Cognitive Development PDF Lecture Notes

8/7/24 What is Cognition? Cognitive development basically means...

8/7/24 What is Cognition? Cognitive development basically means intellectual growth Lecture 2: Cognitive processes are those by which we Cognitive Development get to know ourselves and our world: Memory Perception Attention Thought Learning Problem-Solving 1 2 Jean Piaget (1896-1980) 3 4 Jean Piaget (1896-1980) The “father” of cognitive development Observed children Sensorimotor Stage Proposed a sequence of development that all normal children follow Four “stages” of cognitive development 5 6 1  8/7/24 General Characteristics General Characteristics Birth – 2 years Birth – 2 years Cognition closely tied to external stimulation “Thinking is doing” – cognition consists of behaviour 7 8 Object Permanence The idea that objects do not cease to exist when they are out of sight 9 10 Object Permanence Object Permanence The idea that objects do not cease to exist The idea that objects do not cease to exist when they are out of sight when they are out of sight 11 12 2  8/7/24 Object Permanence Object Permanence The idea that objects do not cease to exist 5 months: Grasps and manipulates objects, when they are out of sight anticipates future position of object Birth – 3 months: Looks at visual stimuli, turns 8 months: Searches for hidden object, but head towards noise shows “A not B” error/effect 3 months: Follows moving objects with eyes, 12 months: Searches in the last place that stares at spot where object disappeared but they saw the object will not search 13 14 Schema Formation Schema Formation A schema is a mental representation or set of A schema is a mental representation or set of rules that defines a particular behaviour rules that defines a particular behaviour category. It helps us to understand current category. It helps us to understand current and future experiences. and future experiences. For example: Assimilation Accommodation The process by which The process by which What happens at a lecture new information is an existing schema is Things that you can eat modified to fit with an modified or changed Things that are animals existing schema by new experience 15 16 Schema of “things that are animals” 17 18 3  8/7/24 = Assimilation 19 20 = Accommodation Representational Thought Representational thought is the ability to form mental representations (e.g., of others’ behaviour) 21 22 Representational Thought Representational Thought Representational thought is the ability to form Mental representation is instrumental in: mental representations (e.g., of others’ behaviour) Imitation Occurs towards the end of the sensorimotor period 23 24 4  8/7/24 Representational Thought Mental representation is instrumental in: Imitation Deferred imitation – a child’s ability to imitate the actions he or she observed others perform in the past Symbolic play 25 26 Representational Thought Mental representation is instrumental in: Imitation Preoperational Stage Deferred imitation – a child’s ability to imitate the actions he or she observed others perform in the past Symbolic play The use of words to represent objects 27 28 General Characteristics General Characteristics 2 to 7 years 2 to 7 years Ability to think logically as well as symbolically Rapid development of language ability Classification and categorisation, counting, object manipulation 29 30 5  8/7/24 Failure of Conservation Conservation is the understanding that specific properties of objects (e.g. weight, volume, number) remain the same despite apparent changes or arrangements of those objects 31 32 Egocentrism A child’s belief that others see the world in precisely the same way that he or she does 33 34 Concrete Operations Stage 35 36 6  8/7/24 General Characteristics General Characteristics 7 to 12 years 7 to 12 years Ability to perform logical analysis n 8 = ev e eve 8+1= n 4 = = odd odd 1 4+ 6 = even 6 + 1 = odd 37 38 General Characteristics General Characteristics 7 to 12 years Ability to perform logical analysis Ability to empathise with the thoughts and feelings of others 39 40 General Characteristics General Characteristics Understanding of complex cause-effect relations 41 42 7  8/7/24 General Characteristics 12 years upward Formal Operations Stage Abstract Reasoning 43 44 General Characteristics General Characteristics 12 years upward Dependent on exposure to principles of scientific thinking Abstract Reasoning Metacognition 45 46 8