Self-Check: Cognitive Development Stages

Click each option on the left and then the relevant option on the right to match the pairs.

Sensorimotor Stage

Preoperational Stage

Formal Operational Stage

Concrete Operational Stage

A baby hits the mobile with her hand and laughs when it starts to spin.

A child says, “The tree is dancing” when he sees the leaves blow.

A teenager dreams about one day becoming a police officer.

A child is able to understand that liquid poured into two different shaped glasses has the same amount of liquid.

Sorry! You have matched the pair incorrectly. Please try again.

That's the correct match!

You have successfully completed the exercise.

Seems that you are stuck. The correct matches are displayed on the screen.

In the sensorimotor stage babies learn to explore the world around them by using their sense and physical movements such as pushing and kicking. Exploring the world in these ways helps them to learn about the environment around them and that they can have an impact upon it.

Children in the preoperational stage often give inanimate objects such as trees, lifelike qualities. They learn to understand the meaning of words and images. They still have trouble thinking abstractly and are unable to understand that the same amount of liquid poured into two different shaped glasses is still the same amount of liquid.

Teenagers are able to think abstractly about things that are in the future. Their thinking is no longer limited to what is concrete and right in front of them. This helps them to imagine what life can be like. This is the Formal Operational Stage.

Children who understand that the same amount of liquid poured into two different shaped glasses is still the same amount of liquid are in the Concrete Operational Stage.