PIAGETIAN STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

For the child psychologist Jean Piaget (1896–1980) language was both a social and a cognitive phenomenon. It was not an independent modular faculty but part of general cognitive and perceptual processing. Language acquisition was thus dependent upon cognitive development. The child’s level of language was determined by whether it had acquired certain fundamental concepts and by the complexity of the processing operations of which it was capable.

Piaget suggested that cognitive development fell into four phases. They constitute a gradual progression in which previous stages are revisited cyclically. The age at which a particular child goes through each stage varies considerably. Each stage has implications for linguistic development.

Sensori-motor (0–2 years). The child achieves recognition of object permanence (the fact that an object still exists even when it is not in view). This is a prerequisite to the formation of concepts (including lexical concepts). It may be a dawning awareness of object permanence which first leads the child to name things and gives rise to the ‘vocabulary spurt’ at around 18 months. The first relational words (‘NO’ ‘UP’ ‘MORE’ ‘GONE’) also reflect object permanence, with those indicating presence emerging before those (‘ALL GONE’) relating to absence.

The child’s language has its origins in simple signals (a bottle signifies eating) and then in indexical relationships (a carer with a coat on signifies going out). Early words are employed for symbolic reference (DOGGIE referring to one specific dog that is present) but later acquire symbolic sense (‘doggie’ referring to the class of dogs). The child’s productions may show an awareness of means–ends (the word MILK gets the child a drink) and limited spatial awareness.

2. Pre-operational (2–6 years). The child’s behaviour reflects egocentric thought: it is unable to identify with the views of others. The child’s language progresses through echolalia (repeating others’ utterances) to monologues (speaking aloud what would normally be private thoughts). It may engage in collective monologues with other children, in which participants appear to be taking turns, but express their own ideas without responding to those of others.

 3. Concrete operational (7–11 years). The child’s vocabulary shows signs of organisation into hierarchical categories. It develops the concept of conservation (the recognition that size or quantity is not dependent upon the container) and shows signs of decentration, the ability to consider multiple aspects of a physical problem. It learns to receive and respond to outside ideas.

4. Formal operational (11–15 years). The adolescent becomes capable of abstract reasoning. It learns to construct its own argument structures, can represent hypothetical situations and engages mentally and verbally in problem-solving.

 See also: Vygotskyan

Further reading: Boden (1979); McShane (1991); Piattelli-Palmarini (1980)

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Semantic structure

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