CHAPTER 5: Cognitive and Intellectual Development
Chapter Preview
This chapter discusses cognitive and intellectual development of infants. It includes theories of cognitive development, issues related to assessing intelligence, and delayed cognitive development.
Learning Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should be able to:
- Discuss the concepts of cognition and intelligence and define them.
- Understand the basic principles of Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s, Behavioral, Social Learning, and Information Processing theories of cognitive development.
- Address the issues involved in assessing infant intelligence.
- Discuss the patterns and concerns associated with delays in cognitive development.
Key Terms and Concepts
Accommodation is the process of changing a schema or concept based on new information.
Adaptation is the infant’s new level of understanding based on enriched concepts or schemata.
Assimilation is the process of taking in information for a schema or concept.
Behavioral theory supports the idea that children learn by systematically interacting with a structured environment and being rewarded for their successful accomplishment of tasks.
Cognition is the ability to process information and apply knowledge.
Criterion-referenced measures look at whether or not infants and toddlers can perform specific skills.
Delayed cognitive development is intellectual growth that does not follow the expected rate of cognitive development.Most children with delayed cognitive development will not reach a higher level of abstract thinking skills.
Developmental theories are developed to explain the commonalities in human development, to guide research, and to provide the basis for social policy.
Information-processing models see cognition as a matter of organizing information to solve problems, with a focus on how information is selected, represented, stored, and retrieved.
Intelligence is the use of knowledge and is measurable.
Norm-referenced measures compare assessment scores to all those who have taken the test.
Piaget’s theory focuses on the basis of knowing, or cognition, which he sees as a dynamic constructive process that evolves as children interact with their environment and are influenced by it.
Preoperational stage is the second stage of development in Piaget’s theory and goes from about two to seven years of age.During this stage, the child can think using mental representations, or use symbols to represent the environment.The most obvious transition to this period is the rapid acquisition of language, with words taking on the form of signifiers of objects and events.
Referencing is the act of a child using a trusted caregiver to determine how he should feel about a new event (emotional referencing) and what to do in a new situation (instrumental referencing).
Scaffolding is a dynamic system of providing support for learning.
Schema is a mental concept or category that refers to a particular behavioral sequence.The plural of schema is schemata.
Sensorimotor stage is the first stage of development in Piaget’s theory from birth until about two years, characterized by infants’ exploration of their world with their senses and motor activity.
Social learning theory, represented by Bandura, emphasizes the impact that the physical and human environment has on a child’s cognitive development.
Stage-based development assumes that there is a predictablesequence or stage that is a prerequisite to the next.Qualitative changes occur as the child progresses through these developmental stages.
Vygotsky and neo-Vygotsky theory is the developmental theory of Vygotsky and his followers.Vygotsky believed that a child’s cognitive development is dependent upon the environment and the culture.His emphasis was on the development of self-regulation, with language as a multifunctional medium.
Zone of proximal development is the gap between what a child can do independently and what he can do with adult guidance.
Chapter Outline
Cognition
Piaget’s Theory
Vygotsky and Neo-Vygotsky Theory
Behavioral Theory
Social Learning Theory
Information-Processing Models
Intellectual Development
Delayed Intellectual Development
Recommended Reading
Bronson, M.B. (2000). Self-regulation in early childhood: Nature and nurture. New York: Guilford.
Cryer, D., Harms, T., & Bourland, B. (1987). Active learning for infants. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Cryer, D., Harms, T., & Bourland, B. (1988). Active learning for twos. Menlo Park, CA: Addison-Wesley.
Flavell, J. H. (1999).Cognitive development: Children’s knowledge about the mind.Annual Review of Psychology 50, 21–45.
Karpov, Y. V. (2005).The neo-Vygotskian approach to child development.New York: CambridgeUniversity Press.
Ostrosky, M. M., & Horn, E. (2002). Assessment; gathering meaningful information.
Exceptional Children Monograph Series Number 4.Longmont, CO: Sopris West.
Pawl, J., & Dombro, A. 2001. Learning and growing together with families: Partnering
with parents to support young children’s development. Washington, DC: Zero to Three.
Peterson, S. 2005. Early learning guidelines for infants and toddlers. Washington, DC:
Zero to Three.
Sandall, S., Hemmeter, M. L., Smith, B. J., & McLean, M. E. (Eds.). (2005). DEC
recommended practices: A comprehensive guide for practical application in early intervention/early childhood special education. Missoula, MT: Division for Early Childhood.
Relevant Web Sites
Cognitive Development, the official journal of the Jean Piaget Society, contains the very best empirical and theoretical work on the development of perception, memory, language, concepts, thinking, problem solving, metacognition, and social cognition.
High/Scope Educational Research Foundation promotes the development of children and youth worldwide and supports educators and families as they help children learn. High/Scope develops curricula, trains teachers, conducts and publishes research, and publishes educational books, many related to infant and toddler growth and development.
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. collaborates in high-quality, objective research to support decisions about the nation’s most pressing social policy problems. Some of these include information about Early Head Start and other programs and policies that support infants and toddlers. Then have one section devoted to early childhood.
Mind in the Making shares the science of early learning with those who care about children’s learning and development.
Parenting: Babies and Toddlers is one of a series of sites supported by the New York Times Company (About.com). It provides information on a variety of aspects of parenting including ways of supporting cognitive development.
TheJean Piaget Society: Society for the Study of Knowledge and Development has an international, interdisciplinary membership of scholars, teachers, and researchers interested in exploring the nature of the developmental construction of human knowledge.Its aim is to provide an open forum, through symposia, books, a journal, and other publications, for the presentation and discussion of scholarly work on issues related to human knowledge and its development.
WestEdis a nonprofit research, development, and service agency that promotes learning for infants, toddlers, youth, and adults. The organization offers many resources and materials for those working with infants and toddlers.