 years as a way of strengthening logical thinking on objects and real-life situations. Last in the process is the formal operation stage where it is expected that an individual is capable of reasoning and making hypotheses (11 years and upwards). This sequential progression articulates Piaget’s structure of schema where development is considered as a process that advances through qualitatively dissimilar stages, through which children construct knowledge of the environment.