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Developmental

Piaget's Cognitive Stages

Children think differently, not just less

Jean Piaget proposed that children move through 4 universal stages of cognitive development. 1. Sensorimotor (0-2): Learning through senses and movement. 2. Preoperational (2-7): Egocentric thinking, symbolic play. 3. Concrete Operational (7-11): Logical thinking about concrete events. 4. Formal Operational (12+): Abstract reasoning and hypothetical thinking. Understanding these stages helps in education and parenting.