Intellectual

• During their lifespan, an individual develops useful ways of thinking and learning. Intellectual and cognitive development refers to how individuals organise their ideas and make sense of the work in which they live.
• 5 important aspects associated with intellectual development:

  1. Language development, which is essential for organising thoughts and to share and express ideas. It is also important for clarification.
  2. Problem solving is an important skill that is required both to work things out and to make predictions about what might happen.
  3. Memory is required for storing, recalling and retrieving information.
• 5 important aspects associated with intellectual development:

  4. Moral development allows for reasoning and making choices and informs the individual how to act in particular situation and how to act towards self and others.

  5. Abstract thoughts and creative thinking are essential for thinking and discussing situations and events that cannot be observed.
• Understanding how individuals learn, mature and adapt to their life stage is an essential aspect of human growth and development. As an individual progresses through the various development stages, their intellectual and cognitive ability increases.
• The stages of intellectual development across the lifespan:

  
• The brain grows very rapidly during the first few years of life. During this time children learn all sorts of new skills and abilities. For example, in early infancy and childhood there is a rapid growth in language and intellectual skills.
• Speech and language are essential skills needed to communicate with others. Language development begins before birth and develops rapidly.
• The stages of language development:

  
• Ways in which language can be promoted:

  
• Piaget’s model:

  Cognitive development is a child’s ability to learn and solve problems. One theories who provided insight into cognitive development was the Swiss developmental psychologies, Jean Piaget.
• Abstract logical thinking- The ability to solve problems using imagination without having to be involved practically. This is an advance for of thinking that does not always need practical context in order to take place.
• Egocentric thinking- Not being able to see a situation from another person’s point of view. Piaget thought that a hound child assumed that other people see, hear and feel exactly the same as the child does.
• Concrete logical thinking- The ability to solve problems providing an individual can see or physically handle the issues involved.
• Stages of cognitive development: (part 1)

  His research focuses on how children acquire the ability to think. He came to the conclusion that children think differently to adults. He suggested that a 4 year old cannot use abstract logic (abstract logical thinking) because they are not mature enough (no matter how well they are taught)
• Stages of cognitive development: (part 2)

  He observed that infants use egocentric thinking, which means they can only understand the world from their own perspective. Piaget believed that the ability to think logically does not happen until around the age of seven years old when children can use simple logic (concrete logical thinking) to solve problems, for example that the amount of water stays the same when poured into a different shaped container.
• Piaget believed that there were 4 stages of intellectual development which mature during the early stages of the lifespan.

  Piaget’s stages of cognitive development:

  
• Piaget's theory explains cognitive developmental stages up to adolescence. Some psychologists suggest that there is a 'post-formal operational' stage of thinking in which adults become more skilled in their ability to make flexible judgements. It may be that many adults develop an ability that could be called 'wisdom' as they grow older. Thinking becomes pragmatic expert knowledge about the practical aspects of life, which permits using judgement about important matters.
• Equilibrium - a state of cognitive balance when a child's experience is in line with what they understand.
• Disequilibrium - a state of cognitive imbalance between experience and what is understood.
• Accommodation - modifying schemas (concepts) in relation to new information and experiences.
• The development of schemas: (part 1)

  An important aspect of Piaget's cognitive development theory was the notion that children go through a series of stages of intellectual development. He referred to these stages as schemas. According to Piaget, a schema is a category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring knowledge. A child develops concepts about the world around them (a state of equilibrium).
• The development of schemas: (part 2)

  As they experience situations where new information is presented, their schemas are upset and they reach a state of disequilibrium. As the new information is accommodated, the original schemas are modified or changed so they again reach a stage of equilibrium.
• Example of the development of schemas:

  For example, Jack is two years old and loves walking near the farm in his village to see the animals in the fields. Jack has developed a schema for a cow. He knows that a cow is large, has four legs and a tail. When Jack sees a horse for the first time he might initially call it a cow as it fits with his schema of a large animal. Once Jack has been told that the horse is a different animal, he will modify his existing schema for a cow and create a new schema for a horse.
• Test of conservation;

  Something's appearance may change but that its quantity will stay the same. By the age of seven, they have the ability to understand that when you move liquid from a wide container to a tall thin container it does not affect its volume. Younger children might not understand this and think that the amount of liquid has changed because the appearance of the container it is in has changed.
• Egocentrism

  Much of Piaget's pre-operational stage focuses on what children are unable to do. Like the concept of conservation, the idea of egocentric behaviour centres on abilities that children have not yet developed.
• Egocentricism:

  Egocentrism is best described as a young child's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view. They assume that other adults and children see, feel, and hear exactly the same as they do. At nursery, preoperational children engage in parallel play - they play alongside rather than together with other children. They are absorbed in their own world and speech is used to externalise their thinking rather than to communicate with other children.
• Criticisms of Piaget

  Although Piaget's theory remains influential in the early years sector, there are criticisms that he based his theory on observations of a small number of children.
• Criticisms of Piaget:

  Critics of Piaget also suggest that the age/stages he describes may be more fluid than he thought and that he underestimated and/or overestimated children's cognitive abilities
• Criticisms of Piaget:

  Watching children playing at the age of five, for instance, often shows that they do understand other's feelings and are far less egocentric than Piaget suggested.
• Criticisms of Piaget:

  Bruner did not agree with Piaget's notion of fixed stages and 'readiness' to learn. He believes that, with adult support, children can be helped to progress to higher level thinking skills. He, like others, thought that an individual's ability to use formal logical thought may depend on how much encouragement they have received to think logically.
• Criticism of Piaget:

  Other research suggests that children take longer than 11 years to become skilled at abstract logical thinking. Cognitive development might not be part of a maturation process, it could depend on a child's environment and the quality of their formal and informal education.
• Chomsky’s model of language acquisition:

  Noam Chomsky (1959) believed that the ability to develop a signed or spoken language is genetically programmed into individuals. This means that all individuals have the ability to understand and use language, regardless of other abilities, and to become fluent in their first language by the age of five or six.
• Language acquisition device (LAD):

  Chomsky states that individuals are born with a language acquisition device' (LAD) that enables children to recognise and develop the languages they experience.
• Language acquisition device (LAD):

  According to Chomsky's theory, children are 'preprogrammed' to acquire language and it evolves naturally in the same way that children have the ability to stand and to walk. The ability to use language develops because of maturation - it is the unfolding of an individual's biological potential. Chomsky believes that a child could not possibly learn a new language through imitation alone because the grammar and syntax of the language around them is often highly irregular.
• Chomsky believes that babies need to experience other people using language but that they do not need to be trained in order to speak. He noted that even if adults around a child use correct grammar or even correct a child, they will continue to apply plural 'rules, for instance 'deers or

  'geeses', if they have reached that particular stage of language development. Chomsky applied his theory to all languages, not just English, as they all contain nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels.
• Critics of Chomsky point out the lack of scientific evidence to support his theory. Social constructivists such as Bruner would argue that social interaction, particularly in the early stages of language development, is critical and has far more influence on children than Chomsky suggested.
• Others argue that Chomsky put too much emphasis on the grammar in sentence structure rather than how children construct meaning from their sentences. Chomsky did not take into consideration children who experience delayed language development for a variety of reasons, for example children who have a learning disability or hearing or speech impairments. Children with Down's syndrome are among those whose language is frequently delayed.
• Early to middle adulthood:

  In early adulthood, individuals apply the knowledge, skills and experience they have gained during their life. This helps them to think logically and find realistic answers.

  At this life stage, they are likely to be in job roles which require them to think through problems and make decisions, sometimes relating to complex situations. New brain cells will continue to develop even though, in middle adulthood, there may be a gradual decline in the speed of processing information.
• The effects of age on the function of memory- Memory loss in later adulthood:

  It is assumed that memory loss is associated with the ageing process. However, the brain has an amazing capacity to produce new brain cells at any age. Just as exercise can protect muscular strength, lifestyle, health activities and daily activities have an impact on the brain
• The effects of age on the function of memory- Memory loss in later adulthood:

  Age-related memory lapses can be frustrating but are not necessarily a sign of dementia. Physiological changes that can cause a temporary malfunction in the way the brain functions are part of the ageing process. It might take an older person longer to learn and recall information and this is often mistaken for memory loss. There is a difference between memory lapses and the type of memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia.