DEVELOPMENTAL LEVEL OF THINKING OPERATIONS AT CHILDREN WITH SPEECH IMPAIRMENTS

Abstract

Simple accumulation of perceptive data, motor actions, verbal descriptions and intelligence that manages previously mentioned is not due to cognitive processes. “In order to get familiar with the objects, the subject has to act on them, which means transform them. Starting from the elementary sensory-motor actions, until the finest intellectual operations (formal-logic), which are actions yet, but interiorized and exe­cuted in the thoughts, cognition is continuously related to actions and operations, e.g. trans­formations (1).
J. Piageot identifies three major levels of intellectual operation development:
1. Sensory-motor intelligence – from birth up to the age of 18 months or until the end of the second year of age.
2. Representational intelligence level – leading to specific operations. This is a longer deve­lop­men­tal period which lasts from the end of se­cond year up to 11-12 years of age. This period is divided on:

Pre-operational period - which begins at the end of age of two, characterizes itself with forming of semiotic tools, oriented functions and qualitative identities which ends at the age of 7-8.
 Period of specific operations – It begins at 7-8 years, ends up at 11-12 years and it is cha­racterized by forming of operational gathering, reversibility and different types of conservation.
3. Level of formal operations. This level starts its development at the age of 11-12 and finishes at 14-15 or latest at the age of 21. Considering Piaget, this is the period which marks the intellectual maturity (1, 2).