# data[].attributes.body
The formal operations stage is Piaget's fourth and final stage of cognitive development. This stage begins around age 12 and lasts all the way into adulthood. At this stage, thinking becomes more advanced, allowing for essential math and science skills to appear. Logic and reasoning processes are expanding beyond concrete objects to now abstract ideas as well.

# data[].attributes.body
By combining abstract or theoretical ideas and logic, kids can come up with more creative solutions to problems. This stage emerges the traits of logical thought, deductive reasoning, and systematic planning.

# data[].attributes.body
If you were to tell a younger elementary school child that they could have a third eye and place it anywhere they want, most would choose to place it in the middle of one's forehead. However, asking this same question to someone in the formal operations stage would bring about a more intellectual answer. Putting it on the palm of your hand would allow you to look around corners or an putting it on the back of your head would allow you to see behind you.

# data[].attributes.body
The concrete operations stage starts between the ages of 6-7. In this stage, children have the ability to conserve, learn classification and seriation, as well as how to reverse operations. They also can formulate logical thoughts and mental manipulation. However, during this stage, difficulty with abstract and counter factual ideas may be experienced.

# data[].attributes.body
This stage lasts between of ages 2 to 6/7 years old. During this time, children can remember things beyond their view at the moment but are not able to reasoning logically like an adult.

# data[].attributes.body
This stage takes place from birth to the age of two years old. At this time children begin to develop reflexes as well as goal directed behavior. During this stage children are able to interact with the world around them through touching, hearing, and looking. Children begin to understand object permanence and symbolic thought as they transition into the next stage.

# data[].attributes.body
This stage is mostly based on behaviors and the way that children perceive the world around them. During this stage children have a hard time thinking about things that are not immediately in front of them. This stage is all about what is going on in the moment.

# data[].attributes.body
Children at this age enjoy games such as peek-a-boo because they do not fully understand object permanence. This is why they become upset when they are left alone, because they do not think that people and things exist when they cannot be seen. At this age children are very clumsy and lack coordination. At this age children are very curious and want to explore. An example of this is that they tend to grab things and want to put things in their mouth. They will want to hold on to something sturdy when they walk. At this age they learn what different smells are. An example of this is when they smell their favorite food they will anticipate eating it.

# data[].attributes.body
At this age, sensory play is important because children are learning and exploring the world around them.  Activities that stimulate their senses are important in this stage and prepare them for the next stage. Making sensory activities and toys are easy and cheap. A sensory bottle is an easy and simple tool that can help cognitive processes.

different textures (soft, bumpy, wool, silk, denim)

manipulative objects (chains, screws, door knobs, zippers, belts, laces)

reflective surfaces

beads, buttons, magnets (in a way that is safe, and they won't get swallowed)

blocks, letters, numbers

things that make noise

# data[].attributes.body
Toys are beneficial at this age because it stimulates the children's senses.
Some good toys are...
-Toys that they can grasp, hold, shake, and squeeze
-Toys that have different textures
Toys that make sounds or have recordings of songs/words
-Toys that have pictures or unbreakable mirrors

# data[].attributes.body
The introduction of more advanced math skills such as fractions, percentages, decimals, and ratios are seen in the classroom at this stage. Testing hypotheses and word problems are also seen at this stage as they are drawing conclusions from logic and reasoning.

# data[].attributes.body
Science experiments are an appropriate learning activity that could be used in the classroom for this stage of development. This forces students to think logically to form hypotheses before the tests and draw conclusions from the tests after the experiment is performed. One example of an experiment is to drop different objects of different masses, like a rock and a feather, from the same height, observing when each hits the ground in relation to each other. Students can look at the sizes and weights of each object to use their logic and come up with hypotheses. They can then test the experiment and compare the results with the guesses.

# data[].attributes.body
During this stage, children are unable to see the world in other's perspectives. Not being able to differentiate between oneself and the other is known as egocentrism. When children at this age are talking to each other, they assume that the other person is feeling, hearing, or seeing the exact same things. A little 5 year old may be talking and acting in a selfish kind of way but he does not know any better.

# data[].attributes.body
During this stage, children also have trouble with conservation. Conservation is realizing that if nothing is taken away or added, the amount stays the same no matter the arrangement or shape. An activity that could be done in the classroom is give students 14 pennies and put 7 in each row.
1. Put the pennies so they are equal and both sets or 7 are the same length.
2. Ask the child if the top has more pennies, the bottom has more pennies, or if they have equal amounts of pennies?
3. After the child answers, keep the same amount of pennies but spread out the top row to make it longer in length than the bottom.
5. Ask the child the same question as before.
The child will probably say that the top has more pennies because of the length, but really they both have the same amount of pennies.

# data[].attributes.body
The ability to reverse operations is a very important characteristic of this specific stage. For example, if a child can recognize that their dog is a German Shepard and also that a German Shepard is a dog, and finally that a dog is an animal, the child exemplifies the ability to reverse operations.

# data[].attributes.body
Those in the concrete operations stage have experience with not only putting tasks in order, but then in turn remembering those tasks in another order. When reading a story in class, the teacher may have his or her students list off any words that they may not know. The children must then define these unknown words, then have another student quiz them on these words and their meanings. The process of switching between the steps of listing, defining, and finally remembering the words and definitions puts an emphasis on the child's ability to remember and reverse operations.

# data[].attributes.body
Jean Piaget was born on August 9, 1896, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Hi original focus was not in children at all and he became an expert on the study of mollusks by his teen years.

After helping analyze standardized test scores at the Alfred Binet Laboratory in Paris, he began to question how children create connections and begin to learn. When asked to explain their "incorrect" answers, Piaget noticed that when the children lacked factual knowledge, they logically compensated with imagination. This is what brought to pass the idea that just because the students may lack the traditional factual evidence, that doesn't necessarily equate to a lack of intelligence or understanding.

Over the course of his later career in child psychology, he identified four stages of mental development that chronicled young people's journeys from basic object identification to highly abstract thought. The recipient of an array of honors, Piaget died on September 16, 1980, in Geneva, Switzerland.

# data[].attributes.body
Since this is the final stage of development, developments at this stage last all the way into adulthood. This stage stands out as it is carried out on ideas rather than objects. Abstract thought allows for planning that is beneficial in the future.

# data[].attributes.body
This stage is important because children start to build their vocabulary. Children also start using their imagination and coming up with their own ideas.

# data[].attributes.body
Equilibration describes the cognitive balance of new information with old knowledge. This component of childhood cognitive development involves the assimilation of information to fit with an individuals own existing mental schemas and the accommodation of information by adapting it to their own way of thinking.

# data[].attributes.body
Assimilation and accommodation are processes of taking in information and processing it based on schemes. Within assimilation, this intake process is done using an existing scheme that is present in the child's routine; it is something they have dealt with before in a way. In accommodation, the intake and process of the object or event is unable to be done with a preexisting scheme, so the child must either modify a scheme or create a new scheme altogether.

# data[].attributes.body
A five year old who loves playing with tennis balls has learned how a tennis ball bounces off the wall when they throw it against it. This child sees a baseball on the ground and assimilates to it, grabs the baseball and throws it at the wall. When the baseball hits, they must accommodate to the different weight of the ball, bounce off the wall, and sound it makes when it hits the wall.

# data[].attributes.body
As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge and changing behavior to an account for new knowledge. For an example, a child loves chili that their family eats as their regular meal for dinner. They have developed the schema that all chili is delicious. Then the child goes over to a friends house and is served a bowl of chili and he dislikes the soup. Initially the child is in the assimilation area of Equilibration. They begin to grasp the concept and connect the idea of not all chili tastes good and develop the concept that some food taste better than others.

# data[].attributes.body
There are three stacks of cards on a tale. Students are told to stack the cards to make them stand up on their own. The first two stacks are playing cards, and the students get them to stand up by leaning them against one another. When they reach the third stack, they notice that the cards are made out of construction paper. They try to lean the two pieces against each other to make them stand, but they are too flimsy. The student then has to accommodate the difference, and find another way to make them stand (Such as folding them).

# data[].attributes.body
Many science experiments are used in the classroom to teach students a better understanding on how equilibration is used. This helps the students not only draw conclusions from the test results but to actually incorporate new knowledge through hands-on activity. For an example, there is a straw activity in a chemistry course that teaches the students about equilibrium. Students will examine two systems. In the first, forward and reverse reactions are equally favored, modeled by students using straws of the same size to transfer water between the two containers. In the second, the forward reaction is more heavily favored than the reverse reaction, as modeled by students using straws of different sizes. In both cases, however, students will reach a point where there is no longer any volume change between the two containers, indicating that equilibrium has been reached.

# data[].attributes.body
As an individual transitions from one major cognitive development stage to the next the more equilibration connections begin to occur. It is natural to seek equilibrium because the mismatch between ones way of thinking and ones environment can lead to frustration and the dissatisfaction in motivation for development.

# data[].attributes.body
According to Piaget, he believed that all children learned equally as the other while learning throughout the stages. Piaget concluded that intellectual development is the result of the interaction of hereditary and environmental factors. As the child develops and constantly interacts with the world around him, knowledge is invented and reinvented. He is often criticized for dismissing social interactions.

# data[].attributes.body
In a classroom, there will be many diverse students who have different backgrounds and go about things in unique ways. Because of this, assimilation and accommodation are essential to a proper learning experience. Assimilation is needed so that students can develop routine, and accommodation is essential so that students can learn from one another and work together well.

# data[].attributes.body
There have been many experimental studies that have been made to determine if there was any truth to the  theories of Piagets view on cognitive development. Many studies have incorporated children of all ages, genders, and races to perform the same studies to Piagets teachings and practices. This assimilates a diversity perspective implying that no matter the culture or race, all children fundamentally think and learn in similar ways.

# data[].attributes.body
Learning style preferences are differences in the way students prefer to learn. According to Piaget, every student has a different rhythm and different styles of learning. What might be good to many might not be good to others.Students differ in what they prefer to learn as well as on how they prefer to learn it.There are four ways students differ in learning styles such as
Conceptual, Tempo, Field-Dependent versus Field-independent learners, Convergent/Divergent thinking, Perceptual modality preferences and strengths.