Lecture 2: Theories of Children's Cognitive Development

• What is cognitive development?

  Cognitive development refers to the processes of attention, perception, memory, problem solving, reasoning, language, and intelligence.
• What are the key components of cognitive development?

  • Attention
  • Perception
  • Memory
  • Problem solving
  • Reasoning
  • Language
  • Intelligence
• What is the main contribution of Piaget’s Theory to psychology?

  It has had a substantial impact on developmental and cognitive psychology.
• How is Piaget’s theory described?

  It is described as constructivist.
• What is a limitation of Piaget’s observations in his theory?

  They are based on observations of western, white middle-class children.
• What are the Piagetian assumptions about children?

  • Children are seen as scientists.
  • They perform experiments, generate hypotheses, and draw conclusions.
  • They have intrinsic motivation to learn and do not depend on others.
  • They construct knowledge in response to their experiences.
• According to Piaget, what does development involve?

  Development involves processes of continuities and processes of discontinuities.
• What characterizes continuity in cognitive development?

  In continuity, change is gradual as children become more skilled in thinking, talking, or acting.
• What characterizes discontinuity in cognitive development?

  In discontinuity, change is abrupt and occurs in stages that produce different behaviors at different ages.
• What are the sources of continuity in Piaget's theory?

  • Assimilation: Incorporating new information into existing concepts.
  • Accommodation: Improving understanding in response to new experiences.
  • Equilibration: Balancing accommodation and assimilation for stable understanding.
• What are the stages of Piaget's cognitive development theory?

  1. Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 years)
  2. Preoperational Thought (2-7 years)
  3. Concrete Operational Thought (7-11/12 years)
  4. Formal Operations (11/12 years+)
• What is the intelligence expression in the Sensorimotor Stage?


  Intelligence is expressed through sensory and motor abilities.
• What is a key feature of the Preoperational Thought stage?

  Children can represent experiences through language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought.
• What ability is developed during the Concrete Operational Thought stage?

  Children develop the ability to reason logically about concrete objects and events.
• What is the hallmark of the Formal Operations stage?

  Individuals can think about abstractions and hypothetical situations.
• What are the characteristics of the Sensorimotor Stage?

  • Object permanence develops after 8 months.
  • Infants search for hidden objects.
  • A not B error occurs in infants younger than 12 months.
• What is object permanence according to Piaget?


  It is the knowledge that objects continue to exist even if out of view.
• What is the A not B error?

  It is the tendency for infants under 12 months to reach for the location where an object was originally found.
• What does Dynamic System Theory propose?

  It proposes an alternative explanation for cognitive development, differing from Piaget's views.
• What are the key features of the Preoperational Stage?

  • Symbolic representation (e.g., using a banana as a phone)
  • Egocentrism: perceiving the world solely from one's own point of view
  • Centration: focusing on one aspect of an object
• What is systematic thinking in the Concrete Operational Stage?

  It refers to logical reasoning about concrete problems, such as conservation of liquid.
• What is the significance of the pendulum experiment in the Concrete Operational Stage?

  It demonstrates that children are not systematic in testing their reasoning and may confound different factors.
• What is the pinnacle of cognitive development according to Piaget?

  The ability to apply hypothetical reasoning and abstract thought.
• What does Piaget say about the universality of the Formal Operations stage?

  Not all adolescents or adults reach this stage in all contexts.
• What are the critiques of Piaget’s Theory?

  • Stages are not strictly age-related.
  • Underestimation of children's abilities.
  • Ignored the contribution of the social environment.
  • Lack of detail on cognitive change processes.
  • Not everyone acquires formal operations.
  • Western-centric perspective.
• What did Kuwabara & Smith (2012) investigate?

  They investigated whether children develop cognitively differently depending on their culture.
• What were the findings of Kuwabara & Smith regarding cross-cultural differences?

  • US children focused on decontextualized objects.
  • Japanese children focused on objects in relation to context.
  • Japanese children performed better in relational tasks.
• What was the conclusion of Study 1 by Kuwabara & Smith?


  Japanese children seemed more advanced in relational matchmaking tasks than US children.
• What was the conclusion of Study 2 by Kuwabara & Smith?

  US children were significantly faster than Japanese children in finding target objects.
• What is the overall conclusion from Kuwabara & Smith's research?

  • There are cross-cultural differences in cognitive performance.
  • Research design must consider cultural perspectives.
  • More research is needed to understand these differences fully.
• What did Vygotsky emphasize in his theory?

  He highlighted the importance of culture and social organization in cognitive development.
• How does Vygotsky view children in the learning process?

  Children are seen as social learners rather than little scientists.
• What is private speech according to Vygotsky?

  • It is the internalized speech that guides thinking.
  • It develops through three phases:

  1. Adult gives verbal instructions.
  2. Child audibly repeats instructions.
  3. Child uses non-audible self-talk.
• What are the characteristics of socio-cultural theories?

  • Children learn through interaction with others.
  • Guided participation is essential for cognitive growth.
  • Involves a more knowledgeable other (MKO) assisting the child.
• What did Freund (1990) find in her study on child-mother interaction?

  Children who interacted with their mothers showed higher levels of independent performance.
• What is social scaffolding?


  • It is a type of guided participation.
  • Involves planning a social environment to help a child learn.
  • Effective scaffolding focuses on the child's upper capabilities.
• What does information-processing theory focus on?

  • Cognitive processes needed for thinking.
  • Uses computer simulations to identify steps in thinking.
  • Emphasizes gradual changes in cognitive processing systems.
• What is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

  It describes the distance between a child's actual developmental level and their potential development level.
• What are the basic processes of memory?

  • Associating events with one another.
  • Recognizing objects.
  • Recalling facts.
• How does cognitive development occur according to information-processing theory?

  Cognitive development is continuous and occurs in small increments at different ages and tasks.