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Piaget's Cognitive Development

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Piaget's Cognitive Development
I believe "Piaget 's theory of cognitive development" best explains the cognitive development both in infancy and early childhood. His theory is explained by a theory of cognitive organization called schemes. Schemes are the "actions or mental representations that organize knowledge" (Santrock, 2008, p. 94). According to his theory, schemes change with age; in other words, they are action-based (motor patterns) at first and then gradually change to a mental (thinking) level. There are several key terms that explain Piaget 's process of developmental change; those include adaptation, assimilation, accommodation, organization, and equilibration.

Sensorimotor stage is the first of the Piaget 's theory of cognitive development. It lasts from birth to the about 2 years of age, where awareness of the world is limited to what can be known through sensory awareness and motor acts. Furthermore, Piaget divided the sensorimotor stage into six sub-stages: 1) simple reflexes; (2) first habits and primary circular reactions; (3) secondary circular reactions; (4) coordination of secondary circular reactions; (5) tertiary circular reactions, novelty, and curiosity; and (6) internalization of schemes (Santrock, 2008, p. 96).

•Reflexive Schemes: this is present in newborns. Initially, the infant 's actions are coordinated
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His Preoperational period, the second stage of Piaget 's theory of cognitive development lasts from approximately 2 to 7 years of age. In this age, "children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings. Not only that, they begin to form stable concepts and embark on reasoning" (Santrock, 2008, p. 145). Also, egocentricism (inability to distinguish between one 's own perspective and someone else 's perspective) and magical beliefs also begin to play a role in child 's cognitive development. There are different sub-stages of the preoperational

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