What is the correct order of Piaget's stages from birth onward?

• A. Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational
• B. Preoperational, Sensorimotor, Formal Operational, Concrete Operational
• C. Concrete Operational, Sensorimotor, Formal Operational, Preoperational
• D. Formal Operational, Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational

Answer: (A)

Cognitive development according to Piaget progresses from how a child directly interacts with the world to how they think abstractly. The first stage is sensorimotor, from birth to about age two, where learning happens through movement and senses and where object permanence—knowing things exist even when not seen—emerges. The next stage is preoperational, roughly ages two to seven, marked by symbolic thinking and language but still limited by egocentrism and a lack of conservation. After that comes concrete operational, about ages seven to eleven, when children begin logical thinking about concrete objects, understand conservation, and can perform mental operations with tangible materials. The final stage is formal operational, starting in adolescence, featuring abstract, hypothetical, and systematic reasoning. Because each stage lays the foundation for the next, the order sensorimotor, then preoperational, then concrete operational, and then formal operational correctly captures Piaget’s sequence.