Psychological Theories Of Crime Causation PDF

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION 01 Identify the different theories that help explain the psychological aspects of criminal behavior. 02 Discuss how the psychological dimension of individuals that affect...

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION 01 Identify the different theories that help explain the psychological aspects of criminal behavior. 02 Discuss how the psychological dimension of individuals that affect TOPIC their behavior leading to deviant and criminal behavior 03 OBJECTIVES Compare and contrast the parameters of psychological and psychiatric foundations of criminal behavior 04 Summarize the basis of arguments of the different theories pertaining to psychology of crimes Psychological theories expressed that criminal behavior, was the product of unconscious forces operating within a person's mind. According to this group of theories, conflicts that occur at various psychosexual stages of development might impact an individual's ability to operate normally as an adult. And that if aggressive impulse is not controlled, or is repressed to an unusual degree, some aggression can leak out of the unconscious and a person can engage in random acts of violence (Bartol, 2002). In contrast to biological and hereditary theories, there are a variety of psychological explanations to crime that emphasize the importance of personality and its role in criminal and delinquent behavior. Some psychological theories stress the importance of mental PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES OF CRIME It was further stressed by Schmalleger (2011) that to account for criminal motivations in people, criminologists have used various psychological theories that attempt to explain human intellectual and emotional development. These theories can be divided into three categories: Moral Development Theories describe a sequence of developmental stages that people pass through when acquiring the capacity to make moral judgments. According to this theory, this developmental process may or may not be completed, and people who remain unable to recognize right from wrong will be more likely to engage in inappropriate, deviant, or even criminal behavior. Social Learning Theories emphasize the process of learning and internalizing moral codes. Learning theories note different patterns of rewards and sanctions that affect this process. PSYCHOLOGICAL CAUSES OF CRIME It was further stressed by Schmalleger (2011) that to account for criminal motivations in people, criminologists have used various psychological theories that attempt to explain human intellectual and emotional development. These theories can be divided into three categories: Personality Theories assume a set of enduring perceptions and predisposition (tendencies) that each individual develops through early socialization. These theories propose that certain predisposition or personality theories, such as impulsiveness or extroversion, increase the chances of criminal behavior.  PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY PSYCHOSEXUAL AND STAGES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT Psychodynamic or psychoanalytic psychology was proposed by Viennese psychiatrist Sigmund Freud (1856- 1939). Still considered as one of the prominent theories in psychology, this theory holds that the human personality is controlled by unconscious mental processes developed in early childhood. It argues that human personality contains three major components, namely id, ego and superego.  THE STRUCTURE OF PERSONALITY (TRIPARTITE PERSONALITY) The structure of personality, according to Sigmund Freud, is made up of three major systems: the id, the ego and the superego. Behavior is always the product of an interaction among these three systems, rarely does one system operate to the exclusion of the other two.  ID Id allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on the pleasure principle i.e. wants immediate satisfaction, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. Id refers to the selfish, primitive, childish, pleasure-oriented part of the personality with no ability to delay gratification. Freud called the id the "true psychic reality” because it represents the inner world of subjective experience and has no knowledge of objective reality.  EGO As the child interacts more with the world, the ego begins to develop. The ego's job is to meet the needs of the id, whilst taking into account the constraints of reality. The ego acknowledges that being impulsive or selfish can sometimes hurt us, so the id must be constrained (reality principle). Ego is the moderator between the id and superego which seeks compromises to pacify both. It can be viewed as our “sense of time and place". SUPEREGO (CONSCIENCE OF MAN) The superego develops during the phallic stage as a result of the moral constraints placed on us by our parents. It is generally believed that a strong superego serves to inhibit the biological instincts of the id (resulting in a high level of guilt), whereas a weak superego allows the id more expression-resulting in a low level of guilt. Superego internalizes society and parental standards of "good" and "bad", "right" and "wrong" behavior. SUPEREGO (CONSCIENCE OF MAN) The superego has two subsystems, the conscience and ego-ideal. The conscience results from the experience with punishment for improper behavior and tells us what we should not do; whereas the ego-ideal develops from experiences with rewards for proper behavior and tells us what we should do. A well-developed superego acts to control sexual and aggressive impulses through the process of repression. It cannot produce repression by itself, but it can order the actions and intentions. Guilt is the result when the ego acts, or even intends to act, contrary to the moral standards of the superego. Feeling of inferiority arises when the ego is unable to meet the superego’s perfection. Guilt then is a function of the conscience, whereas inferiority feelings stem from the ego-ideal. TYPES OF OFFENDERS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY 1.The Weak Superego is described by Hervey Cleckly to have the following characteristics: superficial charm, good intelligence, absence of delusions and other signs of irrational thinking, absence of nervousness, unreliability, untruthfulness and insincerity, lack of remorse or shame, inadequately motivated antisocial behavior, poor judgment and failure to learn from experience, pathological egocentricity and incapability for love, and general poverty in major affective relations. This type is also determined by the following indicators: TYPES OF OFFENDERS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY Reckless disregard for conventional rules and procedures; Antisocial cognitions/pro-criminal sentiments (lack of conscience); Little evidence of a life plan and weak conventional ambition (lack of ego-ideal); Little evidence of guilt; The early appearance of persistent and generalized conduct problems (the superego is supposedly formed by age 8); Expression of bravado, flirtatiousness and exhibitionism; Conflict with authority figures; and Basic separateness from other people that reflects essential isolation, loveliness and a desperate loneliness. TYPES OF OFFENDERS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY 2. The Weak Egotype implies immaturity, poorly developed social skills, poor reality testing, gullibility and excessive dependence. In psychoanalytic terms, the weak ego types are less under the control of superego than of the id and the immediate environment. For weak ego types, criminal behavior may represent stumbling into trouble misreading the external environment, having a temper tantrum. TYPES OF OFFENDERS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY 3. The Normal Antisocial Offenders have progressed through the psychosexual stages of development without any particular problems. Psychologically, they match the ideal of the full-functioning mature adult. However, a mismatch with the ego-ideal is evident. The superego is pro-criminal as a result of identification with a criminal parent, and the ego has incorporated a mastery of criminal skills. TYPES OF OFFENDERS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY 4. The Normal Antisocial Offenders have progressed through the psychosexual stages of development without any particular problems. Psychologically, they match the ideal of the full-functioning mature adult. However, a mismatch with the ego-ideal is evident. The superego is pro-criminal as a result of identification with a criminal parent, and the ego has incorporated a mastery of criminal skills. TYPES OF OFFENDERS IN PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORY 5. The Neurotic Offenders. Freudian theory suggests a number of ways in which neurotic conflicts may translate into criminal behavior. The “criminal from a sense of guilt” is the most interesting, though perhaps not the most frequent. This type is driven by an unconscious desire to be punished for past crimes. An overactive superego may be seeking punishment for prior sins that, even if not actually committed, were either contemplated or the focus of a wish-fulfilling fantasy.  LEVEL OF AWARENESS (TOPOGRAPHICAL MODEL BY SIGMUND FREUD)  LEVEL OF AWARENSS (TOPOGRAPHICAL MODEL BY SIGMUND FREUD) The Conscious Level It consists of whatever sensations and experiences you are aware of at a given moment of time. Consciousness, which plays a relatively minor role in psychoanalytic theory, can be defined as those mental elements in awareness at any given point in time. It is the only level of mental life directly available to us. Ideas can reach consciousness from two different directions. The first is from the perceptual conscious system, which is turned toward the outer world and acts as a medium for the perception of external stimuli.  LEVEL OF AWARENSS (TOPOGRAPHICAL MODEL BY SIGMUND FREUD) The Preconscious Level This domain is sometimes called "available memory” that encompasses all experiences that are not conscious at the moment but which can easily be retrieved into awareness either spontaneously or with a minimum of effort. Examples might include memories of everything you did last Saturday night, all the towns you ever lived in, your favorite books, or an argument you had with a friend yesterday.  LEVEL OF AWARENSS (TOPOGRAPHICAL MODEL BY SIGMUND FREUD) The Unconscious Level It is the deepest and major stratum of the human mind. It is the storehouse for primitive instinctual drives plus emotion and memories that are so threatening to the conscious mind that they have been repressed, or unconsciously pushed into the unconscious mind. Examples of material that might be found in your unconscious include a forgotten trauma in childhood, hidden feelings of hostility toward a present, and repressed sexual desires of which you are unaware.  FREUD’S MODEL OF PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT (PSYCHOSEXUAL STAGES)  ORAL STAGE (0-18 MONTHS) This is the first psychosexual stage in which the infant's source of id gratification is the mouth. Infant gets pleasure from sucking and swallowing. Later when he has teeth, infant enjoys the aggressive pleasure of biting and chewing. A child who is frustrated at this stage may develop an adult personality that is characterized by pessimism, envy and suspicion. The overindulged child may develop to be optimistic, gullible, and full of admiration for others.  ANAL STAGE (18 MONTHS - 3 YEARS) When parents decide to toilet train their children during anal stage, the children learn how much control they can exert over others with anal sphincter muscles. Children can have the immediate pleasure of expelling feces, but that may cause their parents to punish them. This represents the conflict between the id, which derives pleasure from the expulsion of bodily wastes, and the super-ego which represents external pressure to control bodily functions. If the parents are too lenient in this conflict, it will result in the formation of an anal expulsive character of the child who is disorganized, reckless and defiant. Conversely, a child may opt to retain feces, thereby spiting his parents, and may develop an anal retentive character which is neat, stingy and obstinate.  PHALLIC STAGE (3-6 YEARS) Genitals become the primary source of pleasure. The child's erotic pleasure focuses on masturbation, that is, on self-manipulation of the genitals. He develops a sexual attraction to the parent of the opposite sex; boys develop unconscious desires for their mother and become rivals with their father for her affection. This reminiscent with Little Hans' case study. So, the boys develop a fear that their father will punish them for these feelings (castration anxiety) so decide to identify with him rather than fight him. As a result, the boy develops masculine characteristics and represses his sexual feelings towards his mother. This is known as:  PHALLIC STAGE (3-6 YEARS) a. Oedipus Complex - This refers to an instance where in boys build up a warm and loving relationship with mothers (mommy's boy). b. Electra Complex - This refers to an occasion where in girls experience an intense emotional attachment for their fathers (daddy's girl). Note: The Oedipus Complex is named for the king of Thebes who killed his father and married his mother.  LATENCY STAGE (6-11 YEARS) Sexual interest is relatively inactive in this stage. Sexual energy is going through the process of sublimation and is being converted into interest in schoolwork, riding bicycles playing house and sports.  GENITAL STAGE (11 YEARS ON) This refers to the start of puberty and genital stage: there is renewed interest in obtaining sexual pleasure through the genitals. Masturbation often becomes frequent and leads to orgasm for the first time. Sexual and romantic interests in others also become a central motive. Interest now turns to heterosexual relationships. The lesser fixation the child has in earlier stages, the oaks chances of developing a "normal" personality, and he develops healthy meaningful relationships with those of the opposite sex. FREUD PSYCHOSEXUAL THEORY BELIEVES THAT WE ARE BORN WITH TWO BASIS INSTINCTS: 1. Eros - This is named after the Greek god for love. Eros includes the sex drives and drives such as hunger and thirst. 2. Thanatos - This is named after Greek god for death. This includes not only striving for death but also destructive motives such as hostility and aggression. These drives highly influence the personality of a person. BEHAVIORAL THEORY BEHAVIORAL THEORY Behavioral theory is originally created by John B. Watson (1878-1958) and popularized by Burrhus Frederic Skinner (1904-1990) or as BF Skinner. While psychologists agree that behavior is controlled by unconscious mental processes determined by parental relationships developed early in childhood as what Freud believed, others, like Watson and Skinner do not. BEHAVIORAL THEORY The behavioral theory is concerned with the study of observable behavior rather than unconscious processes. It focuses on particular stimulus and how people respond to that stimulus. It also maintains that human actions are developed through learning experiences, and that behavior learned when it is rewarded and extinguished by negative reactions or punishment (Siegel, 2004). TWO TYPES OF CONDITIONING CLASSICAL CONDITIONING Classical conditioning is a learning process in which an association is made between a previously neutral stimulus and a stimulus that naturally evokes a response. For example, in Pavlov's classic experiment, the smell of food was the naturally occurring stimulus that was paired with the previously neutral ringing of the bell. Once an association had been made between the two, the sound of the bell alone could lead to a response. CLASSICAL CONDITIONING OPERANT CONDITIONING Operant conditioning is a learning process in which the probability of a response occurring is increased or decreased due to reinforcement or punishment. First studied by Edward Thorndike and later by B.F. Skinner, the underlying idea behind operant conditioning is that the consequences of our actions shape voluntary behavior. OPERANT CONDITIONING Skinner described how reinforcement could lead to increases in behaviors where punishment would result in decreases. He also found that the timing of when reinforcements were delivered influenced how quickly a behavior was learned and how strong the response would be. The timing and rate of reinforcement are known as schedules of reinforcement. OPERANT CONDITIONING OPERANT CONDITIONING  MORAL DEVELOPMENT MORAL DEVELOPMENT Lawrence A. Kohlberg (1927-1987) expanded Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and applied the concept of development stages to issues in criminology. His theory of moral development (1973) was dependent on the thinking of the former (Piaget) and the American philosopher John Dewey. MORAL DEVELOPMENT The Theory of Moral Development is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean Piaget's theory of moral reasoning. Developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, this theory made us understand that morality starts from the early childhood years and can be affected by several factors. MORAL DEVELOPMENT He suggested that people travel through stages of moral development and that it is possible that serious offenders have a moral orientation that differs from those law-abiding citizens. He and his associates found out that criminals were found to be lower in their moral judgment development than non-criminals of the same social background. MORAL DEVELOPMENT Moral development theory suggests that people who obey the law simply to avoid punishment or who have outlooks mainly characterized by self-interest are more likely to commit crimes than those who view the law as something that benefits all of society and who honor the rights of others (Siegel et al 2007) Kohlberg's stages of development are as follows: LEVEL 1 - PRECONVENTIONAL MORALITY Preconventional morality is the first stage of moral development, and lasts until approximately age 9. At the preconventional level, children don’t have a personal code of morality, and instead moral decisions are shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules. For example, if an action leads to punishment, it must be bad, and if it leads to a reward it must be good. LEVEL 1 - PRECONVENTIONAL MORALITY Authority is outside the individual and children often make moral decisions based on the physical consequences of actions. Stage 1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation. The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong. Stage 2. Individualism and Exchange. In this stage, the focus shifts to satisfying personal needs. Decisions are made with an understanding that actions should lead to a positive outcome for oneself. LEVEL 2 - CONVENTIONAL MORALITY Conventional morality is the second stage of moral development, and is characterized by an acceptance of social rules concerning right and wrong. At the conventional level (most adolescents and adults), we begin to internalize the moral standards of valued adult role models. Authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs. LEVEL 2 - CONVENTIONAL MORALITY A social system that stresses the responsibilities of relationships as well as social order is seen as desirable and must, therefore, influence our view of what is right and wrong. Stage 3. Good Interpersonal Relationships. The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others. Stage 4. Maintaining the Social Order. The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society, so judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt. LEVEL 3 - POSTCONVENTIONAL MORALITY Postconventional morality is the third stage of moral development, and is characterized by an individuals’ understanding of universal ethical principles. These are abstract and ill-defined, but might include: the preservation of life at all costs, and the importance of human dignity. Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. According to Kohlberg this level of moral reasoning is as far as most people get. LEVEL 3 - POSTCONVENTIONAL MORALITY Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6 (post-conventional morality). That is to say, most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves. LEVEL 3 - POSTCONVENTIONAL MORALITY Stage 5. Social Contract and Individual Rights. The child/individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals. The issues are not always clear-cut. LEVEL 3 - POSTCONVENTIONAL MORALITY Stage 6. Universal Principles. People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. E.g., human rights, justice, and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage. ALTERNATIVE THEORY ALTERNATIVE THEORY Alternative theory beats the famous saying that says, "Opposite charges attract." Alternative theory focuses on assortative mating where female offenders tend to cohabit with or get married to male offenders. In the Dunedin study in New Zealand, which is a longitudinal survey of over one thousand children from age three, Robert F. Krueger and his colleagues (2010) found that sexual partners tended to be similar in their self-reported antisocial behaviors. Children with two criminal parents are likely to be disproportionally antisocial. ALTERNATIVE THEORY There are two main classes of explanations concerning why similar people tend to get married, cohabit, or become sexual partners. The first is called social homogamy where convicted people tend to choose each other as mates because of physical and social proximity they meet each other in the same schools, neighborhoods, dubs, pubs, and so on. The second process is called phenotypic assortment where people examine each other's personality and behavior and choose partners who are similar to themselves. PERSONALITY THEORY CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY THEORY Personality can be defined as the reasonably stable pattern of behavior, including thoughts and emotions that distinguish one person from another. Psychologist Hans Eysenck (Siegel (2018) linked personality to crime when he identified two traits that he associated with antisocial behavior such as the extroversion-introversion and stability-instability. Extreme introverts are over aroused and avoid sources of stimulation; in contrast, extreme extroverts are unaroused and seek sensation. Introverts are slow to learn and be conditioned; extroverts are impulsive individuals who lack the ability to examine their own motives and behaviors. CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY THEORY Those who are unstable (a condition of neuroticism) are anxious, tense and emotionally unstable. Apparently, people who are both neurotic and extrovert lack self-insight and are impulsive and emotionally unstable; they are unlikely to have reasoned judgments of life events. While extrovert neurotics may act self-destructively like abusing drugs, more stable people will be able to reason that such behavior is ultimately harmful and life threatening. CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY THEORY According to Ciccarelli (2010), Albert Bandura believes that three factors influence one another in determining behavior: (a) environment, (b) behavior itself; (c) and personal or cognitive factors that the person brings into the situation from earlier experiences. These three factors each affect the other two in a reciprocal, or give-and-take, relationship. Bandura calls this relationship “reciprocal determinism”. CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY THEORY It was emphasized by Ciccarelli (2010) that in this theory, the environment includes the actual physical surroundings, the other who may or may not be present, and the potential for reinforcement in those surroundings. The intensity and frequency of the behavior will not only be influences by the environment but will also have an impact on that environment. The person brings into the situation previously reinforced responses (personality, in other words) and mental processes such as thinking and anticipating. RECIPROCAL DETERMINISM RELATIONSHIP a. Hostile thinking leads to hostile behavior b. Hostile behavior creates hostile environment c. Hostile behavior produces hostile thoughts d. Being in a hostile environment causes more hostile behaviors and thoughts e. Thoughts can alter perceptions of the environment, making it seem more hostile COGNITIVE THEORY CONCEPT OF COGNITIVE THEORY Cognitive theory is a branch of psychology that studies the perception of reality and the mental process required to understand the world we live. It focuses on mental processes the way people perceive and mentally represents the world around them. Adolescents who use information properly, who are better conditioned to make reasoned judgments, and who can make quick and reasoned decisions when facing emotion-laden are the ones that can avoid antisocial behavior choices. CONCEPT OF COGNITIVE THEORY Cognitive perspective contains several subgroups such as the moral and intellectual development branch, which is consented on how people morally represent and reason about the world. JEAN WILLIAM FRITZ PIAGET (1896-1980) He is the Swiss psychologist who was the first to make a systematic study of the acquisition of understanding children based on his cognitive development theory. He hypothesized that a child's reasoning processes develop in an orderly manner, from birth onwards and it has 4 stages (Siegel et al. 2007). Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four different stages of mental development. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence. PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Piaget believed that children take an active role in the learning process, acting much like little scientists as they perform experiments, make observations, and learn about the world. As kids interact with the world around them, they continually add new knowledge, build upon existing knowledge, and adapt previously held ideas to accommodate new information. PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The first stage is the sensorimotor stage, which lasts from birth to about 2 years old. During this stage, children learn about the world through their senses and motor behavior. Young children put objects in their mouths to see if the items are edible, and once they can grasp objects, they may shake or bang them to see if they make sounds. Between 5 and 8 months old, the child develops object permanence, which is the understanding that even if something is out of sight, it still exists (Bogartz, Shinskey, & Schilling, 2000). PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT According to Piaget, young infants do not remember an object after it has been removed from sight. Piaget studied infants’ reactions when a toy was first shown to an infant and then hidden under a blanket. Infants who had already developed object permanence would reach for the hidden toy, indicating that they knew it still existed, whereas infants who had not developed object permanence would appear confused. PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Piaget’s second stage is the preoperational stage, which is from approximately 2 to 7 years old. In this stage, children can use symbols to represent words, images, and ideas, which is why children in this stage engage in pretend play. A child’s arms might become airplane wings as he zooms around the room, or a child with a stick might become a brave knight with a sword. Children also begin to use language in the preoperational stage, but they cannot understand adult logic or mentally manipulate information (the term operational refers to logical manipulation of information, so children at this stage are considered to be pre- operational). PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Children’s logic is based on their own personal knowledge of the world so far, rather than on conventional knowledge. For example, dad gave a slice of pizza to 10-year-old Keiko and another slice to her 3-year-old brother, Kenny. Kenny’s pizza slice was cut into five pieces, so Kenny told his sister that he got more pizza than she did. Children in this stage cannot perform mental operations because they have not developed an understanding of conservation, which is the idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size as long as nothing has been removed or added. PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT During this stage, we also expect children to display egocentrism, which means that the child is not able to take the perspective of others. A child at this stage thinks that everyone sees, thinks, and feels just as they do. Let’s look at Kenny and Keiko again. Keiko’s birthday is coming up, so their mom takes Kenny to the toy store to choose a present for his sister. He selects an Iron Man action figure for her, thinking that if he likes the toy, his sister will too. An egocentric child is not able to infer the perspective of other people and instead attributes his own perspective. At some point during this stage and typically between 3 and 5 years old, children come to understand that people have thoughts, feelings, and beliefs that are different from their own. This is known as theory-of mind (TOM). PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Piaget’s third stage is the concrete operational stage, which occurs from about 7 to 11 years old. In this stage, children can think logically about real (concrete) events; they have a firm grasp on the use of numbers and start to employ memory strategies. They can perform mathematical operations and understand transformations, such as addition is the opposite of subtraction, and multiplication is the opposite of division. In this stage, children also master the concept of conservation: Even if something changes shape, its mass, volume, and number stay the same. For example, if you pour water from a tall, thin glass to a short, fat glass, you still have the same amount of water. Remember Keiko and Kenny and the pizza? How did Keiko know that Kenny was wrong when he said that he had more pizza? PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Children in the concrete operational stage also understand the principle of reversibility, which means that objects can be changed and then returned back to their original form or condition. Take, for example, water that you poured into the short, fat glass: You can pour water from the fat glass back to the thin glass and still have the same amount (minus a couple of drops). PIAGET’S FOUR STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT The fourth, and last, stage in Piaget’s theory is the formal operational stage, which is from about age 11 to adulthood. Whereas children in the concrete operational stage are able to think logically only about concrete events, children in the formal operational stage can also deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations. Children in this stage can use abstract thinking to problem solve, look at alternative solutions, and test these solutions. In adolescence, a renewed egocentrism occurs. For example, a 15-year old with a very small pimple on her face might think it is huge and incredibly visible, under the mistaken impression that others must share her perceptions.