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Cognitive development: Cognitive Processes (BASIC COGNITIVE PROCESSES…
Cognitive development: Cognitive Processes
BASIC COGNITIVE PROCESSES
Information processing theory focuses on how children
acquire
interpret
and remember information
how these cognitive processes change over the course of development
theorists propose that cognitive capabilities improve gradually
Age
Experience
Infants have many sensory and perceptual capabilities at birth or soon thereafter.
In general, however, children are less efficient learners than adults are.
For instance, they have
Shorter attention spans
smaller working memory capacity
smaller and less integrated knowledge base to which they can relate new information and events.
On the other hand, they are open to learning other languages, and adopting new codes, as in learning music.
COMPARING AND CRITIQUING CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES TO COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Contemporary theories (e.g. information processing theory in its many forms, theory theory)
added considerably to Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s early notions of children’s thinking and knowledge- building processes.
various theoretical perspectives
more complete picture of cognitive development
need to develop unified and testable theories to make progress.
INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN INFORMATION PROCESSING
information processing capabilities of some children (e.g. those with learning disabilities and those with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)
different enough to require the use of specially adapted instructional practices and materials.
different enough to require the use of specially adapted instructional practices and materials benefiting from
explicit instruction
teacher scaffolding
CHILDREN’S CONSTRUCTION OF THEORIES
theorists propose that children gradually construct integrated belief systems (theories) about
physical world
biological world
social world and mental events
theories not always accurate
children’s theories about the physical world may include erroneous beliefs about the solar system and laws of motion. To the extent that children’s theories include misconceptions, they may interfere with their ability to acquire more sophisticated understandings.
ADDING A SOCIOCULTURAL ELEMENT TO INFORMATION PROCESSING THEORY
sociocultural views can also help us explain how those changes occur
Combining elements of both perspectives, then, can give us a more complete picture of cognitive development than we might get from either one alone.
For example, children learn what to pay attention to in part by watching what other people pay attention to. Adults can help children become more effective, self-regulating learners by giving them control of a learning activity in a gradual, step-by-step manner.
METACOGNITION AND COGNITIVE STRATEGIES
metacognition encompasses both
knowledge that people have about their own and others’ cognitive processes
intentional use of certain cognitive processes to facilitate learning and memory.
Children’s metacognitive knowledge and cognitive strategies improve throughout the school years.
more proficient in such learning strategies
rehearsal,
organisation
elaboration
acquire increasingly powerful and effective ways of solving problems
With age, they become more aware of the nature of thinking, learning and knowledge, and they develop strategies for regulating their own learning.