Cognitive development

• Cognitive development refers to the continuous, lifelong development of the ability to

  think, comprehend, and organise information from the internal and external environment.

  It is a gradual and life-long process and is somewhat reliant on biological and physical

  development.
• Many psychologists believed infants were not capable of much thinking
• Psychologists have since learnt a great deal about the capabilities of infants and children in development
• Jean Piaget


  Psychologist who changed the view of cognitive capabilities of infants
• The changed view of the cognitive capabilities of infants was mainly initiated by Jean Piaget
• Piaget (1936)


  Developed a theory of cognitive development
• Piaget noticed that the underlying cognitive processes function differently between children and adults
• Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

  1. Four distinct stages of cognitive development

  2. Certain cognitive skills and abilities should be developed

  3. Achieve normal levels of cognitive functioning in adulthood
• Stages of cognitive development

  • Four distinct stages
  • Development of certain cognitive skills and abilities
  • Normal cognitive functioning in adulthood
• Schema/schemata - mental structures/frameworks that organise past experiences.

  People use schemata (the plural of schema) to categorize objects and events based on

  common elements and characteristics and thus interpret and predict the world.
• Cognitive development

  • Process of adaptation to the changing world

  around them

  • Adaptation

  • Taking in, processing, organising and using

  new information in ways which enable us

  to adjust to changes in our

  environment

  • Happens through three processes:

  • Assimilation

  • Accommodation

  • Schema
• piagets 4 stages are sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operational stage, and formal operational stage