Cognitive Development through the Life Span

Cognitive Development through the Life Span

Jean Piaget understanding how the mind develops

Jean Piaget understanding how the mind develops

What is Cognitive Development?What is Cognitive Development?

• Cognitive Development describes how our ability to think changes over time.

• Adults are able to think in more complex ways than children, but how much more complex?

• What do kids at different ages know?

• Cognitive Development describes how our ability to think changes over time.

• Adults are able to think in more complex ways than children, but how much more complex?

• What do kids at different ages know?

Jean PiagetJean Piaget• Swiss Psychologist -

worked at measuring intelligence of kids.

• Noticed that the answers of children of the same age were very similar.

• The mind of a child is not just a mini-adult mind. Kids do not just “know less” than adults, they “think differently.”

• Swiss Psychologist - worked at measuring intelligence of kids.

• Noticed that the answers of children of the same age were very similar.

• The mind of a child is not just a mini-adult mind. Kids do not just “know less” than adults, they “think differently.”

SchemasSchemas

• Piaget believed children are active thinkers - trying to make sense of the world.

• Schema: a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

• Piaget believed children are active thinkers - trying to make sense of the world.

• Schema: a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

AssimilationAssimilation

AccommodationAccommodation

Stages of DevelopmentStages of Development

Sensorimotor Stage (age 0-2)Sensorimotor Stage (age 0-2)

• Babies take in the world through their sensory and motor interactions with objects - looking, hearing, grasping.

• Babies take in the world through their sensory and motor interactions with objects - looking, hearing, grasping.

Object PermanenceObject Permanence

Scale ErrorsScale Errors

Preoperational Stage (age 2-7)Preoperational Stage (age 2-7)

• Kids at this age are still too young to perform mental operations.

• Kids at this age are still too young to perform mental operations.

EgocentrismEgocentrism

• In the preoperational stage children are egocentric - they have difficulty perceiving things from another’s POV.

• In the preoperational stage children are egocentric - they have difficulty perceiving things from another’s POV.

“Do you have a brother?”

“Yes”

“What’s his name?”

“Jim”

“Does Jim have a brother?”

“No”

“Do you have a brother?”

“Yes”

“What’s his name?”

“Jim”

“Does Jim have a brother?”

“No”

Theory of MindTheory of Mind• Preschoolers start to develop

the ability to infer the mental states of others (what others are thinking and feeling).

• Why do kids talk to themselves so much?

• Preschoolers start to develop the ability to infer the mental states of others (what others are thinking and feeling).

• Why do kids talk to themselves so much?

Concrete Operational (age 7-11) vs. Formal Operational (age 11 and up)Concrete Operational (age 7-11) vs. Formal Operational (age 11 and up)

Concrete Operational

• Children are able to understand concrete concepts - like conservation.

8 + 4 = ?

12 - 4 = ?

Concrete Operational

• Children are able to understand concrete concepts - like conservation.

8 + 4 = ?

12 - 4 = ?

Formal Operational

• Reasoning expands beyond the concrete to encompass abstract reasoning.

• Hypotheticals and Deduction.

Formal Operational

• Reasoning expands beyond the concrete to encompass abstract reasoning.

• Hypotheticals and Deduction.

French divers recently found a large cave along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The cave is accessible only through an underwater tunnel. The interior of the cave is completely filled with seawater and contains numerous large stalagmites, which are stony pillars that form when drops of water fall repeatedly on a single spot on a cave floor, leaving behind mineral deposits that accumulate over time.

The information above most strongly supports which one of the following? (A) The Mediterranean Sea was at a higher level in the past than it is

now. (B) The water level within the cave is higher now than it once was. (C) The French divers were the first people who knew that the tunnel

leading to the cave existed. (D) There was once an entrance to the cave besides the underwater

tunnel. (E) Seawater in the Mediterranean has a lower mineral content now

than it had when stalagmites were being formed.

French divers recently found a large cave along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The cave is accessible only through an underwater tunnel. The interior of the cave is completely filled with seawater and contains numerous large stalagmites, which are stony pillars that form when drops of water fall repeatedly on a single spot on a cave floor, leaving behind mineral deposits that accumulate over time.

The information above most strongly supports which one of the following? (A) The Mediterranean Sea was at a higher level in the past than it is

now. (B) The water level within the cave is higher now than it once was. (C) The French divers were the first people who knew that the tunnel

leading to the cave existed. (D) There was once an entrance to the cave besides the underwater

tunnel. (E) Seawater in the Mediterranean has a lower mineral content now

than it had when stalagmites were being formed.