The Operational Stage According to Piaget: Characteristics and Examples

Jean Piaget was a well-known scientist who, within the area of ​​Psychology and Biology, stood out for his studies regarding the cognitive development of human beings. According to his constructivist theory of the development of intelligence, cognition in humans evolves through four qualitatively different stages that take place in more or less determined evolutionary periods. The stages proposed are the sensorimotor stage (between 0 and 2 years), the pre-operational stage (from 2 to 7 years), the concrete operations stage (from 7 to 12 years) and the formal operations stage (from 12 years to adulthood).

In this PsychologyFor article we will talk more specifically about the stage of concrete operations. We will define what it is The operational stage according to Piaget: characteristics and examples< We will show you different examples of specific activities to work on cognitive development during this stage.

What is Piaget’s operational stage?

Piaget’s operational stage is defined as that stage of cognitive development in which children between 7 and 11 years old begin to develop rational thinking< It is characteristic of this stage that, to develop this type of thinking, children make use of the physical stimuli they perceive, without yet being able to base their thinking on abstract ideas (this will occur in the next and final stage of formal operations). ).

In this way, rational thinking is built from the personal physical experiences of children, thereby initiating the construction of first rational cognitive schemes which will serve as a basis for the subsequent stage of formal operations.

In this article you will find more information about Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.

Characteristics of the stage of concrete operations

The main characteristics of cognitive functioning that occur in the stage of concrete operations, among others, are:

• Origin in physical stimuli: the basis from which the elements to create operational reasoning come from are the physical stimuli of the present.
• Classification of similar elements: the stage of grouping or classifying elements is consolidated as the basic functioning of the beginning of logical reasoning.
• Arithmetic: the arithmetic abilities of serialization and mental ordering of sets are developed
• Investment and reciprocity: These logical operations occur through reversibility in two manifestations: by inversion, or classification of elements with their peers, and by reciprocity, from which the order and relationship that exist between them are established.
• The conservation: process that allows children to become aware of how a certain measurement (length, weight, etc.) is maintained, even though their physical appearance may show certain variation.
• Development of the trial: Reasoning, judgments and deductions about the concepts of cause, space, time and speed are also initiated. Discover here the Types of reasoning and their characteristics.
• Reduction of egocentrism: During this stage, egocentrism is reduced, giving way to a more social and external perspective that allows you to improve the quality of your social relationships.

Piaget’s experiments in the operational stage

Some of the experiments carried out by Piaget to confirm the mental operations that occur in the cognitive development of children at this stage are the following:

• Conservation experiment: Through this experiment, Piaget intended to verify the manifestation of the conservation capacity in children, that is, the confirmation that the measurement used is the same despite having changed the shape of the container used. Water was used for this experiment. First, the same amount of water was presented in two equal containers. Next, the water was poured from one of the containers into a third, larger or smaller one. From here, the children were asked if there was the same amount in the first and third containers.
• Classification experiment – The child will be provided with several objects with similarities to each other based on only one of the following criteria at a time, shape, color or size. The child will begin, already at this stage, a classification of physical objects through mental processes and not so much through empirical verification as in the previous stages.
• pendulum experiment: Through this experiment, Piaget evaluated children’s ability to establish the speed of the pendulum based on the analysis of three variables: length of the rope, weight of the elements used and force impressed when performing the impulse. Throughout the stage of concrete operations, children look for the answer by analyzing the effect of the variables systematically, one by one, so that they can check the direct effect of each of them on the final result to, of course, In this way, find the answer to the problem posed.

You may also be interested in the article What is the semiotic function according to Piaget and how to use it.

Examples of Piaget’s operational stage

Piaget’s cognitive development classification system has been the basis for classifying the various educational levels in academic systems in various countries around the world. In Spain, specifically, Piaget’s operational stage currently covers the primary education<

Throughout this stage, which includes from first to sixth grade, children will develop the thinking typical of this stage through various academic tasks carried out in different subjects. These evolve from simpler tasks to more complex ones, allowing the various skills and abilities of their evolutionary development to improve.

Between the ddifferent tasks used At this stage, for this purpose we find the following:

• Different arithmetic operations: add, subtract, multiply, divide, etc.
• Create and develop stories
• Chemical experiments
• Study of animal and human biology
• Study of linguistic grammar
• Mathematical problem solving
• Physical education
• Teamwork and educational projects

Through the curricular contents of each and every one of the subjects, as well as the transversal activities included in the school curriculum, children in the operational stage will progressively develop their rational capacity

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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Bibliography

• Piaget, J. (2022). The representation of the world in the child