18.1.1: Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Learning Objectives

1. Summarize the main characteristics of Piaget’s concrete operational stage.
2. Identify key cognitive skills developed during concrete operations.
3. Discuss how concrete operational thinking supports academic tasks and problem-solving.
4. Evaluate critiques of Piaget’s stage theory.

Concrete Operational Thought

The concrete operational stage is the third stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development. This stage, which spans from 7 to 11 years of age, is characterized by the development of organized and rational thinking. Piaget (1954a) considered the concrete stage a major turning point in the child's cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical or operational thought. Their rules of thinking still seem very basic by adult standards and usually operate unconsciously. Still, they allow children to solve problems more systematically than before, and therefore to be successful with many academic tasks.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Children studying. Image by Masae is licensed under CC0.

In the concrete operational stage, for example, a child may unconsciously follow the rule: “If nothing is added or taken away, then the amount of something stays the same.” This simple principle helps children to understand certain arithmetic tasks, such as in adding or subtracting zero from a number, as well as to do certain classroom science experiments, such as ones involving judgments of the amounts of liquids when mixed. Piaget called this period the concrete operational stage because children mentally “operate” on concrete objects and events. ³

Let’s look at the following cognitive skills that children typically master during Piaget’s concrete operational stage⁶ :

Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): The cognitive skills developed during the concrete operational stage. Image by Ian Joslin is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Seriation

Arranging items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight, in a methodical way, is now demonstrated by the concrete operational child. For example, they can methodically arrange a series of different-sized sticks in order by length, while younger children approach a similar task in a haphazard way.⁸

Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Caption: Putting these rectangles from smallest to largest is seriation. Image by MehreenH is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Classification

As children's experiences and vocabularies expand, they develop schemas and are able to organize objects in various ways. They also understand classification hierarchies and can categorize objects into various classes and subclasses.

Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): This child might use classification if she sorts these toys by color. Image by tanyepm is licensed under CC0.

Reversibility

The child learns that some things that have been changed can be returned to their original state. Water can be frozen and then thawed to become liquid again. But eggs cannot be unscrambled. Arithmetic operations are reversible as well: 2 + 3 = 5 and 5 – 3 = 2. Many of these cognitive skills are incorporated into the school's curriculum through mathematical problems and worksheets that explore reversible or irreversible situations.

Figure \(\PageIndex{5}\): Understanding that ice cubes melt is an example of reversibility. Image by John Voo is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Conservation

An example of the preoperational child’s thinking: If you were to fill a tall beaker with 8 ounces of water, this child would think that it was "more" than a short, wide bowl filled with 8 ounces of water? Concrete operational children can understand the concept of conservation, which means that changing one quality (in this example, height or water level) can be compensated for by changes in another quality (such as width). Consequently, there is the same amount of water in each container, although one is taller and narrower and the other is shorter and wider.

Figure \(\PageIndex{6}\): Beakers displaying the idea of conservation. Image by Ydolem2689 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Decentration

Concrete operational children no longer focus on only one dimension of an object (such as the height of the glass) and instead consider changes in other dimensions as well (such as the width of the glass). This allows for conservation to occur.

Figure \(\PageIndex{7}\): Children looking at these glasses demonstrate decentration when looking at more than one attribute i.e. tall, short, and wide narrow. Image by Vinishachotlani1830587 is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Identity

One feature of concrete operational thought is the understanding that objects have qualities that remain constant even when the object is altered in some way. For instance, the mass of an object remains unchanged when it is rearranged. A piece of chalk remains chalk even when it is broken in two. ¹⁴

Figure \(\PageIndex{8}\): A broken egg is still an egg. Image by John Liu is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Figure \(\PageIndex{9}\): A deflated balloon is still a balloon. Image is licensed under CC0.

Figure \(\PageIndex{10}\): Broken chalk is still chalk. Image by Viktoria Goda from Pexels.

Transitivity

Understanding how objects are related to one another is referred to as transitivity or transitive inference. This means that if one understands that a dog is a mammal and that a boxer is a type of dog, then a boxer must also be a mammal.¹⁸

Figure \(\PageIndex{11}\): Transitivity allows children to understand that this boxer puppy is a dog and a mammal. Image by Martin Vorel is in the public domain.

Looking at Piaget’s Theory

Researchers have obtained findings indicating that cognitive development is considerably more continuous than Piaget claimed. Thus, the debate between those who emphasize discontinuous, stage-like changes in cognitive development and those who emphasize gradual, continuous changes remains a lively one.²⁰

References, Contributors and Attributions

3. Educational Psychology by OpenStax CNX is licensed under CC BY 4.0

6. Concrete Operational Stage Image by Simply Psychology is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0; Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

8. Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

14. Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

18. Transitivity by Boundless is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

20. Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0