Human Cognitive Development TOPIC 4 Human Cognitive Development Thinking Skill Teams EUW322- KEMAHIRAN BERFIKIR THINKING SKILL

Introduction Cognitive Development is a field of study in neuroscience and psychology It focuses on a child’s development in terms of information processing, conceptual resources, perceptual skill, language learning and other aspects of brain development. Theory of cognitive development was first introduced by Jean Piaget.

Early Cognitive Development DEVELOPMENT AREAS Memory Information processing Intelligence Language

Early Nurturing Beyond having their physical needs for food, water, shelter, and hygiene met, young children also need plenty of emotional and cognitive support, love and nurturing.

Caregivers should show positive attitude, smile, and stay as calm and patient as possible during difficult situations so that they will create a peaceful and positive environment for their children. However, caregivers should not neglect appropriate discipline and guidance.

Hence, nurturing is vital to children’s development, a secret ingredient that enables children to grow physically, mentally, socially, emotionally, culturally and spiritually.

Think Processes of Thought Genetic INTERACTION Learned Factors Perceive Understanding

Jean Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was employed at the Binet’s Institute in the 1920s, where his job was to develop French versions of questions on English intelligence tests.

He became intrigued with the reasons children gave for their wrong answers on the questions that required logical thinking. He was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development.

The goal of the theory is to explain the mechanisms and processes by which the infant, and then the child, develops into an individual who can reason and think using hypotheses.

To Piaget, cognitive development was a progressive reorganization of mental processes as a result of biological maturation and environmental experience.

Early Cognitive Development Constructions of Processes of Thought Remembering Problem Solving Decision Making

Basic Components to Piaget’s Cognitive Development Theory Schemas (building blocks of knowledge) Processes that enable the transition from one stage to another (equilibrium, assimilation and accommodation) Stages of Development: Sensorimotor Preoperational Concrete operational Formal operation

How Knowledge Was Build Organized Past Experiences New Knowledge (Understanding) Knowledge (Schemas) Basic unit of Knowledge Organized Past Experiences Assimilation Accommodation

Schema Schemas are units of knowledge, each relating to one aspect of the world, including objects, actions and abstract (i.e. theoretical) concepts. When a child’s existing schemas are capable of explaining what it can perceive around it, it is said to be in a state of equilibrium, i.e. a state of cognitive (mental) balance.

Assimilation Piaget viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation, which happens through: Assimilation – Which is using an existing schema to deal with new object or situation. Accommodation - This happens when the existing schema (knowledge) does not work and needs to be changed to deal with a new object or situation.

Equilibrium - This is the force which moves development along. Assimilation Equilibrium New Situation Disequilibrium Accommodation

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

Stage 1:Sensorimotor Stage From birth to 2 years A period of rapid cognitive growth Initially equipped with a set of reflex movements and a set of perceptual systems Infant begins to build up direct knowledge of world around him/her, by relating physical actions to perceived results of those actions

Reflexes (0 – 1 month): Understanding of environment is attained through reflexes such as sucking and crying. Primary Circular Reactions (1 – 4 months): New schemas and sensations are combined, allowing the child to engage in pleasurable actions deliberately, such as sucking his thumb. Secondary Circular Reactions (4 – 8 months): Child is now aware that his actions influence his environment and purposefully perform actions in order to achieve a desired result.

Coordination of Reactions (8 – 12 months): Child now explores his environment and often imitates the behavior of others. Tertiary Circular Reactions – (12 – 18 months): Child begins to experiment and try out new behavior. Early Representational Thought (18 – 24 months): Child begins to recognize and appreciate symbols that represent objects or events.

Through the processes of assimilation and accommodation, these actions become progressively adapted to the world Key feature: Object permanence Object permanence means knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden

Stage 2:Preoperational Stage From 2 to 7 years Children at this stage can mentally represent events and objects, and engage in symbolic play At this stage, their thoughts and communications are typically egocentric

Egocentric A child believes his view of the world is shared by everyone around him. The child can’t comprehend that there are other ways of looking at the world and interpreting information.

The use of language is one of the most significant developments during the preoperational stage. At this stage, a child can make use of internal representational systems to describe people, his feelings and his environment. Symbolic allowing the child to engage in pretend play using available objects to represent something else.

Key feature: Egocentrism

“Children live in a world of imagination and feeling… they invest the most insignificant object with any form they please, and see in whatever they wish to see ” ( Adam,G. 1857)

Stage 3:Concrete Operational Stage From 7-12 years This stage is a major turning point in the child’s cognitive development, because it marks the beginning of logical and operational thought During this stage the child begins to shed off some of the egocentrism characteristic of earlier stages.

The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i The child is now mature enough to use logical thought or operations (i.e rules) but can only apply to physical objects Children become less egocentric and better at conservation tasks.

Conservation is defined as ‘the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes’ Their thinking is more organized and rational They can solve problems in a logical fashion, but are typically not able to think abstractly or hypothetically Key feature: Conservation

The child acquires greater proficiency at tasks such as : logical reasoning distinguishing facts from fantasies classification of objects deduction and induction formulating judgments about cause and effect spatial thought Seriation numbers.

Stage 4:Formal Operation From 12 years to adulthood As the adolescents enter this stage, they gain the ability to think in abstract manner, the ability to combine and classify items in a more sophisticated way, and the capacity for higher-order reasoning.

The child begins to manipulate ideas in his/her head, without any dependence on concrete manipulation S/he can do advance mathematical calculations, think creatively, use abstract reasoning, and imagine the outcome of particular actions. Key feature: Manipulate ideas in head, abstract reasoning.

Stages In Cognitive Development Intelligence (Motor activity without use of symbols) Knowledge-limited but developing-(physical+experiences) Memory (Object permanence ) Sensorymotor (Infancy) Mobility (Develop new intellectual abilities) Language-symbolic abilities Pre-operational stage (toddlerhood to early childhood Intelligence (symbols) Language (better/matures) Memory&Imagination (developing) Thinking Non-logic-non reversible Egocentric Concrete operational stage (elementary to early adolescence Conservation (number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, volume Intelligence (logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects) Operational thinking (mental actions that are reversible) Egocentric thought diminishes. Formal operational (adolescence to adulthood Intelligence e (logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts) Return to egocentric thought. (Not all obtain formal operational)

“Every adult is in need of help, of warmth, of protection “Every adult is in need of help, of warmth, of protection.. In many ways differing from and yet in many ways similar to the needs of the child”. (Erich Fromm, The Sane Society. 1955)

Thank you for your attention The End Thank you for your attention