1. Cognitive Development
Diana, Olivia, and Emma

2. Definition Cognitive Development Construction of thought processes
Lasts from childhood all the way up to adulthood
Ex: Remembering, problem solving, and decision making

3. Origin Research for the theory of cognitive development began in 1936
Started by John Piaget ( )
(a.k.a. Father of Cognitive Development)
Determined that children & adults thought differently
Believed all behavior is related to thinking or cognition
Cognition is developmental & is affected by genetics & environment

4. Sensory Motor Stage First of four stages of cognitive development
From Birth- age 2
Mastery of concrete objects
Children learn through their senses (seeing, smelling, hearing, touching, tasting)
Object permanence developed by the end of this stage

5. Pre-Operational Stage
Ages 2-6
Language development begins; goes hand in hand with symbolic thought
Child relies on intuition
Child may also give human qualities to inanimate objects (animism)
Child is egocentric, only sees world in terms of themselves
Can answer “what” but not “why” questions
Child plays pretend (enhances use of symbols)
Understands that drawings/words have meaning
Has understanding of past & present

6. Concrete Operational Stage
Ages 7-11
Children can use deductive reasoning
Won’t be tricked when they see something literally
Still can’t reason abstractly/can’t do mental problem solving (mental manipulation)
Capable of conservation (things stay the same regardless of change in appearance)
Capable of seriation and classification

7. Formal Operational Stage
Ages 12+
Mastery of thought
Person can do inductive & deductive reasoning from hypothetical situations
Can perform mental manipulations
Can answer how and why questions
Can think about thinking in a systematic way

8. Formal Operational Stage (continued)
There are five cognitive processes a formal operational thinker can do better than a concrete one
Logic (all dogs are vicious, Fifi is a dog, Fifi is vicious)
Abstract reasoning (considering variety of possibilities)
Hypothetical reasoning (thinking of different solutions to a problem; what-ifs and potential scenarios)
Extended thinking of mental leaps (if I do this bad thing, another bad thing would happen, which would lead me to having to do a thing, and it will be bad)
Projective thinking (thinking across multiple time horizons)
Reflective thinking (reflecting upon and learning from actions and experience)

9. 3 Steps to understanding the theory
Reflexes: simple blocks of cognition that help infants to adapt (sucking & grasping)
Schema: reflexes categorized into schema in the same way that a computer organizes data
Operations: logical thought processes

10. Information is learned in following ways:
Assimilation: fitting new information into an already existing schema
Accommodation: Adjusting schema to fit new situations or demands; adjusting existing knowledge to accommodate new information
Learners can also absorb information using both methods

11. Equilibration Third aspect of intellectual growth
Striking balance between the learner and their environment
There is disequilibration with new information
Lasts until accommodation/assimilation settles in
The faster equilibration is reached, the more advanced a child is in logic development

12. Readiness Approach
Children cannot learn until maturation gives them the ability
State of intellectual development determines what they can learn

13. Learner Centered Educational Theory
Emphasis on need for learner to participate in learning
Knowledge can’t always be transmitted verbally
Information must be reconstructed by exploring, manipulation, experimenting, questioning, and searching
Learning is also a social process that is enhanced through collaboration and peer interaction
Teachers take on more of the role of facilitators