Lesson 2: Cognitive Development

Maturation

refers to changes that occur naturally and spontaneously and that are, to a large extent, genetically programmed.

Critical period

• is a maturational stage in the lifespan of an organism during which the nervous system is especially sensitive to certain environmental stimuli.

• The ability to acquire one's first language.

Continuous process

• A ____ would be like gradual improvement in your running endurance through systematic exercise.

• This suggests that learning and development happen gradually and smoothly over time, with small, incremental changes.

Discontinuous change

• A _____ (also called qualitative) would be like many of the changes in humans during puberty, such as the ability to reproduce—an entirely different ability.

• This describes learning as occurring in distinct stages or steps, with sudden shifts in ability or understanding.

Sensitive period

refers to the notion that the effects of environmental stimuli on the developing organism are stronger during certain periods of development.

Cerebellum

• coordinates and orchestrates balance and smooth, skilled movements.

• may also play a role in higher cognitive functions such as learning.

Hippocampus

• critical in recalling new information and recent experiences

• Responsible for forming and retrieving long-term memories and spatial navigation.

Amygdala

directs emotions, especially fear and pleasure, and is involved in emotional learning and memory.

Thalamus

• involved in our ability to learn new information.

• Relays sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex and regulates consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

Cerebral Cortex

• The part of the brain that is associated with higher mental functions

• crumpled sheet of neurons that serves three major functions: receiving signals from sense organs (such as visual or auditory signals), controlling voluntary movement, and forming connections.

• controls physical motor movement develops or matures first, then the areas that control complex senses such as vision and hearing, and last, the frontal lobe, which controls higher-order thinking processes.

Lateralization

is the specialization of the two sides, or hemispheres, of the brain. For most people, the left hemisphere is the major factor in language, and the right hemisphere is prominent in spatial and visual processing.

Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Development

is based on the assumption that people try to make sense of the world and actively create knowledge through direct experiences with objects, people, and ideas.

Sensorimotor stage

• Birth to 2 years

• Uses senses and motor skills, items known by use

• Object permanence is learned

Pre-operational stage

• 2 to 6 years

• Symbolic thinking, language used; egocentric thinking

• Imagination/experience grow, child decenters

Concrete Operational

• 7 to 11 years

• Logic applied, has objective/rational interpretations

• Conservation, numbers, ideas, and classifications

Formal Operational

• 12 yrs to adulthood

• Thinks abstractly, hypothetical ideas (broader issues)

• Ethics, politics, social/moral issues explored

Schemes

• The organization of thought (the development of ___)

• Basic building blocks of thinking.

• Organized system of actions or thought that allow us to mentally represent or think about the objects and events in our world.

Adaptation

• How a child handles new information from what they already know.

• the overall process of adjusting to new information or experiences by modifying existing cognitive structures.

• Learning to ride a bike after using a tricycle

Assimilation

• the process of taking in new information into our existing cognitive structures.

• involves incorporating new information into existing cognitive schemas (mental frameworks) without changing them.

• A child who calls all four-legged animals "dog”

Accommodation

• is modifying ones cognitive structures to include the new information

• when existing schemas are modified or new schemas are created to fit new information or experiences.

• The child learns that a cat is different from a dog

Lev Vygotsky

• Russian psychologist

• Sociocultural theory - learning is an essentially social process in which the support of parents, caregivers, peers and the wider society and culture plays a crucial role in the development of higher psychological functions.

• social interaction plays a critical role in children's learning.

Psychological tools

are signs and symbol systems such as numbers and mathematical systems, codes, and language that support learning and cognitive development. They change the thinking process by enabling and shaping thinking.

Zone of Proximal Development

• is where the child cannot solve a problem alone but can succeed under adult guidance or in collaboration with a more advanced peer.

Scaffolding

Understanding the students’ needs; giving information, prompts, reminders, and encouragement at the right time and in the right amounts; and then gradually allowing the students to do more and more on their own.

Adolescent egocentrism

• describes the tendency for adolescents to have differing perceptions between what they believe others think about them and what other people actually think about them.

• Adolescents typically think others are more aware and attentive of their behavior and appearance than people actually are.

Co-construction

is a distinctive approach where the emphasis is on collaborative or partnership working.

Assisted learning

The acquisition of knowledge and skill through active helping and supporting among status equals or matched companions

Egocentric speech

• Collective monologue, children’s self-directed talk

• another indication that young children can’t see the world through the eyes of others, so they chat away without taking into account the needs or interests of their listeners.

Decentration

• refers to the ability to consider multiple aspects of a situation.

• In Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the third stage is called Concrete Operational stage, where a child age 7-12 shows increased use of logic.

Disequilibirium

• the inability to fit new information into our schema.

• When you come across information or experiences that do not fit into your current knowledge base, this is where ____ begins.

Object permanence

knowing that an object still exists, even if it is hidden.

Brain plasticity/Neuroplasticity

is the brain’s ability to change as a result of experience

Reversibility

• The child learns that some things that have been changed can be returned to their original state

• The ability people have to be reason things in different directions

Instructional scaffolding/ Vygotsky scaffolding

• is a teaching method that helps students learn more by working with a teacher or a more advanced student to achieve their learning goals.

Zone of Proximal Development

is the set of skills or knowledge a student can’t do on her own but can do with the help or guidance of someone else. It’s the skill level just above where the student currently is.

Seriation

• One of the important processes that develops is the ____ during the Concrete Operational Stage (third stage)

• This refers to the ability to sort objects or situations according to any characteristic, such as size, color, shape, or type

Equilibration

• is a concept developed by Piaget that describes the cognitive balancing of new information with old knowledge.

• This is a major component of Piaget's theory of childhood cognitive development.

Conservation

• the understanding that something stays the same in quantity even though its appearance changes. To be more technical ____ is the ability to understand that redistributing materials does not affect its mass, number, volume, or length.

Physical, personal, social, and cognitive

Human development can be divided into: