Lifespan Development Three Ways(Prenatal -Death)

1. Physical Development

2. Cognitive Development

3. Social Development

Cognitive DevelopmentGeneral InformationChildhood COGNITIVE Development:I. Cognitive Development in Childhood: (The Thinker)  A. All the mental activities associated with THINKING, KNOWING, and REMEMBERING.

1. We each use schemas to help us ORGANIZE information. A schema is a FRAMEWORK for organizing information.

  a. Examples of Schemas. (based on experience)What happens when you go to school?What is a dog? What are dogs like?

Gender Schema Theory – you start to organize what it means to be a “male” or “female” and adjust your behavior or schema as you experience the world.

SchemasSometimes we must assimilate and accommodate information into our schemas. a. Explain the difference. (CCN)b. Examples of each.

 

Stages of DevelopmentVI. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive DevelopmentA. Piaget was a psychologist from SWITZERLAND who in the 1920’s began a study to understand how children think, organize, interpret, and recall information from their own schemas. MNEMONIC - SPeCiFy them! READ THE WORDS!!Seniors Prepare to Con Form

SensorimotorPreoperationalConcrete OperationalFormal Operational

“Operational” – how you make mental operations/manipulations

Stages of DevelopmentB. Piaget believed there were FOUR stages of cognitive development.

*Modern take is that we DO go through these stages in this order. However, the age range Piaget used is not accurate.

1. Sensorimotor Stage (birth – 2 yrs)

a. Cognition takes place through: THE SENSES AND MOVING/EXPLORATION USING BODY

*Infants are BUILDING their schemas through exploration and movement

b. After 6 months, an infant will show a sense of OBJECT PERMANENCE, where:they recognize that an object still exists (even when out of sight)c. By EIGHT months, infants have a memory for what is no longer seen. (stranger anxiety increases)d. New researchers believe that evidence of object permanence and memory is present before 6 months. This would be more of a CONTINUOUS growth, rather than in STAGES as Piaget believed.

2. Preoperational Stage(2 – 7 years)a. Children can use language, but do not yet have the capacity to use CONCRETE or ABSTRACT logic.

* Symbolism – must see it and feel it and “know” it.* But why?* Pre Mental Operations

b. CONSERVATIONISM: (lacking at this stage)Changes in shapes or figures cause a perception of DIFFERENT

amounts because children cannot perform the mental operation of remolding it back and re-shaping the amount.

*DemonstrationConservation

They don’t see that it “CONSERVES” its value.* In contrast to Piaget’s theory, some studies have shown that

children CAN show conservation, but they must be questioned in the right way.

Egocentrismc. Because their thinking is not concrete or

formal, (operational) children often cannot perceive things from another’s point of view. This is known as egocentrism.

Examples of pre-operational EGOCENTRISM:Who is Ma Ma?

Who is MY Ma Ma?Who is in the mirror?

Milo watching TV/reading/at school

Adult/Adolescent Egocentrism*Adolescence/AMYGDALA

* Blakemore experiment – recognizing that the

director can’t see some of the cars.

A Test … What are all of the possible uses for a

paperclip? List everything you can think of.

What would the world be like if we didn’t have thumbs?

3. Concrete Operational(7 – 12 years) Show me the logic …

a. Can perform mental operations that allow them to think logically about CONCRETE events.

b. Do show understanding of SYMBOLISM.c. Do require CONCRETE examples of

things. They must experience them for the information to make sense.

“When are we ever going to use this stuff?”

4. Formal Operational (12 )a. An individual in this stage can think LOGICALLY about

CONCRETE as well as ABSTRACT, IMAGINED events.b. An individual can think SYMBOLICALLY in writing, art, music,

etc.** Studies have shown that children as young as 5 or 6

CAN think symbolically. But, again, they must be questioned in a specific manner.Formal vs. Concrete

“When are we ever going to use this stuff?”

Evaluation of Piaget’s Stages: Continuity vs. StagesIs there evidence to support Piaget’s idea that we grow cognitively through a STAGE or step-by-step process? Why/Why not?

Cognitive Changes in Middle and Late AdulthoodA. Memory

1. RECOGNITION declines MINIMALLY2. RECALL declines GREATLYa. Difference?b. The more meaningful information is, the easier it is to recall. * Think neural networks.c. Our procedural memory declines.d. Intellectually ACTIVE people recall and recognize better.Work – think about your lifelinePuzzlesRest/Retirement Home vs. Nursing Home

Cognitive Changes in Middle and Late Adulthood Continued

B. Intelligence1. Cross-sectional vs. 2. Longitudinal

Studies.

*Think Gender and Ch. 4

3. Why?

Cognitive Changes in Middle and Late Adulthood

4. Overall:Crystallized

IntelligenceIncreases over time(recognition)

Fluid IntelligenceDeclines over time(recall)

Lawrence Kohlberg *Answer Sample QuestionA. As individuals develop cognitively, they begin to

understand right from wrong and adjust accordingly.

B. Kohlberg agreed with Piaget that MORAL development when hand-in-hand with COGNITIVE development.

The more FORMAL your thinking (Piaget), the more abstract your moral reasoning (Kohlberg).

The more CONCRETE your thinking (Piaget), the more concrete/egocentric your moral reasoning (Kohlberg).

Moral Reasoning Continued …Kohlberg – THREE Levels of Moral REASONING*Reasoning matches cognitive skills1. Preconventional

a. Pleasure/Painb. Cost/Benefit

2. Conventional a. Good Child/Approvalb. Law and Order

3. Principled Moralitya. Social Contract/Society

Welfareb. Ethical Principle/Avoid self-

condemnationc. Cosmic/Universal

Piaget – Cognitive Skills

*Sensorimotor (no moral reasoning) 1. Preoperational 2. Concrete Operational 3. Formal Operational