Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development

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that children could arrange sticks of different lengths into order from smallest to largest; just as you would think about numbers and quantity increasing (Oswalt, 2010).

The final operation that Piaget suggested that kids mastered during this stage of development was spatial reasoning. The mastery of spatial reasoning suggests that children now have the ability to understand and reason using cues in the environment that convey information about distance or direction (Oswalt, 2010). Children are able to determine size and distance and how it affects an object and its relevant size. For the first time in their lives, children of this age are able to give directions using another person’s vantage point rather than their own (Oswalt, 2010).

There is a stage-by-stage nature to Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, with each stage being linked to an age group that is typical for that stage, and suggesting to many people how children should be functioning at a particular age (Oswalt, 2010). It’s important to keep in mind that these are only intended to talk about how an average child ‘might’ be functioning at a particular age and not an indication to how they ‘should’ be functioning (Oswalt, 2010). Children will develop uniquely and at their own pace depending upon their own temperament, genetic makeup, and learning environment (Oswalt, 2010). While the concrete operational stage is considered to be a turning point, it also important to note that different children will show mastery of specific operations sooner than others will or simply display them in some situations but not in others (Oswalt, 2010). Even though children in the concrete operational stage of development have made many gains in their thinking abilities, they have not yet reached the level of adult thinking (Oswalt, 2010).

Works Cited

Cherry, K. (2017, September 23). Characteristics of Concrete Operational Stage in Cognitive Development. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.verywell.com/concrete-operational-stage-of-cognitive-development-2795458

McLeod, S. (2010, January 01). Saul McLeod. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/concrete-operational.html

McLeod, S. (2015, January 01). Saul McLeod. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

Oswalt, A. (2010, June 9). Cognitive Development: Piaget’s Concrete Operations. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/cognitive-development-piaget-s-concrete-operations/

Swift, J. (n.d.). Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development. Retrieved November 10, 2017, from http://www.telacommunications.com/nutshell/stages.htm