One brilliant scientist backed by the SNSF was Jean Piaget (1896-1980) His work, carried out in conjunction with Bärbel Inhelder, broke ground for a whole new field of psychology by providing insight into the unexplored realm of child consciousness.

Piaget realised that children think and reason differently at different periods in their lives. Piaget's experiments led him to identify the main developmental stages in children - from birth until about age 15 - by which time they are capable of logical thought on an adult level.

Peek-a-boo!

At the first stage, Piaget noted that children are indeed not aware of any object that they cannot actually see. This is why parents can still play peek-a-boo with children until about age two - when a face is hidden, the child thinks it has suddenly ceased to exist. When it reappears a second later, it's like magic!

New games, words, and quick hiding places

In the second stage (age 2 until about 7), children are able to think of one object as representing another. For example, they can pretend that their toy car is driving over a bridge rather than just a sofa.

In addition, children acquire language skills at this age because they are now able to think about things that aren't right in front of them. They begin to use words in order to refer to objects they can't see.

Children in the second stage are still egocentric, though. That is, it is hard for them to take on another person's point of view. Three-year-olds who are in trouble will often react by hiding their face in their hands. The logic at this age is, basically, "If I can't see them, they can't see me - I'm safe!"

Our little baby's almost grown!

From about 7 to 11years old, children start to have a better grasp of time and space, and by around age 12 they are on their way to thinking like an adult - more easily able to use logic and complex strategies to solve problems. By around age 15, this process should be complete.