Piaget characterized cognitive development as proceeding through four stages;(1) the sensorimotor stage (when cognitive functioning is based primarily on behaviors and perceptions); (2) the preoperational stage (when symbolic thought and language become prevalent but reasoning is illogical by adult standards); (3) the concrete operations stage (When logical reasoning capabilities emerge but are limited to concrete objects and events); and (4) the formal operations stage *when thinking about abstract, hypothetical, and contrary-to-fact ideas becomes possible)