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.