Which theorist identified stages of cognitive development including sensorimotor and formal operational?

• A. Jerome Bruner
• B. John Dewey
• C. English Language Proficiency Standards
• D. Jean Piaget

Answer: (D)

Identifying who proposed a stage-based view of cognitive development, including sensorimotor and formal operational stages. Jean Piaget argued that children move through distinct stages that change how they think, not just how much they know. In the sensorimotor stage (early infancy), thinking is tied to concrete actions and sensations, and infants develop object permanence—the understanding that things continue to exist even when not seen. In the formal operational stage (adolescence and beyond), thinking becomes abstract and hypothetical, allowing for deductive reasoning and complex problem solving. The emphasis on these named stages and the progression from concrete, action-based thought to abstract reasoning is a hallmark of Piaget’s theory. Other options point to different educators or frameworks that don’t feature this exact stage sequence, so they don’t fit as well.