9. First three years cognitive development 2025 posting

Cognitive Development in the First Three Years

Theories of Cognitive Development

  • Theoretical perspectives address how cognitive abilities develop from birth to the age of three.

  • Language development occurs concurrently and is also vital during these formative years.

Development of Thinking

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

  1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years)

    • Infants learn about the world primarily through sensory experiences and motor activities.

  2. Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)

    • Children begin to engage in symbolic play and learn to manipulate symbols.

Key Processes

  • Schemes: Mental frameworks that organize experiences.

  • Assimilation: Fitting new experiences into existing schemes.

  • Accommodation: Adjusting schemes to incorporate new experiences.

Milestones

  • Object Permanence: Understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible.

  • Representational Thinking: The ability to use language and images to symbolize objects.

Information Processing in Cognitive Development

  • Habituation: Infants show decreased response to familiar stimuli, indicating a preference for novelty (dishabituation).

    • Important for assessing cognitive processing speed and attention.

  • Violation of Expectations: Infants demonstrate reasoning abilities by looking longer at unexpected events.

Research Approaches

  • Renee Baillargeon's Violation of Expectations Paradigm:

    • Investigates infants' understanding of object permanence and basic physical principles.

  • Numerical Understanding Studies: Explores babies' comprehension of numbers through various experiments.

Theories of Infant Cognitive Development

Biological Foundations

  • Examines how brain development correlates with cognitive functions.

  • Note:

    • Brain structures related to memory develop during the latter part of the first year.

    • Object permanence may rely on the maturation of the prefrontal cortex.

Social-Contextual Influences

  • Based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development.

  • Emphasizes the role of social interactions in cognitive growth.

    • Guided Participation: Adults help children learn through structured participation in activities.

    • Scaffolding: Support provided by adults that allows children to accomplish tasks.

  • Acknowledges cultural differences in cognitive development.

Cross-Cultural Differences in Guided Participation

  • Study Overview: Observational studies involving children aged 1-2 years across different cultures:

    • Mayan Town (Guatemala) and Tribal Village (India): Demonstration and observation.

    • Urban City (Salt Lake City, Turkey): Demonstration with some child engagement.

    • U.S.: Actively engaged with children and praised to encourage participation.

Language Development: First Three Years

Key Milestones

  • Crying (birth): The initial form of communication.

  • Cooing (1-2 months): Development of vowel sounds.

  • Babbling (6 months): Consonant-vowel combinations.

  • Gestures (8-12 months): Use of non-verbal signals to communicate.

  • First Words (10-14 months): The emergence of single-word utterances.

  • Naming Explosion (16-24 months): Rapid vocabulary growth.

  • First Telegraphic Sentences (18-24 months): Combinations of two-word utterances.

  • Increasingly Complex Syntax (20-30 months): Development of more complex sentence structures.

Theories of Language Development

Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner)

  • Language is learned through reinforcement and imitation of adult speech.

  • Limitations:

    • Does not account for the ability to create novel sentences or understand syntax.

Observational Learning (Social Learning Theory: Bandura)

  • Children learn language by imitating adults in their environment.

  • Language-rich environments enhance learning capabilities.

  • Evidence:

    • Twin speech studies highlight imitation in early language use.

Language Acquisition Device (Noam Chomsky)

  • Proposes an innate mechanism that facilitates language learning.

  • Evidence:

    • Universal milestones in language development observed across cultures.

    • Children often create spontaneous sentences and use complex grammar rules.

  • Limitation: Fails to explain differences in language acquisition among children.

Enhancement of Language Development

Motherese / Infant-Directed Speech

  • Utilizes higher pitch, slower tempo, and exaggerated intonations to engage infants.

  • Videos available to demonstrate the effects of motherese on language learning.

Summary of Cognitive and Language Development

  • Overview of key cognitive development theories relevant during the first three years.

  • Emphasis on the importance of language development within the context of cognitive growth.