Paiget's stages of cognitive development

The sensorimotor stage, from child birth to about age two, the infant starts to learn about himself and his environment using sensory and motor schemes. The infant can learn that a person or an object continue to exist even if he is unable to find or see them. When the infant cannot find or see his parents or his favorite toys, he still knows their existence. At this stage, the parent can teach their child and modify their behavior. The parent can modify their child’s behavior by giving them a smile, a frown or a soothing voice. By the end of this stage, the child can learn to use simple symbols such as single words and pretend play. Although the child can use single words and pretend play to communicate, but unable to think logically. The child enjoys pretend play with their parents more than anything else. When the child is unable to find an object, then he’d give up looking for that object.
During preoperational stage, from 18 and 24 months, the child begins to acquire symbolic function. By age two, the child can use symbols to think and communicate with others. The child use symbols to understand that an object can represent another. At this stage, the child may not develop a logical thought. The child’s mind is influenced by his own fantasy who may not think hypothetically. The way he’d like things to be and he assumes that others see things from his point of view. The child likes to acquire information and change in his mind to fit his ideas. He begins to develop an animistic thought and thinks that inanimate objects are living objects. The child may think that his favorite toy would feel pain if it were broken. The child’s mind is trapped within his own fantasy world, which he cannot realize that inanimate objects are not living objects. By the end of this stage, the child develops the ability to take others’ point of view, classify objects and think logically.
The concrete operational stage, from about six to middle childhood, accommodation increases. Accommodation is the changing of a scheme as a result of storing new information. Through the process of accommodation, children can improve their skills and change their ways of thinking. During this stage, the children start to develop the ability to think logically. The children develop the ability to make rational judgments about observable phenomena. The children can better understand that inanimate objects are not living objects. At the end of this stage, the child can learn how to reason with others. He can reason with others about simple “what if” questions. For instance, the children have the opportunity to ask questions and can explain things back to others. The child can learn how to manipulate information. He can manipulate information by asking others about simple “what if” questions. When a child asks a person about simple “what if” questions, that person may not have an answer to those questions. The child is also capable of remembering the arrangements of objects when a person asked him to.
The final stage is the formal operational stage, from adolescence to adulthood, the child no longer requires concrete objects to make rational judgments. At this stage, the child can think hypothetical and deductive reasoning. He can manipulate information or ideas and can easily manage the simple “what if” questions. By adulthood, he can consider many possibilities from several perspectives when others asked him of complicated questions. The child’s ability to organize ideas and objects mentally improves greatly. At this rate, the children are better in thinking and communicating with others.