Cognitive Development of Children and Adolescents (Semi-finals)

Aldrin A. Sinconiegue, RSW

I. Theories of Cognitive Development

 Cognitive development
represents the maturation of
intellect and mental functions
that
 influence thinking,
reasoning, and problem
solving. Piaget, Vygotsky,
and Kohlberg contributed
 great research and
understanding to the
psychological study of
cognitive development. Some
of
 the areas influenced by
them were the understanding
of behaviors, thought
organization,
 conception of reality by
one’s experiences, cultural
effects on cognitive
development, guides for
 psychologist to change
thought processes, social
interaction on cognitive
development, processes
 of moral development and
moral realism.
 Cognitive development
represents the maturation of
intellect and mental functions
that
 influence thinking,
reasoning, and problem
solving. Piaget, Vygotsky,
and Kohlberg contributed
 great research and
understanding to the
psychological study of
cognitive development. Some
of
 the areas influenced by
them were the understanding
 of behaviors, thought
organization,
 conception of reality by
one’s experiences, cultural
effects on cognitive
development, guides for
 psychologist to change
thought processes, social
interaction on cognitive
development, processes
 of moral development and
moral realism.
 Cognition is the process of learning in the broadest sense that includes perception,
memory, judgment, and thinking. It is both a mental activity and behavior that provides
an understanding of the world arising from biological, experiential, mo- tivational, and
social influences.
 Piaget made two important observations on the development of the first intelligence test
started by Alfred Binet.

1. Children of the same ages tended to make the same mistakes and get the same
answers wrong.
 2. Errors of children of a particular age differed in systematic ways from those of
older or younger children.

 Cognitive development represents the maturation of intellect and mental functions that
influence thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
 Piaget, Vygotsky, and Kohlberg contributed great research and understanding to the
psychological study of cognitive development.
 Some of the areas influenced by them were the understanding of behaviors, thought
organization, conception of reality by one’s experiences, cultural effects on cognitive
development, guides for psychologist to change thought processes, social interaction on
cognitive development, processes of moral development and moral realism.
II. Stages

 Piaget implemented his

research into four stages of
cognitive development,
Kohlberg
 developed three levels with
two stages per level from his
extensive research on
cognitive
 develop, Vygotsky’s did
not use stages in the same
 way Piaget and Kohlberg did
instead he
 created a foundation to
describe different ways
sociocultural and language
influenced cognitive
 development
 Piaget implemented his research into four stages of cognitive development
 Kohlberg developed three levels with two stages per level from his extensive research on
cognitive develop,
 Vygotsky’s did not use stages in the same way Piaget and Kohlberg did instead he
created a foundation to describe different ways sociocultural and language influenced
cognitive development

III. The First Theories of Development

 Piaget’s first stage was

sensorimotor (birth-2 years),
in this stage Piaget believed a
child’s
 thought process was
through their eyes, ears and
hands. Vygotsky believed
parental influence
 was a major contributor to
a child’s early cognitive
development. Kohlberg fist
stage (infancy-
 preschool) consisted of
obedience and punishment,
that a child developed a sense
of right and
 wrong by avoiding
punishment
 Piaget’s first stage was sensorimotor (birth-2 years), in this stage Piaget believed a child’s
thought process was through their eyes, ears and hands.
 Vygotsky believed parental influence was a major contributor to a child’s early cognitive
development.
  Kohlberg fist stage (infancy-preschool) consisted of obedience and punishment, that a
child developed a sense of right and wrong by avoiding punishment

IV. Piaget Main Tenet: The Child Activity seeks knowledge

 According to Piaget children actively seek out information. Such information is in turn
adapted to the children's acquired knowledge and conceptions about the world. It is from
their experiences that children construct their understanding of reality, a view held by the
constructivism. Children have the capacity as well to organize this knowledge into an
increasingly complex cognitive structure called schemata.
 A schema (plural, schemata) is an organized unit of knowledge. The child uses this to be
able to understand a situation or an experience and which will serve as basis for
organizing actions to respond to the environment.
 Different schemata change as the children develop. For example, sucking which is an
innate reflex and a reaction pattern is a newborn schema. As the child advances in age
and gains added experiences whatever schemata possessed shift from motor activities to
mental activities, referred to as operations.
 These operations increase in complexity as the child ages. Piaget opined that schemata
are modified by organization and adaptation.
Organization is the predisposition to combine simple physical or psychological
structures into more complex systems. Structures are viewed from larger
dimensions and not on limited parameters.
Adaptation involves the processes of assimilation and accommodation that are
complementary. It is adjusting one’s thinking according to environmental
demands.
Assimilation is making use of an existing schema to a new experience.
Accommodation is modifying an existing schema to make it work in a new
experience.

V. Piaget's 4 Stages of Cognitive Development

 Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development suggests that children move through four
different stages of learning. His theory focuses not only on understanding how children
acquire knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence

1. The Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development

 During this earliest stage of cognitive development, infants and toddlers
acquire knowledge through sensory experiences and manipulating objects. A
child's entire experience at the earliest period of this stage occurs through
basic reflexes, senses, and motor responses.
 Birth to 2 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:

 Know the world through movements and sensations

 Learn about the world through basic actions such as sucking, grasping, looking, and
listening
 Learn that things continue to exist even when they cannot be seen (object permanence)
 Realize that they are separate beings from the people and objects around them
 Realize that their actions can cause things to happen in the world around them

 During the sensorimotor stage, children go through a period of dramatic

growth and learning. As kids interact with their environment, they continually
make new discoveries about how the world works.
 The cognitive development that occurs during this period takes place over a
relatively short time and involves a great deal of growth. Children not only
learn how to perform physical actions such as crawling and walking; they also
learn a great deal about language from the people with whom they interact.
Piaget also broke this stage down into sub stages. Early representational
thought emerges during the final part of the sensorimotor stage.

2. The Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development

 The foundations of language development may have been laid during the
previous stage, but the emergence of language is one of the major hallmarks
of the preoperational stage of development.
 2 to 7 Years
Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:
 Begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to
represent objects
 Tend to be egocentric and struggle to see things from the
perspective of others
 Getting better with language and thinking, but still tend to think in
very concrete terms
 At this stage, kids learn through pretend play but still struggle with logic and
taking the point of view of other people. They also often struggle with
understanding the idea of constancy.

3. The Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development

  While children are still very concrete and literal in their thinking at this point
in development, they become much more adept at using logic. The
egocentrism of the previous stage begins to disappear as kids become better
at thinking about how other people might view a situation.
 7 to 11 Years
 Major characteristics and developmental changes during this stage:
o Begin to think logically about concrete events
o Begin to understand the concept of conservation; that the amount of
liquid in a short, wide cup is equal to that in a tall, skinny glass, for
example
o Thinking becomes more logical and organized, but still very concrete
o Begin using inductive logic, or reasoning from specific information to
a general principle
 While thinking becomes much more logical during the concrete operational
state, it can also be very rigid. Kids at this point in development tend to
struggle with abstract and hypothetical concepts.

 During this stage, children also become less egocentric and begin to think
about how other people might think and feel. Kids in the concrete operational
stage also begin to understand that their thoughts are unique to them and that
not everyone else necessarily shares their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.

4. The Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development

 The final stage of Piaget's theory involves an increase in logic, the ability to use
deductive reasoning, and an understanding of abstract ideas.3 At this point,
adolescents and young adults become capable of seeing multiple potential
solutions to problems and think more scientifically about the world around them.
 Age 12 and Up
 Major characteristics and developmental changes during this time:
o begins to think abstractly and reason about hypothetical problems
o Begins to think more about moral, philosophical, ethical, social, and
political issues that require theoretical and abstract reasoning
o Begins to use deductive logic, or reasoning from a general principle to
specific information

 The ability to thinking about abstract ideas and situations is the key hallmark of
the formal operational stage of cognitive development. The ability to
systematically plan for the future and reason about hypothetical situations are also
critical abilities that emerge during this stage.