COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Cognitive development
Changes in the construction of thought
processes, ie memory, problem solving, and
decision-making etc that result in a growing
ability to acquire and use knowledge.
Includes information processing, intelligence,
reasoning, language development, and
memory.
Infants……………
Babies are aware of their surroundings
and interested in exploration from the
time they are born.
They gather, sort, and process information
from around them to develop perception
and thinking skills.
Sensory and Perceptual Development
Sensation occurs when information interacts
with sensory receptors. Ie sound
Perception is the interpretation of what is
sensed, i.e. Reggae music
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Piaget envisioned a child's knowledge as
composed of schemas, mental maps, basic
units of knowledge used to organize past
experiences and serve as a basis for
understanding new ones.
Schemas are continually modified through
two processes that Piaget termed assimilation
and accommodation.
Assimilation refers to the process of taking in
new information by incorporating it into an
existing schema.
People assimilate new experiences by relating
them to things they already know.
Accommodation is what happens when the
schema itself changes to accommodate new
knowledge.
Cognitive development involves an ongoing
attempt to achieve a balance between
assimilation and accommodation that he termed
equilibration.
Cognitive development occurs in a series
of four distinct, universal stages, each
characterized by increasingly
sophisticated levels of thought.
…………………………………………………..
Infancy- Sensorimotor stage
In this period, intelligence is demonstrated through
use of senses and motor activity. Knowledge of the
world is limited, but developing, because it is based
on physical interactions and experiences.
Children acquire object permanence at about seven
months of age (memory). Physical development
(mobility) allows the child to begin developing new
intellectual abilities. Some symbolic (language)
abilities are developed at the end of this stage.
Infants begin learning to use their senses
to explore the world around them.
Newborns can focus on and follow moving
objects, distinguish the pitch and volume
of sound, see all colors and distinguish
their hue and brightness, and start
anticipating events, such as sucking at the
sight of a nipple.
By three months old, infants can recognize faces;
imitate the facial expressions of others, such as
smiling and frowning; and respond to familiar
sounds.
At six months of age, babies are just beginning to
understand how the world around them works.
They imitate sounds, enjoy hearing their own voice,
recognize parents, fear strangers, distinguish
between animate and inanimate objects, and base
distance on the size of an object.
At four to seven months, babies can recognize
their names.
By nine months, infants can imitate gestures and
actions, experiment with the physical properties of
objects, understand simple words such as "no,"
and understand that an object still exists even
when they cannot see it.
They also begin to test parental responses to their
behavior, such as throwing food on the floor.
They remember the reaction and test the parents
again to see if they get the same reaction.
At 12 months of age, babies can follow a
fast moving object; can speak two to fours
words, including "mama" and "papa"; imitate
animal sounds; associate names with objects;
develop attachments to objects, such as a toy
or blanket, and experience separation
anxiety when away from their parents.
By 18 months of age, babies are able to
identify body parts; feel a sense of
ownership by using the word "my" with
certain people or objects; and can follow
directions that involve two different tasks,
such as picking up toys and putting them
in a box.
Learning capacities in Infants
Learning refers to permanent changes in
behaviour as a result of experience
Babies are born with built-in learning
capacities that permit them to learn from
experiences
Infants learn to use their inborn reflexes to
get what they want or need
Before children can learn new abilities, they
have to be biologically ready
Neurological, sensory and motor capacities
must be present for related learning to take
place
Maturation- the unfolding of patterns of
behaviour in a biologically determined age
related sequence – is important for learning
to take place.
Infants learn through
classical conditioning- pairing of a
neutral stimulus with a stimulus that leads
to a reflexive response,
operant conditioning,
imitation – ie facial expressions
Habituation
Habituation
It refers to a gradual reduction in the strength
of a response to repetitive stimulation
Infants tend to respond more strongly to a new
element that has entered their environment
After some time they become less interested
and the excitement goes, they may look away
or show less excitement in their body
movements
Studies based on habituation have shown
that newborns can tell sounds they have
already heard from those they have not
The presence or absence of habituation
can tell us about a baby’s development
It shows how a baby sees, hears and how
much she can remember
Infant Memory
Although we may not remember our first
three years- infants do have memory
Studies show that babies less than two
months can remember past events,
especially if the events gave them
pleasure
Language Development
Language Development
Theories of language learning
Although both maturation and environment are
important in language development, different
linguists assign major importance to one over the
other
B F Skinner argues that language learning is based
on experience
Noam Chomsky upholds a nativism view, and argues
that there is an inborn capacity for learn language
Learning Theory
Children learn language the same way they
learn other kinds of behavior, thru conditioning
and reinforcement
When adults reinforce by smiling, paying
attention, and talking, children repeat the sounds
They also imitate the sounds they hear from
adults
Children will learn the language they hear, not
any other language
Although it is arguably clear that children
at home hear more adult speech and
learn it faster than those in institutions,
learning theory does not account for
children’s imaginative way of saying
things they have never heard before….ie
‘I don’t want to go to sleep, I am not
yawny’
Nativism
In the nativist view, human beings have an
inborn capacity in the brain for acquiring
language, and learn naturally to talk the way
they learn to walk
According to the theory,
Children learn their native language, no
matter how complex, mastering in the same
age related sequences without formal
Human beings are the only specie to master
spoken language, and their brain is larger
on one side of the other, and who seem to
have an inborn mechanism for language
localized the larger hemisphere- the left
Newborns respond to language in
sophisticated ways- move their bodies in
rhythm, can tell their mothers voice, and can
tell apart similar sounds
Noam Chomsky proposes that an inborn
Language Acquisition Device programs
children's brains to analyse the language
they hear and to extract from it the rules
of grammar , and using these rules, they
make up sentences
The theory however, does not explain why children
differ much in their grammatical skills and
fluency…and why speech development depends so
much on having someone talk with you
Most developmentalists draw both Learning theory
and nativism. They believe that children have an
inborn capacity to acquire language, which is then
activated and enhanced by learning through
experience
Early childhood
Memory
Studies of memory development indicate
that recognition ability is better than
recall ability, i.e children can easily
recognise the picture they have seen
before, other than recalling that they have
seen the picture before
older children remember better than young
ones, and some children are just good at
memory than others.
Could be because
Mastery motivation – the child’s tendency to be
independent, self directed
Study activities- use of strategies that can help
one remember
General Knowledge
The more familiar children are with objects,
the better. The more children know about
what is in the world, the better
Unusual activities and new experiences
Children remember events that are unique
and new to them ie a trip to the zoo
Social interactions
Talking with a child about an event also
influences their memory
Cognitive Development- Piaget’s Preoperational stage
Children between 3- 7 fall in the preoperational
stage (2-7yrs)
In the preoperational stage, Children can think about
objects , people or events in their absence by using
mental representations
The child begins to represent the world with words
and images. These words and images reflect
increased symbolic thinking and go beyond the
connection of sensory information and physical action
Achievements of preoperational thought
The symbolic function- the ability to learn by using
symbols. A symbol is a mental representation to which a
person has attached meaning-
Symbolic function is shown through language, play and
differed imitation (the imitation of an observed action
after time has passed)
children think in new creative ways , though the
thinking is not fully logical.
They understand some basic relationships, ie pushing
the switch and lighting etc
Limitations of Preoperational Thought
Operations are mental representations of actions
that obey logical rules.
In the preoperational stage, children's thinking is
rigid, limited to one aspect of a situation at a
time, and strongly influenced by the way things
appear at the moment.
Egocentric and Animistic Thinking- Egocentrism is
the inability to distinguish the symbolic viewpoints
of others from one's own. Mt Task.
Animistic thinking is the belief that
inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, such
as thoughts, wishes, feelings, and intentions
Inability to Conserve- Conservation refers to
the idea that certain physical characteristics
of objects remain the same, even when
outward appearance changes
Lack of Hierarchical Classification-Hierarchical
classification is the organization of objects into
classes and subclasses on the basis of
similarities and differences between the groups
ETC
Research has shown that Piaget in some ways,
Piaget may have underestimated the abilities
of the children- sometimes they can understand
causal relationships better, they can classify
and they can take other people’s perspectives
During early childhood, speech and grammar (use of
language) become sophisticated
Speech is of two types
Social
Private
Social speech -is intended to communicate with others
Private speech- not intended to communicate, but, but it
appears to help children gain control of their actions.
Private speech helps children integrate language with
thought
Parental contribution to intellectual development
Children's intellectual ability is determined by a
combination of heredity and environment.
Parents can enhance their child's intellectual
development through environmental factors by
providing stimulating learning materials and
experiences from an early age,
Children can be read to, talked to , and be helped to
explore the world around them.
As children mature, parents can both challenge and
support the child's talents
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage- 7 to
11 yrs
Think logically about concrete concepts in a
more flexible and organized way than in early
childhood but have difficulty understanding
abstract or hypothetical concepts
▪ Understand rules that govern physical reality
▪ Distinguish between appearance and reality
▪ Good at manipulating things that can be seen
and touched
Achievements of the Concrete
Operational Stage
Conservation -Children can conserve at this
stage--one of the most important
developments- they are able to recognise that
two equal quantities of matter remain equal
Clear evidence of operations-mental actions
that obey logical rules
Reversibility-the ability to mentally go through
the series of steps in a problem and then
reverse the direction returning to the starting
point
Hierarchical Classification
now can group objects into hierarchies of
classes and subclasses
Can now group objects into a general category
and two specific categories at the same time –
that is on 3 relations at one time
Seriation-order items in length and weight
and height
Transitive inference-ability to perform
seriation mentally- ie Stick A is longer than
stick B and stick B is longer than stick C.
Children must infer that stick A is longer than
C
Spatial Reasoning
7 to 8 years-mental rotations-align self’s
frame to match that of a person in a different
orientation; identity left and right for
positions that they do not occupy
8 to 10 years-can give clear, well-organized
directions for how to get from one place to
another using “mental walk” strategies-
can draw and use maps of familiar large-scale
spaces
Language Development
During the school-aged years, children:
▪ Demonstrate improved grammar skills and
pronunciation
▪ Engage in conversation with many ages
▪ Increase in vocabulary, especially derived
words
Able to engage in conversation with many ages
Increase in vocabulary, especially derived
words
Increase of 5000-10,000 words per year
Use different tenses to describe past
experiences
School-age children may have difficulty
decoding sentences when the meaning
depends on intonation, or tone of
voice.
Bilingual Development
▪ Learn both languages at the same
time
▪ Learn first language, then second
▪ Sensitive period – childhood
Schooling in Middle Childhood
School marks the time when society formally
attempts to transfer its body of knowledge,
beliefs, values, and accumulated wisdom to new
generations.
In developing countries, females receive less
formal education than males.
In developed countries, women still receive
less education than men on average,
particularly in science & technology topics.
Why?
-Widespread cultural & parental biases
favoring males over females
Learning Disabilities
Children with a learning disability:
are of normal intelligence or above.
have difficulties in at least one academic
area and usually several.
have a difficulty that is not attributable
to any other diagnosed problem or
disorder.
The most common problem that
characterizes children with a learning
disability involves reading—severe
impairment termed dyslexia.
They often have difficulties in
handwriting, spelling, or
composition.
Successful intervention programs
exist.
May requires “least restrictive
placement”
▪ Mainstreaming
▪ Full inclusion- at least part of school
day in regular classroom
▪ Reciprocal teaching – working in
pairs or groups
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder
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ADHD is a disability in which children
consistently show one or more of the
following characteristics over a period of
time:
-Inattention- hyperactivity- impulsivity
The disorder occurs as much as 4-9 times as
much in boys as in girls.
Students with ADHD have a failure rate in
school that is 2-3 times that of other
students.
Causes of ADHD
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Definitive causes of ADHD have not been
found.
Possible low levels of certain
neurotransmitters have been proposed.
Pre- and postnatal abnormalities may be a
cause- 24 – 31 weeks of gestation are 4 to 6
times as likely to suffer symptoms of ADHD
Environmental toxins such as lead.
Heredity - 30-50% of children with the
disorder have a sibling or parent who has it.
Treatment of ADHD
A combination of academic, behavioral,
and medical interventions to help ADHD
students better learn and adapt.
The intervention requires cooperation
and effort on the part of the parents,
school personnel, and health-care
professionals.
Stimulants given to control behavior- may
slow down the nervous system and
behavior.
Mental Retardation
Mental retardation is a condition of limited
mental ability in which an individual has a
low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional
intelligence test, and has difficulty adapting
to everyday life.
Mental retardation can have an organic
cause, or it can be social and cultural in
origin.
About 89% of mentally retarded people are
mildly retarded (USA)
About 6% are moderately retarded
About 3.5% are severely retarded
Giftedness
People who are gifted have above-average
intelligence and/or superior talent for
something.
Characteristics of gifted children are:
Precocity
A passion to master
Outstanding performance in a specific field-
Measured by divergent thinking and creativity
Recent studies support the conclusion that
gifted people tend to be more mature, have
fewer emotional problems, and grow up in a
positive family climate.
Creativity
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Creativity is the ability to think about
something in novel and unusual ways and to
come up with unique solutions to problems.
Convergent thinking produces one correct
answer and is characteristic of the kind of
thinking required on conventional intelligence
tests.
Divergent thinking produces many different
answers to the same questions and is more
characteristic of creativity.
Most creative children are quite intelligent, the
reverse is not necessarily true.
Strategies for Developing Creativity
Provide environments that stimulate creativity
Encourage internal motivation- Don’t
overcontrol
Foster flexible and playful thinking-
Brainstorming
Introduce children to creative people
Adolescence
COGNITION in adolescence
Concrete thought dominant
Cannot perceive long-range implications of current
decisions and acts.
Tend to have unrealistic or idealistic goals for their lives
Rapidly gaining competence in abstract thought
Less idealistic vocational aspirations
Capable of perceiving future implications of current acts
and decisions but variably applied
Reverts to concrete operations under stress
Feelings of omnipotence and immortality leading to risk
taking behaviour
Adolescent thinking may be abstract,
hypothetical, or logical.
Abstract thinking allows classification outside
of physical characteristics.
Hypothetical thinking, in terms of what might
be, allows adolescents to solve problems.
They can use logical consistency to evaluate
their thoughts
Implications for the Classroom
Adolescents are able to use a
systematic approach that works well in
science.
analyze a situation, identify relevant
variables, and discover the problem.
they can form a strategy that will test
combinations of variables – adolescents
think in terms of possibilities.
Adolescents also use strategies to
improve their study skills.
They can recognize and direct their
attention to what they don’t know.
Uses of language such as metaphor,
irony, sarcasm, and satire are
understood, as adolescents are able to
think in terms of hypothetical situations.
The imaginary audience may make them
feel special.
The personal fable is the feeling that
they are unique, and their experiences
are not like those of others.
Social cognition develops as adolescents
become better at assuming another’s
perspective, and coordinating it with
their own.
