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5 months to 7 months
From 5 to 7 months a child does not fully understand object permanence. Object permanence is when an object is out of sight and you still know it is there. One example of this with a young child would be the game "Peek-a-Boo". -
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Birth to 2 years
In the early stages of life, a child is in the sensorimotor stage cognitively. This simply means they are learning from their senses and movements. -
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2 years to 7 years
From 2 years to 7 years a child is at the preoperational stage. At this stage a child understands symbols represent words, images, and ideas. One example of what a child does at the preoperational stage is pretend play. A child also begins to understand conservation. Conservation is when an object changes appearance, but is still the same. -
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7 years to 11 years
The next stage is the concrete operational stage. This stage is when a child can think logically about real events. Reversibility also occurs at this stage. This means a child can understand an object can change and return back to its original state. -
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11 years to Adult
The last stage is the formal operational stage where a child can think of abstract and hypothetical situations. A person at this stage of cognitive development is able to problem solve and find new solutions to problems.