Provide a brief overview of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

Piaget believe that people in general, and children in particular, construct mental structures and ideas in attempts to make sense of their experiences. This helps them achieve a state of cognitive balance and predictability and the view that the world is an orderly place. When they have new experiences that don't make sense to them, this cognitive order is disrupted, and they make an effort to reestablish it. In doing so, their thinking becomes more sophisticated and development advances. These developments is consistent with what we know about neuroscience and they occur in general patterns that fit within approximate age ranges.